German car and Audi newbie introduction
09-15-2013, 03:21 PM
#1
German car and Audi newbie introduction
Well I have had my A6 for a little bit now and I figured I would write up my impressions of it. I joined this forum before I placed my order and lurked for a while then jumped in the deep end of the pool.
First, I come from a long line of Japanese vehicles from all three major Japanese makers. Most recently numerous Acura TLs and an Infiniti M37 Sport. I was reluctant at first to go German because of the history of reliability and maintenance costs, but I decided to give it a go. I was not impressed with any MB offerings as I don't care for their interiors. I like BMW styling and handling, but not a fan of the every little thing is an option and trying to find a car close to what I wanted was impossible. I also heard there are some quirks with the 5 Series center console controls and shifter. I kept being intrigued by Audi as I have liked their looks and love their LED lighting and the biggest draw was of course Quattro. I tasted AWD in my 09 AWD TL and loved it and wanted back into the full time active AWD game. I test drove the A6 several times before ordering and it gradually grew on me. I finally pulled the trigger in June and ordered an A6 Prestige with Driver's assist and full LED package. Fast forward 8 weeks and the car arrived. I have driven it a few hundred miles and over a few weeks and have some initial observations:
Drive train
This is the real amazing asset of this car. The 3.0 supercharged V6 with 8AT is silky smooth and pulls great right from the line. The car accelerates effortlessly and feels like the gift that just keeps giving. Quattro is also amazing, nothing like having all 4 wheels working all the time, no torque steer or that push from the rear that at time makes you feel like you may lose the back end in aggressive corners. I know there are those that feel that without the Sports Differential Quattro is not all that, but other than Subaru and I believe Mitsubishi, there is no other full time active AWD. Acura's SH-AWD is nice, but the rear diff really is idle most of the time unless you really get on the car in turns. The 8AT shifts smooth and without hesitation. You can coast at 55 MPH at under 1400 RPM, then mash the pedal and be plastered into the seat, totally insane. The Germans have the formula here, smaller displacement and forced induction, gives you the torque and power on demand that you want and yet under normal driving delivers respectable fuel economy.
Ride Quality
As I am still driving rather conservative during break in period, I will say the car has a very planted and solid, while nimble feel. I did not get the Sport Package due to some ground clearance issues, but even the standard suspension has a good balance of handling yet compliant, although leans a bit in hard corners. The standard suspension handles about as well and my M37 Sport without some of the firmness. The electric steering is rather numb and makes me feel like I am in the arcade playing a driving game even when set to Dynamic mode all the time. While it does get some heft at higher speeds it feels too artificial, at lower speeds it is far too light, and you always feel very disconnected from the road. The ride is very neutral, but I am sure the Sports package fixes that. My only regret was not getting the sports package. I did upgrade to Hartmann 20 inch wheels and Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3 that help firm up the ride a tad. As for the brakes I cannot comment on the stock brakes as I immediately (less than 30 miles) had them replaced with Akebono Euro Ceramics that have virtually no dust. The Akebono brakes are great, they are still bedding, but once you get past the first one or 2 stops and they are warmed up their bite is very good, very linear, but I do which they had better overall grip, I suspect a higher friction compound would resolve this, but may create some dust or shorten pad and/or rotor life. I am hoping like my previous ceramic brakes that after a few thousand mile they really do grab better.
Exterior
Well Audi styling is just very simple elegance. Very subtle styling that ages well yet still looks current. The simple curves and unmistakable LEDs just announce your arrival. Not to knock anyone that does not have the Prestige, but I just feel the subtle S-Line trim that the Prestige model brings to the game really makes the car look that much better. The full LED headlights are very crisp and white, but without direct scientific measurements I feel my M37 Bi-xenons threw light further. My only real slight ding is that all Audis sedans really look so much alike that most people can't tell if you are in an A6 or A8, I guess that is good for us A6 drivers. I get having family roots and resemblance, but it is almost like triplets with the sedans.
