Old vs. New Technical Solutions
 

I posted this in the A7 forum and got some good responses, but figured this would also be a good place to solicit opinions.

Since 2006 I have owned several A6s and currently an A7. What I have liked is that the basic technologies in all of these cars stayed the same, stayed familiar. When I got into a new Audi I didn’t need to learn much or get used to it for the most part because it was so similar to the previous car.

I will be in the market soon and wanted to get opinions from those of you who have had Audis previously and who now drive a current generation car.

Specifically, I am interested in your opinions on the following:

Shifter - New Audis no longer have a traditional shifter that physically moves from the P position to the R position to D etc. They now have a shifter that toggles from gear to gear position.

MMI - The MMI is now touch screens and no longer the dial / button / switches solution.

Gauge Cluster - The gauges are now a high resolution display screen instead of the traditional dial and pointer type.

I worry that I will not like and not be able to get used to these features.

If this were a poll, I would ask you to vote:

- I dislike the new technical solutions and preferred the prior solutions
- I see the new technical solutions as far superior, and would not want to return to the prior solutions
- I see no great difference between the two

Thoughts?

I own the 2019 A6 Prestige with all options minus the steering wheel warmer. This is our third Audi A6. Previous Audi's were all manual transmission which we love. It took about 2 drives with the new car to use the automatic shift. I did hit the brake once thinking it was the clutch... Haven't done that since... ugh...

Love the MMI which is very easy to Navigate but the learning curve is steep. having said that, most commands can be voice activated and or loaded for quick access vice drilling down to activate.
Virtual cockpit was a fast learning curve and I love all the different displays it can provide. I prefer the virtual RPM and Speedometer as it displays a lot more information than the old cluster gauges. The new display shows speed in both dial and numbers centered plus speed limit of the road is marked by a green triangle on the outside of the speedometer and below it displays your car and active lane assist with the cruise control speed under that. By hitting view on the steering wheel changes the display to a smaller RPM and Speedometer down to the lower corners allowing a larger navigation screen, music menu, car statistics, etc. I normally run WAZE off my cell phone on the main center MMI display and google maps on the drivers display or if I want, WAZE on the drivers display if I want to.

For those not liking the finger prints on the display... well... its not a big deal as I stated, a lot of page changes can be had using your voice or short cuts on the display. As a reference, how many of these naysayers own push button cell phones vice touch screen cell phones? Does the cell phone finger print and smudges bother you? Maybe you should go back to push button technology... LOL...

The HUD is amazing as well. You can move the display up and down for your seating position, it's in color and very sharp and bright. I love the map directions it can display as well as driver lane assist information. I can also dim or brighten that HUD to whatever I desire. At night I normally dim it a tad and in bright daylight I brighten it all the way up. I can even see the HUD using my dark sunglasses.

You can't (in European cars at least) use the lower screen in typing or writing mode when the vehicle is moving. After 1 month of driving the new car, I have found the new system to be very good and I am more than happy with it. In fact I think entering data is quicker than turning the MMI knob to get to the letters you want. For all the things I want immediatley that used to be physical buttons (eg Heated Rear Window, Recirculation, Heated Seats) they are there in a fixed location and no harder to find than before.

the phone call button is on the steering wheel and a roller knob can find any contact or just press steering wheel call button and say: "call John Simon". you can keep your eyes on the road...

if there are more than one John Simons then you would have to roll the knob on the wheel or say call #2 or touch #2 on MMI... you have several options...

Correct it is only available when the car is stationary, but as mentioned by Doug2.7 you can select destinations off the DIS using the steering wheel controls or use the much improved voice command system when the vehicle is moving