I ordered -- and have the confirmation number, etc. -- a new B8 A4 with Premium Plus, some other stuff and Nav with "backup camera and voice control."

I have, currently, a 2005 A6 with voice control and all the tech that was offered in 2005 MY A6's.

I will get the A4 -- instead of another A6 -- if the voice control at the very minimum allows hands-free, eyes-free, full voice command, i.e., of the telephone. My expectations would be that the 2009 A4 would have at least the same, somewhat limited but "OK" functionality as the 2005 A6 (change CD's, Radio and recall name tags and previous destinations on the Nav system.)

I called Audi Talk -- they were very helpful, very much customer oriented. They were unable to find "any source" for the Voice Control feature, although they were "pretty certain" the voice control would be equal to or more than the 2005 Audi A6's.

I therefore, ask this apparently more resourceful board, "what do you get to do with the 'voice control' feature of the 2009 A4?"

Only thing I can offer is that the 2007 A4 does not specificlly mention "voice control" in any of its marketing info, but does have the voice dialing of the phone with Bluetooth option.

I agree with you and expect the specifically mentioned "voice control" feature to be more like the A6 or Q7.

Unfortunately we may not know until one arrives stateside, or perhaps a European member can shed some light.

. . .and changed the order from Phatom Black to Ibis White.

All other options as before, which is virtually everything but Automatic Cruise Control. . .

. . .although I did order the new one with the tiptronic, it is not for any lack of love of a manual. We have, previously, discussed the fun, performance and potential safety enhancements (due to increased control) that a manual CAN bring (not that it WILL always bring) -- but as I see at least half of the Cincinnati road going population using a hand held cell phone whilst driving, I am coming to the point where I can almost no longer condone the use of any phone in a car that is not completely hand and eyes free.

Couple a stick shift with a cell phone that is NOT hand and eyes free and, well, I think you have the perfect storm of stuff and events to suggest that some kind of "crash" is more than a little likely.

Why not comb your hair, talk on the phone and shift all while in heavy traffic, kind of thing.

I am AGAINST big brotherism -- but, I would "sign here" to make all cell phones that cannot be controled by voice alone, dysfunctional in a moving car (at least for the driver.)

Of course, it is my understanding that all US cars WILL have ESP by 2012, cutting edge, eh?

My first car with ESP came to me in calendar 2000 (and it WAS an Audi, natch.) Only 12 years ahead of the law?

What's so difficult about ESP, Bluetooth with hands free, eyes free and (what the heck) rear biased, torque vectored, AWD that these things cannot at least be "optioned," on "everyman's" 2008 Chevy, fur instance?

2012?!? Thank god someone didn't just think of four wheel brakes -- we'd have to wait another decade for THAT!

Stuff like ESP and voice control, etc, etc, "isn't just for breakfast anymore," hell no, this is saftey & convience stuff, not just luxury stuff anymore. The cars that need ESP FIRST are hardly Audi A8's, BMW 7's and Mercedes S class cars -- they need these things LAST (like that'll ever happen, nor should it.)

Love that Nextel commercial with the Firemen running Congress. . .

Now, if we could just get them to add some of this easy to do tech to ALL our cars, might cut down on the erratic driving.

Just a thought.

As you were.

When I added ESP to my A4 it was a $500 or $750 option - the details are fuzzy at this point. But that's going into a car that already had the latest and greatest in ABS systems. I'm not sure if ABS is mandated on all passenger vehicles now or not... but if you don't have those supporting technologies in place the actual cost for ESP would be much more, at least double if not triple the option price that I paid seems like a good estimate. Now on a $14k econobox $2000 or $3000 of additional safety equipment adds to the price significantly. The typical Audi has around $5000 or so worth of safety equipment in it if you total up the six airbags, the differential locks, ESP, ABS and all the assorted sensors and what not. And that's excluding the AWD system and the extra steel in the doors, design work thrown into the crumple zones. Not everyone is prepared to pay for all that.

