DB22

The Germans don't have XM so they never thought of it.

I want the trip computer, lane assist and lap timer. Because the lap timer has a speed indication then you could use the whole space of the speedometer dial for something useful.
I know everybody has their own preferences as to what they would want on their pages so allowing you to save 5 pages would allow for everyone to save various preferences. By law you must have a speed indication so that would show up irrelevant of your choices but it need only be a relatively small digital display, using 33% of the space available just for speed indication is very 1960's.

dshahs420

I would hate for it to be bars. One of the few classic looks remaining inside modern cars are the speedo and tach needles around a big black hole with numbers.

joebird

This stuff is coming soon on other models via 'virtual cockpit'. Some examples:

(start at 1:35)

DB22

Thanks for the videos, I knew that I had seen them somewhere. It seems that the new UI is to eliminate the pop-up screen and it doesn't solve the problem of constantly switching between menus. Doing all that in the demo of the TT while driving is nuts. My proposal was to eliminate the incessant need to keep changing menus by having more information constantly in front of you, that way you only have to move your eyes and not keep using the **** and buttons to see information that should always be available to the eye. If, however, you need to scroll through the folders in the juke box, for example, then by all means allow for the full menu to be exposed.
What would you all think if you had to select the fuel gauge every time that you wanted to check the fuel amount remaining? It's a dumb idea but it is an example of what I'm proposing, put more of the data that you consistently want on a display and make it configurable.

mike-nd

For me - having an analog speedometer and tachometer was a draw to get the A6. It is becoming unique to see that, and it gives it a much more sporty feel- particularly the '3D' layout of these analog meters. Yes- the digital reconstructions of these are impressive and give you much more flexibility in what is displayed and how big it is displayed.

However, it is nice to occasionally turn the DIS off and tuck the screen away and not have a an LED or LCD screen in you face.

That being said- I do love the DIS and think it is much less obtrusive than displays in other cars (and honestly was in awe the fist time I saw turn by turn navigation in the DIS). It is also very intuitive, I had it all figured out on my 6 mile ride home after purchasing the car (I bought it used from a Mercedes dealer so never got a tutorial).

I do understand the frustration of having to switch through menus on the flip out screen to get HD radio information if you want navigation on at the same time. Ir would be nice to either have a mini-window in Navigation with whatever audio is playing or the DIS provide more audio details, or the options to customize this, but for me this is less of a nuisance than some other A6 quirks (like the brick key fob) none of which make me regret the car!

irenesbob

In terms of user interface, mine is minimal: I rarely ever change what’s shown on the DIS nor do I wish I could see more things.
The one thing that annoys me is that when I select a new destination on my MMI screen and controller the DIS switches to NAV information which I do not need in that location, since it is already on the big easy to read screen. I then have to manually set the DIS back to big digital speedometer – not a big deal, but annoying.
I see your point re: the fuel gauge. I don’t see why that could not be one of the items to be selected in the DIS like the onboard computer for mpg and the energy efficiency functions are. Perhaps there could be an alarm that would warn you when there is less than a certain amount of gas in the tank or miles until empty, so you can then select “fuel level” in the DIS and check things out before running out.
Overall, I like my A6’s dash, MMI screen/controls and DIS but I have few informational needs and use phone like once a month, so I guess I am not typical.

joebird

It'll be interesting to see how user-configurable these new screens will be