Here are some additional Innovation Package & MMI thoughts post a more thorough session with both.


Innovation Package:

HUD has grown on me tremendously since my first test drive. Having the virtual speedometer right in front of your eyes at all times makes it unnecessary to look at the dash. Had 3 items in the display concurrently; speedometer, navigation, and laser-cruise control. All in different colors. Very cool.

Was able to see the HUD information with Polarized sunglasses although the image was faint (RayBan branded). Changing the brightness of the HUD had no impact. Then put on Non-Polarized sunglasses and information was bright and clear.


Laser Cruise Control: Didn't think this was necessary although used it today for fun and it is actually very sweet. Keeps your set distance perfectly. Found this to be handy in some intermittent traffic on the highway. Much more valuable than I thought it would be.

Side Assist: actually helped me when I was in the right lane of a 3-lane road. A truck abruptly pulled out in front of me so I was all set to slide into the middle lane, when the side-assist started blinking and a car was going from the far left lane to the middle lane and we probably would have collided in the middle lane. Very interesting that this car wasn't in the lane directly next to me, rather it was 2 lanes over and was coming into the middle lane at an angle yet the side assist still picked up the danger. Awesome.

Night Assist: Still haven't been able to use this since the dealers close before it gets dark but my salesperson offered to let me take a demo home overnight to try it out now that they have a few A6s in inventory. Will report back.

Very happy to have ordered the innovation package. Was on the fence about the HUD, Laser Cruise and side Assist but think they are totally worth it.


MMI: Cover-flow is pretty cool, although it appears to be only available from music on the jukebox.

The lack of search capability is a continued oversight. The touchpad would be a great way to search for artist, song, playlist or album name but the touch-pad stays in "radio preset mode" despite the MMI being in "Media" mode. Very frustrating to have to still spin the MMI wheel fast to put it into "scan" mode which is very imprecise when you have 3,000 songs on an iPod.

Google Connect: really like the Google maps and you can eliminate the data connection "prompt" (which would get annoying if you had to accept it every time you got into the car).

Was NOT able to connect my iPhone to the Wi-Fi hotspot. The iPhone would see the Audi Wi-fi network, but would say "unable to join". Tried this multiple times with both WPA2 and WPA security. The dealer said he connected his and also an iPad but I wasn't able to make the connection. Would love to hear from any owners with iPhones/iPads to see if they are able to connect to the car's Wi-Fi's hotspot.



Conclusion: Innovation package is a very good deal. If you were to add each of the included features to a BMW it would be several thousand dollars more. The technology is cool, but it is also helpful and a major safety uptick.

MMI: View the lack of search via the touchpad as a missed opportunity but perhaps upgradeable at a later date.

Google Connection: Absolutely fantastic looking. Hoping to be able to connect an iPhone/iPad to it in the future.

 

How do you eliminate the data connection prompt? That's gonna drive me nuts.

I had no problem connecting to the hotspot with my iPhone. Didn't run a Speedtest yet.

 

Glad to hear you were able to connect an iPhone.

As for the data connection prompt; I think it was in the telephone section, then settings, then data connections. If not there, it definitely is buried in the Telephone area somewhere and has 3 options "prompt, no prompt or Never".

The "Never" option did not allow any data connection and the "no prompt" option seemed to just start the car up with Google Maps as the image on the NAV (which is the way I will want it).

Hopefully my information is accurate even after the car has been turned off for an hour or two, but it definitely worked in the 20-25mins between the car being on/off/on again at the dealer today.

Let us know if you find the prompt and if you get it to stop asking for the connection.

Good luck. Sorry I wasn't more precise.

 

Cavman,
Thanks for taking your time and sharing your observation. You post let me start rethinking my future order.
Thinking to stop by my local dealer and spend more time inside car to play with all this new toys. When time get closer to real buy - 24 hr test drive will be a great opportunity to **** a neighbor.

 

hope you don't use a radar detector because it will not work with side assist (or maybe active cruise too). it will set it off with a small false positive

 

Once done, it's persistent across starts.

It's in

Telephone\Settings\Data Connection

 

Nice work Jetinder. Thanks for confirming.

Love this message board. People are so helpful.

And thanks to KY_Soldier, hadn't heard that about Radar Detector interference. Appreciate the info.

 

Not sure which radar detector you're using but I use a Valentine One in my '08 A8L with side assist and don't have any issues with small false positive signals. I think this issue is dependent on the make and ability of the unit to identify and screen false signals.

 

No issues with "Escort 9500" or my Redline!

 

Barry, do you have the innovation package? My 9500xi was working great on a4 convertible. I upgraded to A6 2012 with innovation package and I've noticed a huge performance drop. Detector works great in my wife's minivan though...
I've noticed no ramp up any more, and a significant loss of detection.. I've rest it, turned off pop, etc and little helps.... Very frustrated at the moment...

Anyone have any insights / ideas? Does the innovation package also add metallic windshield, etc?