Interior
This is where I have most of my complaints. I almost did not get the A6 because for a $65K car the interior materials were not up to the same luxury standards I was used to in my Infiniti. The leather in the A6 seems cheap and does not feel like high grade material as the leather in my 09 AWD TL or 2011 M37S did. I opted for the “Premium textile” car mats and what a pitiful use of the work Premium. I could clearly get better car mats from numerous sources, even my standard Infiniti mats were better quality. The control stalks on the steering column also feel cheap and dated, not like they belong in a $65K automobile. Every review I have read raves about the seats, but I find them a tad firm and uncomfortable, very difficult to find that long distance cruise position, and lacking good thigh support. And what idiot designed the center console, start button and volume **** on the far right side then cup the holder right in front of arm rest, but that blocks your hands from getting to the MMI (I see they fixed this on the 15 A3). I get that Europeans are used to smaller storage and space, but the A6 seems that every storage area is a bit on the small side, glove box, both center arm rest cubbies, and the little trays under the front seats, all smaller that I expect from a car of this class. And the cup holders seem a bit small and the really crush plastic water bottles that are thin. Also the sunglass holder is virtually useless you have very small thing glasses. I know the Europeans love the red backlit ***** and buttons, but this is more a luxury sedan than a sports car. Leave the red back lighting to the coupes or S/RS models and put a more neutral white for the A6.
The Gauge cluster is stunning, I love the ability to scroll and page through different displays and the screen is sharp and easily readable, reminds me of “retina” level displays. Speaking of screens, the popup MMI display is really beautiful. I usually hate pop up displays as I feel they take away from the dash's flow, but the A6 screen is growing on me. I have seen some people complain the cabin is not as quiet as they would like it, but I suspect that is purely tires as I find the cabin to be one of the quietest I have owned. There is little or no road noise and the A/S Conti’s are very quiet. Honestly I test drove the Sport package with summer tires and still found it far quieter than my M37 Sport. My M37 on the other hand had noise cancellation, yet was still filled with the drone of tires and road noise. The climate control system is strong, cooling or heating the car quickly, but I find it cannot maintain a constant temperature as I always have to fiddle with it. My car has vented seats, but I find them virtually useless. Audi pulls air through the seat, but only in a small area behind your butt or in your crotch area, so I find no difference with the cooled seats on or off. Maybe if I were really hot and sweaty I might notice it, but I have driven after work with and without the cooled seats on 90 degree days with no difference. The Prestige package comes with LED interior lighting and ambient LED lighting, both very nice. The illuminated door sills are a little understated, but then that is Audi’s approach, subtle not in your face.
Electronics
As for the MMI, I have to say it take a little getting used to, but is very logically laid out and easy to learn. Far better than what My Infiniti had. The voice commands in the MMI are excellent, leaps more advanced to my Infiniti, and about on par with Acura. The Bose system is very decent for what it is. I would have loved to be able to go for the B&O, but could not justify the $6K expense. The Audi Bose is cleaner and richer than the Bose in my M37 was, but not as clean as the ELS that was in my 09 Acura TL AWD. The Navigation system is one of the best I have dealt with in any car. Everything with the MMI is very intuitive and the ability to speak an entire address without have to pause to parse each section is a great time saver. The map displays are clean and colorful without looking cartoony or flat (are you listening Acura and Infiniti). While the A6 does not have the breadth of apps that Lexus or BMW have, the Google integration trumps them all. The ability to get up to date location and address information is wonderful, rather than dealing with 2-3 year old static Navi data. What a pleasure to just speak a destination query and let Google parse it and figure it out and present you with what you are looking for with great accuracy. Some may wonder if $15 a month is worth it on a 30 month plan, and each person will need to decide that for themselves, but count me in for now. The only want here is that Audi release a LTE upgrade because 3G is so damn slow, although I suspect some of the slowness is the processing power in the MMI system. They need to have an option to allow the car to get data via your connected phone would be great, but then I am sure that would upset their relationship with DT/T-Mobile as everyone would just connect via their 4G cell phones and never pay for the Audi data plan. I love the touchpad interface and the different ways of inputting information into the system; voice, touchpad, MMI ****, etc. The MMI flexibility, with 2 SD slots, Jukebox, DVD, MMI cable input, Sirius, AM/FM/HD means you can get your music virtually any way you want it. I love that you can import music form SD to the Jukebox, but hate that only the Jukebox can truly be random playback across all content. I have always been an Acura technology fan, but have to say Audi really pulls this all together in a much more intuitive and logical way.
