Honda Civic Type R
The Civic’s outdated infotainment system is proving to be as frustrating to use as the Type R is brilliant to drive
IDON’T LIKE TO KNOCK THE CIVIC Type R, because to be frank I absolutely love it, but there is one aspect of it that does frustrate, and that’s its infotainment system.
It’s a touchscreen type, and is largely unchanged from the one found in the previous Type R, which is a shame because it already felt quite dated there.
The first thing you notice about it is the lag: hit one of the touch-sensitive buttons and often the delay will be long enough for you to assume your press hasn’t been recognised and cause you to jab the button again. Even worse is the (physical) Climate button. Push this and you can sometimes count a full four seconds before the appropriate screen eventually appears on the display. If it were a phone or a laptop, you’d be giving serious consideration to getting an upgrade to something punchier. The next problem you discover is that the interface often isn’t very intuitive. Just one example: the button to switch between audio sources can occupy three different areas on the screen, depending on the currently selected display, and it changes its appearance as it moves. In two cases it at least looks like a button and has the word ‘source’ on it, but the third looks more like a graphic device representing the currently selected source than a button you might need to press.
The system’s third strike is its Garmin satnav element. Street name or road number labels are frequently absent, traffic problems are almost never shown, and despite the screen being an ample 7 inches in size, the map view is a woefully narrow box across the middle of it. For this you can largely thank the broad strip detailing the name of the road you’re currently on in the largest font I have ever seen deployed on a satnav.
The final blow is the order in which the unit displays and plays music files saved on a USB. I can’t even begin to describe how wrongheaded this is, and how fiendishly complicated it is to effect a solution. If you’re struggling with the same, drop me a line at fastfleet@ evo.co.uk and I’ll reply with some tips.
So compared with any well-considered modern infotainment system, such as those from the VW Group or BMW, it’s fair to say that Honda’s alternative doesn’t pack much showroom clout. Of course, if you’re buying a Type R for how it drives, this isn’t a deal-breaker, but it doesn’t stop it being a disappointment.