100% agree. I don't use my cupholder for anything that holds liquids. Way too close to the MMI controls.

My motto - Driving requires 100% of attention - no texting, no reading newspapers, no doing make-up on faces, no shaving, no eating, and no drinking. If one (really) needs to talk on a mobile phone while driving, Use a wired or bluetooth handsfree headset with both hands on the wheel. Just my humble opinion.

 

And let's add no arguing with the kids in the back seat, no watching video, no car cleaning, no searching the car for lost items and no Googleing either on a portable device or at pretty individuals.

 

Let me write these down for my list before I forget, while I steer with my knobby knees. Hey, what/who can my 4,200 lbs car hurt when traveling at a slow 45 mph.

 

As the original poster for this thread, I must say you have really gone off track. I guess, in your opinion, there is no need for cup holders in a car at all. Who could reasonably expect to place a cup with actual liquids in it, in their cupholder?? In my case, I was not driving distracted by carelessly (sarcasm) drinking something from my cupholder, I was just bringing an unfinished cup home instead of being wasteful. I guess the proper solution for Audi owners is to just leave it. Or instead of getting a drink with my lunch that I just brought back to work, I should have had something here to drink instead so as to not put a cup with liquid in my cupholder.

The point of the post is to provide a cautionary tale about using styrofoam cups in Audi cupholders and to confirm that there are others with the same problem, i.e. a systematic design flaw, and not to debate the practicality, usefulness, or need for cupholders in a car. On another note, I do completely agree with the need to decrease the amount of distracted driving...do not text and drive!

 

Opthoman, just an FYI, as a new contributor to the AW Forums, please be aware that threads can and usually do take different directions as was the case here. There are really no rules that the threads stay completely on topic to the OP's intent so long as the posts don't get completely off track, become unruly, mean spirited or turn to personal attacks. People will go off on tangents and express different opinions; it's the nature of the forum beast. Do continue to contribute and engage - it's what makes the AW forums so useful for so many.

 

I understand your need to "educate" the apparent newbie, but although new to the AW Forum, I am no stranger to forums, debate, or voicing my opinion. My reply was not meant to be a personal attack, but rather an argument against the logic of "who cares if there is a problem with the cupholders, you shouldn't be using them anyway" or "it's just the European way". When you pay $80,000 for a car, you expect that most, if not all, details have been meticulously thought of, even down to the cupholders. Let me tell you, if you had to pay $2,000 to get something like this fixed, you would feel drastically different about the situation.

I also very much understand how topics drift off subject and that is perfectly fine, but I will say that it makes a difference. There are people that have had the same problem and come to this forum to find a solution or at least to commiserate. In this post, they would have to go back a couple of pages to find what they were looking for. Although there are no rules against it and it is the nature the beast, I can tell you that between myself, friends, and family, we all uniformly appreciate threads that do stay relatively on topic instead of a method of chatter. That is how the AW forum can be so useful for so many. Someone looking to read about the styrofoam cup problem in their car, will have to sift through "things that distract drivers". Although funny and a great thread topic on it's own, congests the topic at hand. On that note...

DO NOT PUT STYROFOAM CUPS IN YOUR AUDI.

 

Ophthoman, you have a private message.

 

Ophthoman, I am sorry if I digressed from YOUR topic and if I got you all worked up. It was not my intention. If you focused on my initial response, I did say I agreed with your frustration 100% and why I don't put any drinks in the (any car brand) cupholders ... based on my previous "sticky" experience.

However, since I did not mean to get you all worked up, I do have to say that topics created in any forum are not "copyrighted" and are not usually limited to original topic. Example of one topic I created a while back:

https://www.audiworld.com/forums/sho....php?t=2838237

My reaction was .... none. It was great to see my fellow members jumping in to lend their thoughts, experience and insight; and it did not matter it went off the beaten path several times in that thread.

Again, sorry to hear about your unexpected expense and wish you the very best.

Regards!

 

Opthoman, you seem easily excitable.

I refrained from making this statement earlier, but I think you have one heck of a nerve to ask Audi to pay for anything you did to your car.

 

People:

I've been reading this thread and must agree with many; it would be great if the cup holders could actually be used as such, however, as has been pointed out, it can rapidly become a "Danger...Will Robinson" event with a $2k tag associated with a fix. As many of you know, I've had my own issues with runaway liquids.

Personally, I don't use them for anything other than a place to put my keys and phone, and if I do need to transport Dunkin D's, I actually use the rear cup holder to take it home.

Is there any way to remove the prongs, might that be a solution (with an appropriate liner)?