Technology
The Driver’s Assistance package was a must have for me. I wanted Adaptive Cruise, Lane Departure and Blind Spot and must say all deliver as advertised. The ACC is excellent at maintaining speed and adjusting to the gap for the car in front of you. We go on long drives when I like to use cruise control, but get frustrated with having to constantly cancel or adjust the speed manually. The blind spot is a bit conservative and I find that it warns of cars in the blind spot, that anyone living in a major metropolitan city will argue, where I actually have plenty of space to take a lane without being close to the car behind me. I wish the blind spot warning had a distance setting similar to the ACC to so you can determine how conservative the warning is. I also wish the Blind Spot warning had an active mode where it would either tug the steering wheel or vibrate it when you try to take a lane while it thinks there is a vehicle in the blind spot. The Lane Departure system is very good, it does an excellent job of watching even somewhat faded pavement markings and if you get too close to the line the car will pull you back into the center of the lane. It is supposed to vibrate the wheel as well, but even though I have that setting enabled I have yet to fell that, it just turns the steering wheel to get you back into the lane. It responds quickly enough that from my experience you never leave the lane. My only complaint with the Lane Departure is that there is a little symbol on the gauge cluster that is green when it is getting good readings and yellow when it id now, unless you are watching that symbol you don’t know when it cannot get a good lock. I subtle audile beep when it loses lock would be nice. This model has Audi Pre Sense Plus, which is supposed to warn and mitigate impending collisions. I have no way of testing it, but I find the warning when I am too close to someone weak, it flashes an icon on the instrument cluster. I feel it should have an optional warning beep as well, similar to the warning you can set to let you know you have gone over a designated speed as I try not to be looking at the gauge cluster all the time. Both the Pre Sense and Lane Departure rely on you watching the gauge cluster too much, the idea is for you to watch the road so optional warning beeps of some type would be appreciated. The backup and Top View camera system is cool, but honestly the camera resolution is weak compared to others in the class. Also the 2-way front and back views that allow you to see if cars are approaching from the sides when pulling into a road, or backing out of are difficult to make out due to poor resolution various lighting conditions. The camera displays are slow to come on and I find I am already moving by the time the camera display is on the screen. This makes me think the processing power in the car is not as good as it could be.
Summary
Overall I have no regrets about going with the Audi, other than maybe not getting the sport package. If the A6 turns out to be fairly reliable I may become an Audi guy. I hope Audi figures out how to better do electric steering and wish you didn’t have to get an S6 to get the comfort seats. I was considering going with another M37 equipped with technology which would have cost within $500 of my A6 and would not have had AWD, but the Audi is hands down a more refined car and more fun to drive, even with its short coming and cheaper materials.
Overall
Pros:
Exterior styling
Awesome powertrain
Technology (while not perfect, it is still well executed) especially the Google integration
Beautiful Gauge and MMI displays
Cons:
Some cheapness to the interior materials compared to Japanese competitors
Stupid placement of the cup holders blocking the MMI controls
Ventilated seats (virtually worthless)
Steering column control stalks
3G T-Mobile speeds combined with low processing power of the MMI
First, I come from a long line of Japanese vehicles from all three major Japanese makers. Most recently numerous Acura TLs and an Infiniti M37 Sport. I was reluctant at first to go German because of the history of reliability and maintenance costs, but I decided to give it a go. I was not impressed with any MB offerings as I don't care for their interiors. I like BMW styling and handling, but not a fan of the every little thing is an option and trying to find a car close to what I wanted was impossible. I also heard there are some quirks with the 5 Series center console controls and shifter. I kept being intrigued by Audi as I have liked their looks and love their LED lighting and the biggest draw was of course Quattro. I tasted AWD in my 09 AWD TL and loved it and wanted back into the full time active AWD game. I test drove the A6 several times before ordering and it gradually grew on me. I finally pulled the trigger in June and ordered an A6 Prestige with Driver's assist and full LED package. Fast forward 8 weeks and the car arrived. I have driven it a few hundred miles and over a few weeks and have some initial observations:
Drive train
This is the real amazing asset of this car. The 3.0 supercharged V6 with 8AT is silky smooth and pulls great right from the line. The car accelerates effortlessly and feels like the gift that just keeps giving. Quattro is also amazing, nothing like having all 4 wheels working all the time, no torque steer or that push from the rear that at time makes you feel like you may lose the back end in aggressive corners. I know there are those that feel that without the Sports Differential Quattro is not all that, but other than Subaru and I believe Mitsubishi, there is no other full time active AWD. Acura's SH-AWD is nice, but the rear diff really is idle most of the time unless you really get on the car in turns. The 8AT shifts smooth and without hesitation. You can coast at 55 MPH at under 1400 RPM, then mash the pedal and be plastered into the seat, totally insane. The Germans have the formula here, smaller displacement and forced induction, gives you the torque and power on demand that you want and yet under normal driving delivers respectable fuel economy.
