HD Radio option?

[Roccod]

I was just building a 2011 Mustang online and there is an HD radio option or feature. Does anyone know if this will be available on the 2011 Fusion? If it does become available would pre-2011's be able to upgrade? Im assuming it would be a hardware upgrade and just a software upgrade. Any info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[Roccod]

I was just building a 2011 Mustang online and there is an HD radio option or feature. Does anyone know if this will be available on the 2011 Fusion? If it does become available would pre-2011's be able to upgrade? Im assuming it would be a hardware upgrade and just a software upgrade. Any info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

 

 

So does anyone know if we can get an upgrade for the hd radio?? Is it a hardware difference or software??

[Steve R.]

I would assume that the upgrade to HD radio is hardware (radio) dependent. What surprises me is the apparent lack of information concerning the availability of HD radio on Ford products. I would have hoped that some Ford representative monitoring (I hope they do), would have stepped in by now to answer the question.

Edited August 7, 2010 by Steve R.

[autoxr1]

The 2011 Fusion Order Guide shows that the HD radio will be included with and only available as part of the Nav system. This will be a free-standing option on the SEL, Sport, or Hybrid models. That pretty much rules out upgrades.

[jbuddy]

The 2011 Fusion Order Guide shows that the HD radio will be included with and only available as part of the Nav system. This will be a free-standing option on the SEL, Sport, or Hybrid models. That pretty much rules out upgrades.

 

 

So, I wonder if the HD radio would be integrated into the Nav system for features like traffic and news which is currently handled through Sirius Travel Link. I just put a new head unit in one of my other cars and it has HD radio and gets all it's other content through HDradio including traffic. I keep wondering what Ford would do if Sirius were to fail as a company. Would they find another path to integrate traffic in the NAV system (which is a great feature IMHO - but I live in the LA area)?

[omelet1978]

So other than clearer sound does HD radio have better range or something like that? I've heard about it for years but it doesn't seem to be really worth it...

[Steve R.]

So other than clearer sound does HD radio have better range or something like that? I've heard about it for years but it doesn't seem to be really worth it...

I took the plunge and had an after market HD radio installed in our Honda Odyssey. We live in a rural area. Frankly the HD radio sounds the same as our old radio. In more urban areas, it seems to sound better.

 

The range of the HD radio is actually less then regular FM. When you are out of HD radio range, the radio automatically switches to FM.

 

I guess the "big" benefit of having an HD radio is that it has a "line-in" and "USB" port. The USB port is really valuable, saves the CDs from getting destroyed/lost. In fact the CD is now obsolete!!!!

The "line-in" lets you use any MP3 player. Of course if you have an iPOD, the USB port works with it. I really hate it when manufactures (Apple) do these dirty tricks to consumers. The radio should have been designed so that ALL MP3 players would work with the USB port. There is no excuse for this despicable behavior.

Edited August 11, 2010 by Steve R.