Newbie Questions -- 2012 A8L
 

Thanks for everybody's questions and comments on this forum. I felt very knowledgeable about the platform as I was searching for a 2012/13 A8L vehicle. I found a metallic quartz grey , 2012 with 44,000 miles -- 3 year warranty. The owner really cared for this vehicle, it looks almost new.

I have been driving for two weeks now, but have a few questions:

1. Is there a way to have your Sirius Presets show on the center screen (between Tach and Speedo) and/or the center pop-up screen? For the driver display, I have not been able to change the default digital speedo or trip computer as the default.

2. The vehicle has 20 inch spoke rims with summer tires. Thanks to this group I knew the road noise would be loud. I expect I have about 5K miles left on the tread. I have seen a few threads regarding the high cost of this particular tire size. What luck have people had in running a slightly larger more available size? Have you had any issues with the driving computer? What brands have worked well?

3. Does anybody know of an aftermarket/generic MMI cable that has a Apple lightening connector -- the Audi branded ones are about $80. I am most interested in phone charging, as the music will play over bluetooth.

Thanks again for everybody's posts and assistance in helping me to make this purchase.

Picture added.
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.aud...2e39db00b6.jpg

Congrats! Gorgeous car. I too am a new A8 owner and I found for the iPhone adapter I went to Best Buy and bought a 30pin to lightening pin adapter for $29 I believe it was. That did the trick for me. I'm looking into the tire options as well - as the summer tires will not do well if the short winter, but winter nonetheless, we have here.

Cheers and congrats again!

Very beautiful car and I'm not too crazy about silver due to mainly visibility concerns. If have to get rid of that license plate though. Fine or not.

Already rid of plate, it was a bit loud. Awaiting my state plate to replace.

Black is the sharpest color, but a nightmare to keep clean if you are picky about those things. With the grey color I can sleep at night with a few water spots or road dust.

Silver is pretty and yes my black pearl is a ongoing challenge for me. The extra tiny on Windows completes the look. And yes I'm picky. I can't stand to see a speck of dirt on it. The only potential draw back of perfectly clean, it'll show any flaws. I used REJEX on wheels and paint that helps a lot. It get the nano ceramic paint coating next.

Quartz is gray not silver

1. Not sure what you are asking, but the arrow keys on the left steering spoke cycle through the tabs in the screen between the tach and speedo. Once you are in the tab you want, try hitting the menu button (the square one) for a list of possible display options for that tab. I think presets are one of them. Note that the MMI presets are not frequency specific. AM/FM/Sirius presets all live together in one list.

2. Do a search on this board. Lots of talk about different tire sizes.

3. There is a generic USB cable (I have one and would consider selling it to you for maybe $30 if you want it) that you could plug a USB-lightning cable into for charging only. Or, do what I do and get a low profile cigar lighter adapter and leave it plugged in between the cupholders. The cupholder cover will still close and you have USB charging right where you need it. Or go 30-pin to lightning like has been previously suggested.

Aren't we splitting hairs, here? Technically speaking, I think grey is supposed to be a color between white and black, where silver is a grey with a pearly or metallic tint. With that description, it seems silver is a more apt description than grey, regardless of the official name. Still, put out an APB on it, and either way, that's the car they'd look for.

Technically speaking it's gray. Audi has numerous silver variants that are much lighter than quartz. Quartz is very close to Tornado which is their current gray.