Ride Quality
As I am still driving rather conservative during break in period, I will say the car has a very planted and solid, while nimble feel. I did not get the Sport Package due to some ground clearance issues, but even the standard suspension has a good balance of handling yet compliant, although leans a bit in hard corners. The standard suspension handles about as well and my M37 Sport without some of the firmness. The electric steering is rather numb and makes me feel like I am in the arcade playing a driving game even when set to Dynamic mode all the time. While it does get some heft at higher speeds it feels too artificial, at lower speeds it is far too light, and you always feel very disconnected from the road. The ride is very neutral, but I am sure the Sports package fixes that. My only regret was not getting the sports package. I did upgrade to Hartmann 20 inch wheels and Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3 that help firm up the ride a tad. As for the brakes I cannot comment on the stock brakes as I immediately (less than 30 miles) had them replaced with Akebono Euro Ceramics that have virtually no dust. The Akebono brakes are great, they are still bedding, but once you get past the first one or 2 stops and they are warmed up their bite is very good, very linear, but I do which they had better overall grip, I suspect a higher friction compound would resolve this, but may create some dust or shorten pad and/or rotor life. I am hoping like my previous ceramic brakes that after a few thousand mile they really do grab better.
Exterior
Well Audi styling is just very simple elegance. Very subtle styling that ages well yet still looks current. The simple curves and unmistakable LEDs just announce your arrival. Not to knock anyone that does not have the Prestige, but I just feel the subtle S-Line trim that the Prestige model brings to the game really makes the car look that much better. The full LED headlights are very crisp and white, but without direct scientific measurements I feel my M37 Bi-xenons threw light further. My only real slight ding is that all Audis sedans really look so much alike that most people can't tell if you are in an A6 or A8, I guess that is good for us A6 drivers. I get having family roots and resemblance, but it is almost like triplets with the sedans.
Interior
This is where I have most of my complaints. I almost did not get the A6 because for a $65K car the interior materials were not up to the same luxury standards I was used to in my Infiniti. The leather in the A6 seems cheap and does not feel like high grade material as the leather in my 09 AWD TL or 2011 M37S did. I opted for the “Premium textile” car mats and what a pitiful use of the work Premium. I could clearly get better car mats from numerous sources, even my standard Infiniti mats were better quality. The control stalks on the steering column also feel cheap and dated, not like they belong in a $65K automobile. Every review I have read raves about the seats, but I find them a tad firm and uncomfortable, very difficult to find that long distance cruise position, and lacking good thigh support. And what idiot designed the center console, start button and volume **** on the far right side then cup the holder right in front of arm rest, but that blocks your hands from getting to the MMI (I see they fixed this on the 15 A3). I get that Europeans are used to smaller storage and space, but the A6 seems that every storage area is a bit on the small side, glove box, both center arm rest cubbies, and the little trays under the front seats, all smaller that I expect from a car of this class. And the cup holders seem a bit small and the really crush plastic water bottles that are thin. Also the sunglass holder is virtually useless you have very small thing glasses. I know the Europeans love the red backlit ***** and buttons, but this is more a luxury sedan than a sports car. Leave the red back lighting to the coupes or S/RS models and put a more neutral white for the A6.
