RamblinMan

I'm a new owner of a 2020 A6. First Audi I've owned so I'm happy about that.

I'm confused with the virtual cockpit. Mine has three options to choose from: Classic, Sport and a third option I can't recall. That third option shows the speedometer as a sort of meter. When I look online I see Sport mode showing the speedometer and odometer as a sort of single unit with a lap function.

When I toggle between classic and sport they look identical. I also see no way to do this toggling from the steering wheel controls but only through the MMI.

Is this right? Is this some sort of US version where Sport will not look the same as I see online?

Thank you.

Silver42

is this stuff available on the 2019's? was always wondering if we could change the look of the standard Cluster...

gk1

You might be seeing a mode only available on S or RS models.

need4spd

So far it doesn't seem to be working on 2019's some people with the OBDeleven devices are trying to see if they can unlock it without any success.

if you don't have the S6 or RS6, then the sport display is very similar to the original. The ONLY differences I saw were that the font is different and the tach redline area is different (see next post).

If you saw it had a lap counter, that is only in the RS and S cars. (you can add a lap counter but need to get an OBDeleven device to reprogram it)

I am pretty sure you are correct it is only the S and RS with combo sport display

need4spd

Here are the Virtual cockpit options for the 2020 and up A cars and Q suvs (this was taken in an updated Q7)

Classic


Sport - very subtle changes to the font in the gray gauge area only (more angular) and the tach has a red band to it with white numbers (above has red lines and red numbers)





Third style - I think it is dynamic? while it may look interesting with the moving [ and ] on either side, if found it hard to use.

Bartenderfloyd

Correct. Very minor difference as I only noticed the tach change. I can barely tell about the font. I wonder why they include this feature and who it targets. Like... if I put the display in sport mode do I go faster? Sounds like technology for the sake of technology.

Whatever16

Yes I saw the same thing on my car. Really couldn't tell the difference.

gk1

Wow. Yeah those first two are hardly different at all.
Here’s an RS7 which I assume is similar to what the OP had seen.

or this from an RS4.

need4spd

Its too bad that some of those features don't work in our cluster, such as the Engine Data of Power and torque which can be turned on via the OBDeleven, but unfortunately the readings don't change (thanks to C8 test driver at OBDeleven forum):




G-meter is also able to turn on with OBDeleven, but doesn't work either.

superswiss

I always felt the virtual cockpit to be somewhat of a gimmick in the A and Q models, because they largely stuck to essentially rendering a traditional analog cluster with digital versions of the dual side-by-side gauges and the information you could display wasn't all that different from the analog cluster with the smaller digital color display in the center. If I remember correctly they used to have only one layout. I suppose the biggest draw in the A and Q models is the ability to minimize the gauges and show the map full screen, but I never quite found a use for this. Since I'm generally about driving and often drive in manual mode, I still want to see a full size rev counter and get the shift lights and other driving relevant information. The minimized speedometer in particular is kinda questionable with the lack of numbers on the scale. When I have navigation active, then I prefer to use the center display to show the map and have turn-by-turn instructions in the instrument cluster next to the relevant driving information and perhaps at most a smaller detail map to show the immediate road layout around me instead of taking up the entire cluster with the map.

IMO, it only starts to get interesting in the performance models where you can have different arrangements and graphics for the gauges. Specifically, getting rid of the speedometer (which I find largely useless), moving the rev counter to the center and then have two areas on the left and right to show other information. Looks like they have started to give the A and Q models the option of different layouts, but yeah that Sport layout feels like somebody had a bit of time left and all they could think of was changing the font and show the redline more prominent The dynamic layout is interesting as it is a different interpretation of displaying the information, but I'm not sure about this one. However, that is what I'm looking for. If one replaces the traditional gauges with a display and then just uses it to render a largely similar virtual version of the traditional gauge cluster is in my opinion a missed opportunity.

It's not much different with other brands. I've switched to Mercedes-AMG and it's largely the same with the regular Mercedes-Benz models. While they do have different layouts, they largely just change the color scheme, but stick to the side-by-side cluster layout, and only the AMG models can truly change the layout and do away with the outdated side-by-side gauges and instead display a bunch of configurable performance related and other information in the gained screen real estate. I like the idea of the latest RS models where the layout/graphics change based on your driving mode. As shown above for the RS7, if you activate the RS1 and 2 modes, the layout of the virtual cockpit changes to a more racing/sporty display with emphasis on the revs. This layout is borrowed from Motorsport essentially where they've long done away with the traditional round gauges. I think we've first seen this in supercars like Lamborghini where each drive mode has a unique instrument cluster layout.