superswiss

As somebody who has made a career in computer technology, I've grown cynical about a lot of the so-called modern technology. What's new is not always better or more efficient. I'm part of the Generation X and as such I have learned to do things without technology and adopted technology as a tool to do things more efficiently. As somebody said above, I'm all for the right tool for the job, but often the cool new interfaces are not really the right tools for the job. Touchscreens work well on a personal device that you can concentrate on, but even there it has major shortcomings. For example I used to own Treos and Blackberries and typed long emails on those devices. Nowadays I avoid typing on my phones, because to this day typing on a piece of glass is not efficient. Touchscreens have brought on entire new keyboard paradigms such as swipe keyboards because many have recognized that typing on a touchscreen sucks. But now with the swipe keyboards I just find myself having to repeatably swipe the same word, because it's recognizing a similar word instead of what I want. Voice commands is a similar troubled subject. I do use it for tasks that otherwise take longer. In those cases it's more efficient, but often hampered by having to repeat myself. But when voice commands replace a task that was faster to do before with a **** like turning up the temperate a couple of degrees then I fail to see the advancement. Voice commands is also problematic in a car if you have passengers and they are talking. One can get used to a touchscreen, but that doesn't mean it's actually better and more efficient. A lot of younger folks who have grown up with touchscreens don't know that there are actually more efficient input methods, so they demand touchscreens everywhere. The best interfaces are those that are redundant. MB and BMW are currently believers of those. There are often multiple ways of performing the same task, so depending on the situation one can use the most efficient way. For example one can use touch while stationary, voice while alone in the car and physical buttons otherwise. This move to touchscreen only is what I find troubling. Just another example of what I'm getting at. I've recently upgraded my iPhone 6S to an iPhone XS and I've grown to really like Face ID, but it also has its problems. Now I have to always look at the phone to do something. For example using Apple Pay requires me to look down on the phone instead of maintaining eye contact with the cashier and sometimes depending on the lighting it doesn't recognize me. It's another example where a vendor went for something new and eliminated the old at the same time and now Apple is recognizing the mistake and rumor is the next iPhone will have a fingerprint reader again in addition to Face ID, so you can unlock the phone even when it's not convenient to look at it. Often, these things are just not fully thought through and the old way is quickly abandoned for not being cool enough anymore. I always cringe when I hear folks arguing that they are getting used to the new way of doing things after just a little learning curve. Well, a good input method should be intuitive, IMO. If it takes getting used to it, then it's a failure IMO.

TT-S4

True story.

Thanks for your post.

markcincinnati

I think the normative statement is "the people want touchscreens" -- the descriptive statement is "it's where the money is."

What I would still enjoy is the Blackberry. It would be "difficult" to be taken seriously, today, lobbying for the Blackberry form factor.

In a meeting recently, I used the term CRT and was immediately chastised and, frankly, from that point on, my input, despite its accuracy or wisdom was discounted.

I got into a very nice example of a large multi-decade old Mercedes (what would be called an S class today) and one of the other passengers immediately spoke of the car as if it were a relic, a dinosaur.

On the other hand, with a 2018 S4 and a 2019 Q8 in my garage, I can tell you they both have their strengths in terms of the interior and the controls, but, overall, the Q8 seems to me to offer a "more powerful" user-interface -- and, I think, is better looking.

jlarke

Our only hope is that the money moves on. It usually does, eventually.

ScratchedCornea

socialpro

Mark what did you think of the RS5? Is it more of the 'S4' just on steroids or completely different car?

Funny you mention 'quietness' - the S4 was never meant to be a quiet - luxury car, especially compared with a Q8.

To me the S4 and Q8 are cars on the complete end of the spectrum in terms of driving (completely different buyer demographic). As I'm getting older - I'm preferring the luxury-quiet cars over raucous exhausts (for everyday use) - and IMHO the new (2018+) S4 sounds like complete and utter horse - c r a p, and I wish they would of just kept everything silent in that car instead of infusing it with artificial exhaust/engine noises. But my wife does love the car to pieces, noises and all. I feel like the car is fairly quiet over all surfaces, especially freeway cruising (have not tried the new Q8 though!)

I'm looking at my next car, and the RS5 (sportback) is on the short list (but potentially too small), the new A6, A7, SQ5 or wait for new S6/S7 to arrive. I am also one of the hesitant ones to adapt to the dual screen tech - but you did have quite a few words of encouragement on here to try it out. I love my buttons and analog gauges, and do not want to be driving a computer (tesla, hello!)