The Gauge cluster is stunning, I love the ability to scroll and page through different displays and the screen is sharp and easily readable, reminds me of “retina” level displays. Speaking of screens, the popup MMI display is really beautiful. I usually hate pop up displays as I feel they take away from the dash's flow, but the A6 screen is growing on me. I have seen some people complain the cabin is not as quiet as they would like it, but I suspect that is purely tires as I find the cabin to be one of the quietest I have owned. There is little or no road noise and the A/S Conti’s are very quiet. Honestly I test drove the Sport package with summer tires and still found it far quieter than my M37 Sport. My M37 on the other hand had noise cancellation, yet was still filled with the drone of tires and road noise. The climate control system is strong, cooling or heating the car quickly, but I find it cannot maintain a constant temperature as I always have to fiddle with it. My car has vented seats, but I find them virtually useless. Audi pulls air through the seat, but only in a small area behind your butt or in your crotch area, so I find no difference with the cooled seats on or off. Maybe if I were really hot and sweaty I might notice it, but I have driven after work with and without the cooled seats on 90 degree days with no difference. The Prestige package comes with LED interior lighting and ambient LED lighting, both very nice. The illuminated door sills are a little understated, but then that is Audi’s approach, subtle not in your face.
Electronics
As for the MMI, I have to say it take a little getting used to, but is very logically laid out and easy to learn. Far better than what My Infiniti had. The voice commands in the MMI are excellent, leaps more advanced to my Infiniti, and about on par with Acura. The Bose system is very decent for what it is. I would have loved to be able to go for the B&O, but could not justify the $6K expense. The Audi Bose is cleaner and richer than the Bose in my M37 was, but not as clean as the ELS that was in my 09 Acura TL AWD. The Navigation system is one of the best I have dealt with in any car. Everything with the MMI is very intuitive and the ability to speak an entire address without have to pause to parse each section is a great time saver. The map displays are clean and colorful without looking cartoony or flat (are you listening Acura and Infiniti). While the A6 does not have the breadth of apps that Lexus or BMW have, the Google integration trumps them all. The ability to get up to date location and address information is wonderful, rather than dealing with 2-3 year old static Navi data. What a pleasure to just speak a destination query and let Google parse it and figure it out and present you with what you are looking for with great accuracy. Some may wonder if $15 a month is worth it on a 30 month plan, and each person will need to decide that for themselves, but count me in for now. The only want here is that Audi release a LTE upgrade because 3G is so damn slow, although I suspect some of the slowness is the processing power in the MMI system. They need to have an option to allow the car to get data via your connected phone would be great, but then I am sure that would upset their relationship with DT/T-Mobile as everyone would just connect via their 4G cell phones and never pay for the Audi data plan. I love the touchpad interface and the different ways of inputting information into the system; voice, touchpad, MMI ****, etc. The MMI flexibility, with 2 SD slots, Jukebox, DVD, MMI cable input, Sirius, AM/FM/HD means you can get your music virtually any way you want it. I love that you can import music form SD to the Jukebox, but hate that only the Jukebox can truly be random playback across all content. I have always been an Acura technology fan, but have to say Audi really pulls this all together in a much more intuitive and logical way.
Technology
The Driver’s Assistance package was a must have for me. I wanted Adaptive Cruise, Lane Departure and Blind Spot and must say all deliver as advertised. The ACC is excellent at maintaining speed and adjusting to the gap for the car in front of you. We go on long drives when I like to use cruise control, but get frustrated with having to constantly cancel or adjust the speed manually. The blind spot is a bit conservative and I find that it warns of cars in the blind spot, that anyone living in a major metropolitan city will argue, where I actually have plenty of space to take a lane without being close to the car behind me. I wish the blind spot warning had a distance setting similar to the ACC to so you can determine how conservative the warning is. I also wish the Blind Spot warning had an active mode where it would either tug the steering wheel or vibrate it when you try to take a lane while it thinks there is a vehicle in the blind spot. The Lane Departure system is very good, it does an excellent job of watching even somewhat faded pavement markings and if you get too close to the line the car will pull you back into the center of the lane. It is supposed to vibrate the wheel as well, but even though I have that setting enabled I have yet to fell that, it just turns the steering wheel to get you back into the lane. It responds quickly enough that from my experience you never leave the lane. My only complaint with the Lane Departure is that there is a little symbol on the gauge cluster that is green when it is getting good readings and yellow when it id now, unless you are watching that symbol you don’t know when it cannot get a good lock. I subtle audile beep when it loses lock would be nice. This model has Audi Pre Sense Plus, which is supposed to warn and mitigate impending collisions. I have no way of testing it, but I find the warning when I am too close to someone weak, it flashes an icon on the instrument cluster. I feel it should have an optional warning beep as well, similar to the warning you can set to let you know you have gone over a designated speed as I try not to be looking at the gauge cluster all the time. Both the Pre Sense and Lane Departure rely on you watching the gauge cluster too much, the idea is for you to watch the road so optional warning beeps of some type would be appreciated. The backup and Top View camera system is cool, but honestly the camera resolution is weak compared to others in the class. Also the 2-way front and back views that allow you to see if cars are approaching from the sides when pulling into a road, or backing out of are difficult to make out due to poor resolution various lighting conditions. The camera displays are slow to come on and I find I am already moving by the time the camera display is on the screen. This makes me think the processing power in the car is not as good as it could be.
