userbbc

Has anyone noticed their steering wheel isn't centered relative to the driver seat? Basically it's offset about 1/2in. to the right.
Took it in to the dealer and this seems to be manufacturer spec though they'll be sending the information in to Audi for review.
Sat in another Q5 at the dealer and noticed the same thing.
Definitely wasn't the case in the '09 A4 I traded in nor was it the case in the allroad I also checked out at the dealer.

2013 2.0t Q5 standard wheel on my end.

userbbc

is this a known issue or am I really the only one with this problem?
even in a stock photo, the steering wheel appears off compared to the driver seat

MP4.2+6.0

A slight offset doesn't surprise me from Audi experience. Back on my 85 C3 Audi 5000 it was almost laughable--the better part of two inches! And even there it took me a while to notice it.

Probably has to do with things like the bolt up point for the steering column to the rack, platform design stretching in various directions relative to siblings like A4 and A5, practicalities of fitting seat tracks to the floorpan and the center tunnel clearance, making sure the front inner edge of the seat bottom cushion still clears the tranny tunnel and console in its extreme forward position (notice how it's tight there even in the photo you posted),and fitting the seats in what they thought was a decent ergonomic compromise among steering wheel, pedals, door controls, center console and armrest clearances (on both sides). And by the way, they have to repeat the same drill to try to fit it reasonably for the RHD markets.

rarewolf

If we do not notice, what's the point?

(... just askin' ...)

BlackSVT

Yes, mine is the same way.
Unfortunately, once you notice this with cars in general, it can't be "unseen" I have never seen a car from any make that didn't have some offset/skew. It's a packaging issue as MP4.2+6.0 mentions. Right hand/left hand drive, more stringent accident/safety standards, airbags, less room under the hood, etc all make the engineering challenge greater so some minimal compromise is often made.

I honestly don't know what the strategy is nowadays with all these airbags involved with regard to steering column movement or crush in a front impact. I assume the column breaks and the wheel itself is hard located to the dash to aim the airbag, but IDK... pre-airbags, the whole solid column would be designed to travel in some "less harmful" path out of the drivers way in a major impact. I'm guessing that's why older cars seem to have more angle added to the offset.

My (overly wordy) post is really meant to say -- it's common

abcabc

This is really interesting. I had never noticed this on my vehicle, but I do notice that I tend to sit off center on my seat. Maybe this why.

userbbc

Sorry for bringing this up for those that never noticed (i can understand it's harder to ignore once you see it.)

I make a few long drives each month and that's when the shifted wheel tends to make one arm sore. Kept thinking I wasn't sitting in the seat correctly so when I tried to line everything up...sitting in center of seat, sitting away from wheel so that the wrist just breaks over the top of the wheel, center of body matching center of wheel, etc...that's when i noticed something was off.

Didn't realize it was so prevalent though. A handful of Hondas, an Acura, and a couple of later model Audis in the past and never had this problem.

I do remember driving the parents' '86 Audi 5000 way back, but actually never even noticed. Guessing I'm just a little too **** about how a car drives these days.

But rarewolf is right, if you don't notice, there is not point. Should maybe try the VIM coding to distract me instead

81Coupe

I wonder how many of us sit precisely centered with both hands on the wheel at symmetric positions all the time. Probably only then will this be an issue.

Growing up driving a stick shift, I usually have one arm holding the wheel at 10 o'clock position, the other at 4 or close to the shifter. I sit off-center also, it helps my lower back if I change position from time to time. I doubt if I can even feel the offset.

Come to think of it, as I am typing this, about one third of my iMac's screen is to the left of my nose, the other two thirds is to the right. Part of the reason is that I have the numeric keypad and trackpad on the right side, so that I have to sit further left in order to type. But I wonder, could part of the reason be that being used to driving LHD vehicles, I expect more windscreen/monitor on my right side?

Point is, no matter you are driving a LHD or a RHD car, you are already off-centered. We all get used to it.

ny tdi

I never really felt comfortable in my B8, and this is the reason why. Maybe I disnt REALIZE that everything was off-center relative to the seats (steering wheel, clutch, shifter, etc), but I defenitley noticed that the car was uncomfortable for me. All these ergonomic "decisions" make perfect sense from an engineering/cost point of view, but it's a horrible experience for those of us who prefer our cabins to be driver centric. I've owned my B8.5 A4 for all of 1 year, and I'm trading it in for a BMW just for this reason. I hate the fact that everything is off set, and I've never been able to be comfortable in the car because of it.

ex-quattro PETE

Just curious, how were you able to measure it?

The only reason I ask is that I'd like to see if I can replicate your process on ours.