JonDeutsch

Yes - the designer's dilemma. How do you make everyone happy without making everyone unhappy? This is why great designers make the big bucks.

I'm actually surprised by two things:
1. How much I dislike how it's mounted (it looks glued on by an after-market tech, and it looks like it is mounted too far forward on the dash)
2. How so few car reviews mentioned it as a design faux pas.
I too like subtle and honest design over flashy and over-the-top. I just feel like subtle and honest design in 2017 is not where the A4 is right now. I feel like it's about 3 years behind. The new A8 seems like it's moving into that newer, more angular style that the A4 will eventually inherit.

All Quattros are wonderful. But when I mention that it's Quattro Ultra to someone in-the-know, it just creates this intuitive "oh bummer" thing like we lost something great to a newfangled engineering compromise to hit EPA MPG standards.

ropuff

A retractable screen would be nice, but I don't mind it as-is. Looks a lot less iPad-like than in the mid-lower Benz models. I would complain if it didn't have the high resolution sharpness that it fortunately does. I'm sure it's not a deal-breaker preventing sales.

An interesting addition to the VC would be a mode that visualizes Quattro status in realtime.

An overhaul (or simplification) of the B&O would be welcome, with less 3D-ness, which I feel is unneeded gimmicky post-processing that makes for good marketing. It takes way too long to figure out the right combination of settings for an agreeable sound preference. But I do commend the quality/clarity of sound produced.

I think an easy change they can introduce is more wheel options, with the nicer upsized ones available with All Season tires OR Summer/Performance. Haven't understood why they don't give a tire type choice like BMW and MB do, even in sportier trims.

The backup camera seems wonky to me, makes everything seem closer than it actually is. That shouldn't be too hard to improve.

Improved steering feel/response would probably require a model refresh or next-gen change, but I hope they improve it somewhere down the line.

rsilvers129

I mind the screen there. If they don't want it to retract, I would prefer it to be smaller.

I like the exterior styling.

I would like the 2019 to have a BMW inline-6 engine, or at least be as smooth as my Q7.

And as many interior LED strips as my Q7.

And seats with more narrow bolsters.

And the shift paddles should not move with the wheel.

Dan in St. Louis

Then they would only be where you expect them to be when driving in a straight line.

Obsidian3K

My list of wants is pretty modest. Android Auto integration with VC & HUD, Matrix LED option (looks like it'll be legal in Canada by end of this year, so fingers crossed!), leather (real or synthetic) on the armrests and center console side trim, and better stock tires. Oh, and a brighter blue paint option wouldn't be bad either.

As far as the screen goes, I want it exactly how it is today, in the same plane as the road ahead. Lowering the screen into the dash or raising the dash up around the screen would be a big enough ergonomic miss that I'd consider other options.

rsilvers129

I hope them to be in the 9 and 3 o'clock positions. It is them being on the wheel that keeps me from accessing them when I am turning. I shuffle steer so that my arms don't cross the airbag. The fixed shifters should be tall enough so that you can access them all the time at any reasonable hand position. Having them on the wheel just forces me to not shuffle steer.

VM

I don't think we'll see a brighter blue option in Canada after what happened in 09. The B7 and others, up until 2008 inclusive, were offered in Ocean Blue. Lovely colour. Then when the B8 came around, they switched to aruba blue. Beautiful colour, aruba blue, much brighter than ocean blue, but... it sold quite poorly (I was told by one stealership that Audi Canada required all stealerships to order one aruba blue car early in the model year, and many of those cars were still in dealer inventory in May/June 09). The market conditions probably didn't help - the B8 seemed to sell to an older clientele than the B7, the collapse of leasing in Nov. 2008 made it more expensive, and the trend in big urban centres has been against younger folks buying nice cars - all of which suggests buyers would migrate away from brightly coloured cars.

For 2010, unsurprisingly, Audi Canada dropped aruba blue (and added garnet red, which I don't think was ever very popular either), leaving only the really dark blue... whatever it was called... until they launched scuba blue in 2012 or 2013. Scuba blue has survived this many model years - clearly, it sells well enough for the bean counters at Audi Canada, and I can't imagine them approving a brighter blue on a non-S car.

SDakota

It appears that Audi releases the new model information when the order book closes for the old model and opens for the new model. Take a look at these links and the timeline below:
2018 Audi A4 and S4 - NY Daily News
https://www.audiworld.com/forums/a4-...guide-2917938/
https://www.carsdirect.com/automotiv...vel-ultra-trim

3/7/17 - Daily News reports that 2018 A4 specs aren't yet available
4/7/17 (Fri, 7:20pm) - AudiWorld user SYMAWD posts the 2018 US Order Guide
4/10/17 (Mon) - SYMAWD posts that the 2017 order book is closed and 2018 is open
4/21/17 - CarsDirect reports on 2018 specs

So assuming that the factory does not accept new orders over the weekend, you would have missed your chance to order a 2017 once the 2018 specs were released. Of course you still had time to buy a 2017 manual transmission off the lot, but if Audi drops the 6MT as an option imagine how fast the existing manual transmissions will disappear.

SDakota

For anyone who wants to rent a Silvercar before purchasing a new A4, I recommend starting your rental period as early in the morning as you can. I've rented three Silvercars at the Denver airport in the last 60 days. Twice I was able to rent a 2017 and once I had a 2016. They seemed to have more cars available in the morning than later in the day, so your chance of getting a 2017 is greater in the morning (and you can ask the attendant to drive a particular car).

mplsbrian

Quattro is not famous for being full-time. Quattro is famous for being a predictable, reliable, best-in-class all wheel drive system that is always there when you need it and that doesn't feel clunky/delayed to engage,unlike much of the competition. That's all it's famous for. Nobody at all really cares if it uses a predictive clutch or a crown gear or if it's really just magical German elves who live in your fenders and turn the wheels by hand -- as long as it meets the standards of performance you were promised at sale.

The fact is that designing the rear drivetrain to never disengage was an absolutely caveman way to solve the underlined part above. It worked, and it was effective at the time, but today it is about as clever as putting a solid axle on Mustang instead of a quality LSD/IRS and then saying "no power loss in turns! Best system in the business!" ........ "okay but call me when your 430HP car doesn't takes corners like a boat. There's a better way of doing that now and most of your competition figured it out a long time ago."

So if an engineer came to me and said, "what if I can give you the exact same AWD performance, reliability, and driving feel you've come to expect from the current Quattro, but with better gas mileage and lower emissions, by making this a super-intelligent part time system. And by the way, unlike the competition, you will 100% without a doubt not notice this change at all and will never feel it disengaging or engaging because it will always be on when you need it, before you need it. This will be best in class just like quattro always has been." Ummmm yes please: that sounds like a great improvement to an already great system. I'm going to be all over that. It sounds like AWD with all of the pros and none of the cons of a mechanically inefficient 10+ year old technology full time system....frankly I wish it was available for my '18 S4.

So, I am contending your statement that it sounds like less quattro. It doesn't sound like that at all to me, it sounds like more quattro. That's the part I am getting sick of: people assuming that this clearly better approach to traction management is somehow a step backwards or "less" in some way. Your statement that you tried it and it was fine backs that up, but yet you want to take an evolutionary step backwards to a more primitive system because...wait because why exactly? Because the name changed? 0.o