Summary
Overall I have no regrets about going with the Audi, other than maybe not getting the sport package. If the A6 turns out to be fairly reliable I may become an Audi guy. I hope Audi figures out how to better do electric steering and wish you didn’t have to get an S6 to get the comfort seats. I was considering going with another M37 equipped with technology which would have cost within $500 of my A6 and would not have had AWD, but the Audi is hands down a more refined car and more fun to drive, even with its short coming and cheaper materials.
Overall
Pros:
Exterior styling
Awesome powertrain
Technology (while not perfect, it is still well executed) especially the Google integration
Beautiful Gauge and MMI displays
Cons:
Some cheapness to the interior materials compared to Japanese competitors
Stupid placement of the cup holders blocking the MMI controls
Ventilated seats (virtually worthless)
Steering column control stalks
3G T-Mobile speeds combined with low processing power of the MMI
09-15-2013, 04:26 PM
#2
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Does anyone know if the ventilated seats in the A6 are the same in the S6? Because I have now seen numerous A6 owners complain about the lack of power with the seats. However my comfort seats are a workhorse and I live in Florida. I can't survive in Florida with leather seats without serious cooling.
09-15-2013, 04:34 PM
#3
Just by the fact that you have comfort seats I would expect there to be some differences in overall seat design. I plan on mentioning it when I go in for my first service, although I expect the answer to be "working as designed". What is worse is on the highest setting it get annoying as I don't feel any difference and I can then hear the seat blower droning in the background.
09-15-2013, 04:39 PM
#4
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The car looks great!!! I really like your write up, especially since I have my new A6 coming in the next week or so. I am also coming from a Japanese car to my first German made car. Sounds like you are pretty happy with your investment, I anticipate similar happiness once my arrives as well.
09-15-2013, 04:39 PM
#5
Nice write-up. There was not much I could disagree with except regarding those features I don’t have on my Premium+ and cannot agree or disagree with. Although a number of the Audi faithful might disagree, I am with you in terms of the interior materials and luxury touches falling short of some of the best Japanese cars. I find the seats uncomfortable and wish sport seats with pull-out thigh support were available on all trim levels as they are on some cars. The leather used on Audi’s seats is thick, more so I believe than on most Japanese cars. That being said, they are rather grossly grained with sort of flat matte finish and lack the nice smooth polish of the Acura’s, for example. My best friend has a late model TL and I feel that in many ways the interior is more luxurious than my A6’s. This past weekend I noticed a small but nice feature: on his console there is s compartment for the 12-volt power outlet with a super smooth-sliding cover that hides the outlet when you are not using it. And, the cover is real metal, a nice touch. When I got back to my car I looked at the flimsy hard to reach 12-volt outlet cover in the tray under the armrest and did feel it was cheap looking and less functional by comparison to the TL. My 2010 A6 had the same kind of outlet cover as my 2013 Audi and on the 2010 it broke twice, even though I rarely go near it. These comments do not mean I hate my Audi, they are just an admission it is not 100% perfect I guess. Anyway, good luck with the car.
