I believe that these photos are of the interior of the '99.5 A4's but I can't 100% guarantee.<p>Get aload of the wood steering wheel on this car.<p>Matt

Maybe it's an S4? If so, why does it have that odd steering wheel. and not the sport steering wheel? Maybe it's a sign of things to come?<p>Matt

The large stereo is butt ugly. Are those tip shifters on the steering wheel?<p>Doug H<br>98.5 A4 2.8QSTip

It's a slick interior, and looks to have an in-<br>dash CD!, but that wood wheel better not be the<br>new sport steering wheel.<p>

Tip shifters on the steering wheel were not present on either a 98 or 98.5 with any option package. I have every single option avaliable on a 98.5 2.8 and do not have shifters on my steering wheel.

I recently paid a visit to the local dealership. The new A4's had the same/similar steering wheel and those buttons were to control the radio as I understood it.

I heard Audi was going to have shifters on the the steering wheel soon.<p>Is Audi going a paddle shifter like the F40 or a toggle type button similar to Porsche?

In this picture there seem to be some sort of power switches between the seats, just to the right of the parking brake. This is not in the other two pictures posted. What could these be? I thought possibly controls for the power lumbar in each seat, but unsure. They appear to be similar to power mirror switches, but they are still in the same location as current A4's. I wouldn't opt for the wooden steering wheel.... especially if it's the same $1600 that Porsche charges!

They do appear to be Tip shifters and look very similar to Porsche's setup to me.

For years, Audi has been criticized, rightly, for its stereo head units with diminutive controls and confusing layout--and for not offering a CD in-dash player. Now they've done a decent job of remedying the situation and you think the result is, "Butt Ugly!"<p>I'm glad you didn't have a hand in the design!

If you look at the first picture in the series, you will notice that it has manual transmission, and...no buttons on the steering wheel. Do you think that because the manual transmission is less expensive than the automatic, you don't get "radio" controls?

Looks like phone on the right, and maybe radio controls on the left.<p>Matt

The steering wheel tiptronic controls were introduced on the 99 A4. Logical they would be continued on the 99.5.

Made the same observation myself...good catch Matt. Gee wish I had a 6 speed...guess I'd have no use for it here in Ca...since the speed limit forces us to drive at granny speed. Hey I'm startin my own company...instead of Greed Speed it will be called Granny Speed...now what to sell ;)

I believe the Tip buttons will only be available with the sport steering wheel but haven't heard if that is so. I have inferred this from reading several different Audi press releases. The other (read: standard) steering wheels will have radio/phone/etc. controls on them like many other cars do nowadays.

#(:)o

A friend just bought a 1.8t with tip and he has the shift buttons on the sports wheel.<br>

So I would guess not, but 6-speed tranny is weird.

.<br>

Obviously the lower button is for the phone (answer button), and the other two are volume controls, which I assume would apply to both the phone and the stereo. Looks like the lower button on the left is a toggle type that covers both up and down station adjustments. The other two and the one sticking out the side appear to be cruise control, but that is purely speculation at this point. I'm quite sure on the right hand side anyway! BTW, I think this steering wheel is ugly! :-( The wood one is kind of cool though :-)<p>Charles<br>

That's the only thing I can think of. I see them too. Seat adjusters are the only thing that would make sense to me.<p>Charles<br>

I tried to enlarge the pic. Obviously, the quality was less than stellar, but the left hand side switches are certainly not cruise control. It would appear that the top one is frequency up, the middle one is frequency down, and the lower one is possibly a seek/scan button or something along those lines. The right two tops are for sure volume controls, since those are common symbols for volume, and the lower one is definatly a picture of a phone handset. The button sticking out the left side may just be the end of a control stalk.<p>Charles<br>

Not only S4, but also europen diesel model of A4 v6 2.5 tdi quattro has 6-sped transmition, w/o sport stering wheel. Chek the Audi German Site (A4 specification).