gema7

BMW currently has digital instrument clusters in their 2015 6 series. Thats something that attracts me to the 6 series personally. Maybe its the inner kid in me. Their system is in no way as intuitive as the audi virtual cockpit to be offered in the TT or Q7 though. I use my navigation quite a bit, wether for actual navigation or changing music so the ability to alternate from larger gauges to smaller gauges in order for greater visibility is practical to me. I know the 2016 A7 will offer navigation information in the cluster as well but I'm not sure how music and other features will be displayed on such system and how visibility will compare. I will say that in regards to practicality from a reliability standpoint, the analog cluster may be more reliable. Technology obviously fails so analog clusters may avoid such occurrences. I personally don't think digital is cheaper in this instance because of the nvidia technology and its range of functionailty in comparison to other digital clusters, could be wrong though. Also from my understanding, the virtual cockpit will be an optional feature in the Q7 not a standard feature so i expect it to be an adequate up-charge for the addition.

mutiny22183

Ordered my 2016 A7 with an expected delivery between end of March to mid April. Any idea if the 2016 A7 will support Apple CarPlay? I'm leaning no, but would be interested in knowing if support will be added once it's released, in a form of a MMI update.

jasonlitka

I seriously doubt that it will be on the 2016 A/S 6/7. Audi said it wouldn't be included on anything until calendar 2016. The odds of it coming over as a firmware update aren't real high either as I'm guessing they'll only add it to cars as they hit a refresh period.

gema7

From what I've seen its offered on the 2016 Q7 as well as the virtual cockpit i mentioned. I honestly don't understand how new features are being debuted on other 2016 models and not the a7. This is the facelift/refresh model so I'd expect any new features and tech to naturally carry over but it seems its not

jasonlitka

It's because the refreshed 6/7 aren't really 2016 models. They're more of a 2015.5 (the refresh is called 2015 in Europe). The models getting the new tech will probably swing the other way and be a slightly later release than normal.

Also, unlike the Q7 which is a brand new model, the 6/7 are just a mid-cycle refresh. The changes won't be as dramatic.

ckelly14

Wow. I ended up purchasing another car (Lexus GS350) but had a 2016 Prestige ordered with the contour seats. I was also told about 2K.

Go and sit in the A8- most have these seats and I thought it was worth the upgrade at 2K, not sure about 3450. Also, this package upgrades the rear seats to the comfort seats, which are significantly more comfortable than the base rear seats. Not sure if this is something you care about, but I'm always toting kids around in the back...

mutiny22183

Thanks for your input! I tend to give people rides all the time, so I care about the comfort of the rear seats. I will be getting 6% off of the MSRP, $2k from Audi loyalty, and $500 from friends and family, so that should offset the extra cost a bit (Too bad Chicago's sales tax is at 9.25%!)

melland

My dealer was expecting to have a 2016 A7 allotment delivered last week. He found out that Audi is holding the 2016s at port until they can get them ready to be released across the US at approx the same time. Sounds like the west coast is still waiting on the boats. He was told they'd be released in 3-4 weeks and make it to lots end of Fed/early March.

As far as my order goes - mid-April.

amelen

Your dealer has cars that made it out of production? According to AoA, none of the 2016's bound for america have started production yet (although it should start any day). I placed my order 2 months ago and am not in production yet (was told I'm towards the front of the production queue though). No guarantees that AoA isn't making a mistake, but I haven't heard of any other members who's cars have made it to production yet.

gema7

I was told by my dealer on Saturday that 2016's orders are being produced in March with delivery expected for April.