What made you jump from the SQ5 to a Q8? Perhaps you made a thread on it but I haven't looked yet...

mplsbrian

Good catch.

I remember Mark sharing that his wife traded her 2018 SQ5 without air suspension, for a nearly-identical 2019 SQ5 with air suspension, back in or around August 2018...aka 5-6 months ago.

I hope I am not missing some key fact like an accident that totaled it out or something (if so I hope everyone is okay), but if this was just a separate case of boredom or "look at the shiny new thing" then that would suggest that Mark's family has paid easily $12,000+ just in trade depreciation for the privilege of essentially adding a $3000 factory option, only to ditch the car a couple months later at probably another $12K in depreciation/trade/tax/title/licensing cost, for the Q8.

That's (guessing here) $24,000 pissed into the wind. I guess the Q8 must be one hell of a ride to convince someone to do that, but with that perspective and financial flexibility (and to each their own, by the way--you certainly can't take it with you!) I wonder why anyone would stick with the S4 at all if he or she were even the least bit bored by it. I would think that boredom would be the perfect catalyst to trade for a new A6/A7 or even something from a different brand e.g. a Giulia Quadrifoglio (which has reliability concerns and a sparse dealer network, but is supposed to be the best driving car of the whole segment by a longshot) a try for 6-18 months until a refreshed S4 inevitably comes out.

markcincinnati

We ordered a 2019 SQ5 Prestige with the air suspension, premium paint, premium leather, cold weather. We were given a delivery date of 12/5/2018.

We regularly test drive cars -- and when the Q8 became available, we asked our rep if we could take one out for a drive. Of course, he said yes.

About an hour into our test drive, I got a text from the rep asking when we were coming back since there was a line of folks wanting to test drive the new vehicle.

The car (the Q8) was Orca Black. It had the Year-1 Package and was a P+ with driver assistance, cold weather, DVD/CD player, and trailer hitch. It had an MSRP of $79,340.

When we pulled into the dealer, we made a b-line to the rep and told him "we will buy THIS vehicle, if my 93-year old mother-in-law can hop in and out of the back seat without help."

My MIL lives 100 miles away, It was late on a Saturday.

The dealer gave us a $78K 2018 Q7 Prestige with practically every option box ticked. Rep said I'm off on Monday, bring this back on Tuesday and we'll finish the paperwork, the Q8 is yours.

Mom could hop in and out of the Q7 -- so, yes, we did follow through with the sale.

The 2019 SQ5 has still not arrived yet -- and the dealer has already CPO'd her SQ5 Prestige. My wife (and I) love the Q8. I offered to trade my 2018 S4 Prestige for my wife's Q8. No deal.

I do have my own key and my own settings, however.

We almost never buy a car from inventory. Even with the black leather interior, the Q8 is beautiful and it drives great.

It does make me think the S4's interior seems outdated. And, the Q8 is very, very quiet -- a feature I wish the S4 was capable of. Mercedes C class cars offer an extra sound deadening package for about $1,100 -- the S4 needs such an option, and that goes for the Prestige, like mine, that has the dual pane glass.

I love driving my S4 and driving the Q8 is also very enjoyable. The S4 needs a bit more luxury.

That's my story.

Spartan-S4

I'm one of those 'crazies' that didn't get the technology package and I have to tell you I couldn't be happier I didn't blow money on the Audi VC. Using multiple loaner cars that had it, I personally hate it entirely.

I love the look of my gauges, the depth, etc with the LCD screen between them taking care of the general information like the MMI, etc.

As for the interior design, I think the B9 hit it in all the right places..and seems refined/classic/modern without going overboard...and the outside of the car just is perfect in proportions of sexy.

Look the S4 is not say a RS5 or GT Mustang or Dodge Challenger in that these cars all give a 'visceral' feeling when you're in them and it never will...it's a refined/smooth silent assassin.

Now, down the road, I will be curious at the 4 Door GT Mustang that is supposed to take on the Porsche Panamera...there is still something about American muscle.

markcincinnati

=
As I explained, we did NOT trade the 2018 SQ5 in on a 2019 SQ5 and then a couple months later trade that one in on a Q8. The 2018 SQ5 already had 34,000 miles on it and we were given $42,000+ in trade for it.