And none of that is going to help with the erratic driving :-) The most important variable for the safe operation of a vehicle is found in between the seat and the steering wheel - no amount of technology is going to replace the importance of good decision making so long as the driver is still in control of the car. You can make successful arguments to the contrary based on the stupid stuff I see people trying to do with their SUVs in the rain! "Four wheel drive makes me invincible!"

I'm thinking that the MMI functionality for the A5/S5 is closest to what you will get on the B8. Be aware, though, that Voice Control is DISABLED for US market cars from the factory. It can be enabled via VAG-COM.You can STFA but there was a very active thread about this a couple of months back on that board. Worst case would be that VC would be limited to the phone functions.

Bluetooth VC in my S4 is limited to dialing by number or stored names, but I since I use the phone a lot while driving (medical professional here), it does keep my hands on the wheel and eyes on the road. As one prior poster said, it turns your car into a 4000-lb. headset.<ul><li><a href="http://forums.audiworld.com/a5/msgs/15745.phtml">Boston Driver's thread here</a></li></ul>

Seriously Ibis White looks nice though.

I personally couldn't deal with black at all. At least Phantom has some metallic to it so it's not too bad to keep nice.

I think I'm going for Monza Silver if I order a 3.2 in the next couple months.

Did you every find out what the wheels will look like in the US? Meaning will the 19" be the scissor spoke wheels from the A5 or the twin 7-spoke more like the B7 RS4?

I went back and forth the same as you. But I ultimately regret going from the S4 to the 2.0T. (Largely because of the 4 vs. 6 cylinder.) And I don't want to make the same mistake again. The 2.0T just doesn't mate well with tiptronic and I don't share your opinion that the new 2.0T will be as smooth as the V6.

Since the EPA rating of the A5 3.2 is within 1mpg combined of my '07 2.0T then that is fine by me. I don't plan to mod and the 3.2 should be adequate for my needs and driving style.

But who knows I may change my mind if I get to drive a B8 2.0T tip before ordering.

. . .not performance.

I have driven the 3.2 A5 and own a 3.2 A6, I love the engine.

My wife had a 1.8T 225 TT and I had three 4.2's and one 2.7T.

The logic of the 4.2 escaped me compared with the 2.7T (even unmodded.)

The current 2.0T and the new one are SUPPOSED to be quite unalike from each other, the new one is clearly much more torquier and has 5%+ more HP as well (which in Cincinnati will get me nothing over the 265HP 3.2 and vice versa) -- now the upcoming blown 3.0 (were it offered at 290HP as the next upgrade from the 3.2, well that would be entirely different.

I'm hoping you are not correct in terms of smoothness.

This is the first time, including the 2.7T that the V6 vs V8 or 4 vs V6 actually has MORE torque AND at a lower and broader rpm.

The 2.7T had less torque than the V8, but the v6's torque came on at 1,800 rpm and the V8's torque was into the 3,000's before it came up to full boil.

Time the absolute numbers are better for the Turbo 4 AND they come on at a lower RPM.

Wish I too could test them back to back, but I pulled the trigger and unless the 2.0T sucks, I'm good to go.

It'll be lighter for one thing, and in a manual will probably be quicker around the track.

Now if you're talking in a straight line and tip vs. tip then the 3.2 will assuredly be quicker.

Now once the tuners have new 2.0T chips and people are cranking out 275 HP &amp; 350 lb-ft of torque, well that's a different story.

But power is not my main concern I just can't take the heavy car + 4 cylinder + tip any more. I just don't believe this new 4-cylinder will be what I'm looking for in my next car.

At least we can both agree that we'd like the 3.0T (or whatever it'll be) sooner rather than later.<ul><li><a href="http://forums.audiworld.com/a4b7/msgs/104173.phtml">http://forums.audiworld.com/a4b7/msgs/104173.phtml</a</li></ul>