Future Q8 owner... questions!
 

Hi all,

First, thanks for these wonderful threads! Super helpful to read as a future Q8 owner.

I’ve been struggling to pick between prestige and premium plus. I think I’ve decided to go premium plus with cold weather, air suspension, year one package. Some questions re that:

• Am I missing something in not getting the prestige? I know the package differences and have ruled out needing the adaptive cruise control. Just isn’t something I’d use. I’m also not sold on the dashboard with stitching so thought I could forego that as well. The last thing I’m thinking about is the option for the matrix lights. I’ve heard that the US *may* enable these but is it worth it for any reason otherwise?
• CarPlay: is it wireless now or only when connected via usb? I’m used to it being wireless in my bmw. Are there any operational differences when using CarPlay in the Audi? Or things to be aware of? (Quirks?)
• I drove a prestige with the aforementioned adaptive chassis and thought it was fabulous. I put it on individual mode initially as I remember liking to keep the “driving”/transmission info the balanced/less aggressive mode but adjust the steering/suspension to be dynamic. I compared this to just pure dynamic mode as I thought it would be identical, minus the shifting. However, I found that when cornering, dynamic mode is vastly more planted when cornering and seems to not have as much body roll at all. Did I miss a setting in individual mode or is dynamic lower somehow with the air suspension? I was hoping to get that wonderful non-roll feeling on individual ... but perhaps there’s some setting in dynamic mode that isn’t configurable on individual? Sorry for the confusing question.
• Are the inflatable side bolsters configurable/able to be inflated more with the standard premium plus set up? Or is that a setting seen in the luxury package only? I couldn’t find this described anywhere.

That’s it for now. Appreciate your input!

I went for the prestige package because I got used to the HUD and I thought that without the leather lined dashboard looked very spartan on my '17 Q7.
If you have an iPhone, then carplay is wireless.
In order to get the twenty way seats with massage, you will need to get the luxury package or the Sarder Brown package (Comfort Seats) available on the prestige level.
Yes, the adaptive suspension raise and lowers the car. The dynamic lowers the car to the lowest setting, my individual setting is dynamic, with the transmission mapped as normal. I set the suspension to dynamic that places the transmission as sport, then switch to normal and sets up my individual setting.
The US may allow matrix lighting and if the car is equipped, then only a software flash will activate.

Everything is available on the premium plus, except the luxury package and the HUD.

If you do any type of regular highway driving or plan to take it on road trips adaptive cruise control is very much worth it

Unless you live in New Jersey where, if you leave more than 1 car length between you and the car in front of you, someone will pull into it

Thank you all! Appreciate it.

Never had a car with the cruise control that paces you. Is it really that handy? Seems a bit steep but open to hearing the benefits!

I have never had a car with one either, but I'm surely looking forward to it. The justification for me to get it was I know I will be taking this for long drives so I figure it should provide me some moments of reset during long stretches where it can get mundane.

Its really nice for road trips. You just set the speed and dont have to worry about slowing down and resetting the cruise speed constantly. It just automatically does everything for you. Even if someone unexpectedly jumps in your lane it will slow down and as soon as they get back in their lane it will resume the speed you set. You can adjust the following distance as well. I've never had any issues with it. First used it with my wife's Jeep Grand Cherokee and we both loved it driving out to Colorado. I used it on a 2.5 hour drive in the Q8 and it worked as expected. Maybe see if you can test drive a car with it to see how you like it. The guy had us set it to 60 on a normal road behind a car to show how it worked. Braked all the way to a stop at the red light behind a car. Only thing negative would be if there is rain or snow or the sensors get dirty it will not work for you which is probably a good thing.

Had ACC on my last 3 cars, and it's worth every penny to me. Cruising on the highway, just works as standard CC with nothing in front of you (although it's nice to have to prevent closing on the car in front in case your attention wanders- which it shouldn't, but hey, it's life), but I probably use it most in the city, with stop and go moderate speed traffic (Traffic Jam Assist). You still need to pay attention, but just makes one part of your driving equation (braking) more relaxing during your morning commute for example, and as others note it's basically set and forget. Like all automated systems, the driver is still responsible for paying attention, but less fiddling, resetting and driver movement is a good thing on a trip, long or short.

To the OP: If I had a magic wand, I'd get a Prestige with the YR-1 Package, ask for a credit for the leather dash, think hard about getting the trailer hitch ($650) and forget the CD DVD player (not because of the cost, but because it takes up space in the glove box.)

We have a P+ with YR-1, Orca Black (extra cost), cold weather, trailer hitch, and CD/DVD player AND we got the MUST HAVE OPTION "Driver Assistance." This is, for me, the single most important option you can get -- but it would be difficult to say enough words to convince you (take one out for a long, long, long test drive and learn all about it.)

Our P+ as configured is so close to the cost of a Prestige (assuming the unobtainable $1,250 leather dash credit) that the Prestige -- knowing what I know now -- is a no brainer. I miss the head's up display. We had an SQ5 with it and I still have a 2018 S4 Prestige.

If you feel you "need" the trailer hitch, I guess you can't go wrong, but in our case, we will NEVER tow anything and I would be damn near shocked to see a Q8 towing anything. Haven't used the CD/DVD player what with iTunes, etc.

I miss ONE thing -- the HUD. I say that since our P+ has the driver assistance package that would be part of the Prestige package had we thought it through a bit more. My wife is find without the HUD, I'm not so much, but the Driver Assist feature + the HUD are worth every dollar. Get a Prestige.

BTW, since you've little or no experience with the ACC, etc., I'd ask for someone to give you a walk-through (and drive) to show you just what ACC, traffic assist, high-beam assist, lane keeping, etc, etc, etc. really are all about.

Damn near a miracle feature if you asked me.

Mark - I was going through the same route you did with regards to selection. We were originally going to get the P+ and then just add the Driver Assistance Package and Matrix Lighting, but then when we compared the numbers, it already wasn't too far off from just ordering a prestige. So we ended up getting just getting the Prestige and considering the additional items (HUD, Leather dash, etc.) were just extra perks.

But going back to topic, living in NYC I can be sure that when I get caught in traffic that ACC will be 100% worthwhile when I'm in those stop and go moments, but at the same time even when on a long stretch of highway, not have to be absolutely engaged all the time. But I do like the Audi system more in comparison to that of Tesla as it forces you to "check in" after every 15 secs or so.