We travel sometimes twice per week to Columbus (we live in Cincinnati). We quickly pile up miles on the Cincinnati to Columbus vehicle and it is important to us to have a maximum comfort vehicle for my mother-in-law. The Q8 isn't as quick as the SQ5 (the Q8 is about a 1/2 second less quick) and the Q8 uses more fuel. However, the Q8, despite its heft still drives smaller than it is (we keep the suspension in Dynamic). Because we went with a well-equipped P+ the Q8 does not have the dual pane glass; however, the Q8 is the quietest Audi we've ever had (including the A8 we had for two weeks last year while we waited for a part (radiator fan) to arrive from Germany for my S4.) I've been in a Tesla and only it is quieter.

I equate quietness with both luxury and sportiness -- if, when pressed the engine makes a sweet sound (the S4 is simply OK in that regard, but the Q8 with essentially the same engine sounds great a full-cry). My Prestige package S4 is decently isolated from the road, but nowhere near the quietness of the Q8. Mercedes, in the competitive C class, does offer (for a price) an extra quiet package (I THINK it is $1,100), it seems the S4 should give customers a similar choice.

Moreover, the S4's interior -- which borrowed the vertical iPad stuck onto the dashboard from Mercedes -- is nice, but, frankly, I found it a step back from my 2014 S4 that I traded in on my 2018. The Q8's Starship Enterprise interior needs to be implemented on the A4/S4 lines.

I have south of 24,000 miles on my 2018 S4. I absolutely love driving it (even compared to/with a 2019 RS5 which I have driven), and I have no immediate plans to "upgrade." However, it is my belief that in 2020 (when the 2021 MY is released), I will very likely be "in the market." The reason is that the S4, to me, seems (speaking of the interior) to "feel" old and outdated. For reference, mine is Daytona with the Magma Red leather interior. I'd probably strongly consider the red interior again on a 2021 MY.

Now to another question, the RS5 vs S4. First off, the RS5 with 444HP and its suspension tuning (among many other bits that improve virtually every aspect of its performance) is fantastic, fun, and certainly has the guts to outperform the S4.

Comparably equipped the RS5 is about $20K more than an S4. The RS5 is now offered in SB form which is attractive too.

I would NEVER take an RS5 of any flavor on the track. I drive in urban and suburban Cincinnati, My house is about 15+ miles from my office. The shortest distance for this commute is I-275 which until about 7PM creeps along for at least 10 miles every night on my way home. The inbound commute finds traffic of moderately heavy density motoring along at about 72-75MPH. This background is to say that I took the RS5 for an hour-long "aggressive" test drive including on I-275. I found myself able to push the RS5 on my favorite twisty road which rarely has traffic on it. Immediately after my RS5 test drive, I replicated the drive in my S4 -- remember, on public roads, most of the time with traffic, with the exception of my "twisty" road which remained traffic free -- the S4 seemed very close to the RS5 in terms of virtually every aspect of performance other than "brute force" acceleration out of some of the corners/curves on my twisty road drive.

The RS5 I drove also had the adjustable suspension (my S4 does not) and in dynamic mode, the RS5 literally became so taught, I would have to call it harsh under most circumstances. However, in driving situations that rarely happen on the public Interstates, highways, and roads, the RS5's "dynamic" suspension setting "eliminates" body roll (and threatens the fillings in your teeth.) I liked the RS5's suspension settings on "auto" -- and in comfort, it actually seemed "soft" (speaking relatively.) I loved the RS5. It is, to me, not worth $20K more. Currently, there is an RS5 SB on my dealer's showroom floor with an MSRP of $97,000+, $32-35K more than a Prestige S4 with upgraded paint, leather, and the cold weather package. Even if the S4 had the $2,500 sport-suspension option the RS5 would be some $30,000+ more. Even if I had "calling in well" money, I'd spend it NOT on the RS5, rather I'd spend it on an S6.

The RS5 provides great potential and I believe I could NOT tap enough of that potential (in my situation) to make the RS "justifiable" -- your circumstances and geography may certainly alter this analysis. Likewise, I'm having difficulty believing a $100K+ SQ8 (which I assume is coming soon) makes sense unless money really is no object. Assuming the Q8 soldiers on well north of 80,000, 90,000 miles, I also have no desire to have two SUVs -- another, hopefully more luxurious and more powerful (380+ HP) S4 in a couple of years (maybe 18 months) would be my "imagined" path to follow, car-wise.