09-15-2013, 04:49 PM
#6
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Just by the fact that you have comfort seats I would expect there to be some differences in overall seat design. I plan on mentioning it when I go in for my first service, although I expect the answer to be "working as designed". What is worse is on the highest setting it get annoying as I don't feel any difference and I can then hear the seat blower droning in the background.
09-15-2013, 05:25 PM
#7
If I put my hand on the seat in front of my crotch I can feel the air being pulled in and the seat surface feels cool there, but I don't know how it can pull any air underneath me or behind me if my body and clothes are covering all the vents. I'll take my Infiniti "cooled" seats which blew cooled air up through the seat, any day as I always felt them when engaged.
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10-07-2013, 05:38 PM
#8
I thought I would give a quick 1500 mile update.
First I love this car, truly an exception machine. The positives far outweigh any negatives, with one exception. The steering sucks! I hate their EPS steering, even in Dynamic it is far too light all the time with no feedback. I have driven EPS based cars before and none felt so numb and disconnected. This one thing by far would be a reason I would shop elsewhere next time.
Today was very heavy rain and I must say the A6/Quattro in combination with my Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3 made this car handle like it was dry out. Water patches that would have made my old car feel a little jittery for sticking the Audi just sailed through with a very confident ride.
On to the rest, there is really not much to complain about, the seats are not as comfortable as I would like and thigh support seems short and lacking. The MMI is slow to boot and the backup camera is pitiful in clarity and resolution, not to mention I have rolled 5 feet backward by the time it comes up on the screen.
For the positives, did I mention this awesome power train! The MMI is the best head unit I have ever owned and the Voice commands and in particular the Google integration is what all cars should aim for. I hated the nav systems in my previous cars and just love Audi's implementation. My only wish here would be 4G integration or at least option to hotspot through my own phone (Verizon LTE). I hope in the next gen they provide more mobile integration, not so much with social media, but with Google. It would be great is instead of having to configure addresses via Audi's myaudi web site that it had the capability to link to my Google account and use my address book and calendar to get all the info.
I have a long trip coming up before the end of the year and look forward to the drive in the A6. I get constant compliments on the car and especially now with the wheels, which made a huge improvement in the look. This is just one awesome sexy beast.
First I love this car, truly an exception machine. The positives far outweigh any negatives, with one exception. The steering sucks! I hate their EPS steering, even in Dynamic it is far too light all the time with no feedback. I have driven EPS based cars before and none felt so numb and disconnected. This one thing by far would be a reason I would shop elsewhere next time.
Today was very heavy rain and I must say the A6/Quattro in combination with my Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3 made this car handle like it was dry out. Water patches that would have made my old car feel a little jittery for sticking the Audi just sailed through with a very confident ride.
On to the rest, there is really not much to complain about, the seats are not as comfortable as I would like and thigh support seems short and lacking. The MMI is slow to boot and the backup camera is pitiful in clarity and resolution, not to mention I have rolled 5 feet backward by the time it comes up on the screen.
For the positives, did I mention this awesome power train! The MMI is the best head unit I have ever owned and the Voice commands and in particular the Google integration is what all cars should aim for. I hated the nav systems in my previous cars and just love Audi's implementation. My only wish here would be 4G integration or at least option to hotspot through my own phone (Verizon LTE). I hope in the next gen they provide more mobile integration, not so much with social media, but with Google. It would be great is instead of having to configure addresses via Audi's myaudi web site that it had the capability to link to my Google account and use my address book and calendar to get all the info.
I have a long trip coming up before the end of the year and look forward to the drive in the A6. I get constant compliments on the car and especially now with the wheels, which made a huge improvement in the look. This is just one awesome sexy beast.
10-07-2013, 05:49 PM
#9
AudiWorld Senior Member
First I love this car, truly an exception machine. The positives far outweigh any negatives, with one exception. The steering sucks! I hate their EPS steering, even in Dynamic it is far too light all the time with no feedback. I have driven EPS based cars before and none felt so numb and disconnected. This one thing by far would be a reason I would shop elsewhere next time.
10-08-2013, 03:04 AM
#10
True, but I have driven far better implementations of EPS. Shame on Audi to have a comfort and dynamic setting and not really make dynamic have any substantive feeling.