Envy

Hi Frank, I certainly agree with you regarding the Tech although you have a few years head start on me. I am fairly Tech savvy but needed time to find all the features and tailor my shortcuts to my preferences. I would also sit in the car, on the drive, reading the manual and slowly getting more familiar with the tech offerings. The App does work well and reassures regarding security notifying if windows are down and doors unlocked when parked up. The simple tracking feature is a nice to have although I have not forgotten where my car has been parked by me to date. A sensible running in period is always worth doing - some may argue but the engineer in me understands what a bedding in period is for. As for comfort - the car is a very nice place to be, I drove to Glasgow from the SW of England non stop except for 1 coffee and comfort break (about 440 miles) with little discomfort and duress. The massage seats are a blessing in mine. The highest MPG I have seen indicated is 40, the lowest is 20MPG but that is towing my caravan. Once I got through the SW glitches of the the early days, the car has been a pleasure to own and drive. I now have roof bars so will be mounting up the mountain bikes for further adventures. Must remember to keep the speed sensible with the bikes up top. Hope that your experience of ownership continues to be a great one.

I elected to take out a 4 year service plan to spread the cost of maintenance. It is clearly stated what is in included but not what is excluded from the service items but through owner experience I know what can be added to a service as "extras". One key thing is to get the car into the workshop and do the inspection, ID worn items such as tyres and brakes and then offer to replace for a premium. There are some very good independents out there that will help you save money but with such a young car I do not think you can better the franchised Audi support.

So buying a 3 litre petrol Avant was heart over head decision wanting to enjoy this type of car before they become extinct. I thought the 35MPG factory figures were ambitious like of old but without being overly economic in driving attitude I have seen +40MPG. I always use E5 and this pictured run was a mix of A and B roads including dual carriageway sections. I have to admit this is probably as good as it gets but having recently driven a 2.0 A5 B10 petrol and a 2.0 Q5 Diesel the economy of the S5 B10 is pleasantly surprising. If I do have to be in a greater hurry I see MPG drop to mid 20's and when towing the Wobble Box (1.8 tonnes) - high teens to low 20's are the best I can get but then my A6 C7 2.0 diesel was doing only ~24MPG when pulling the caravan.

look in the driver assist menu - button next to camera button on centre console. Have you selected your assist short cut options? I admit adaptive cruise takes some getting used to and managing the gap to maintain good progress takes practice but personally it works for me. especially when in stop start traffic.

Hello Frank, I do not think you have made a bad decision. The only factor that would have been decisive to me would be ease of access with the S5 being lower causing some to struggle getting in and out. The S5 certainly has the legs for the long journeys but also the agility for those wonderful roads around the New Forest. I do not think it is much smaller in area than the Q8 but have never checked the figures. My S5 was never going to be as frugal on fuel as my previous A6 C7 Diesel but there comes a point where enjoyment overtakes economy. On longer drives to Glasgow and Doncaster I have seen over 36MPG. Adaptive Cruise and the adaptive ./ adjustable suspension is definitely a bonus. You will have seen that early cars have had the odd undocumented feature that has required SW updates but the car is certainly able to tick most if not all boxes be them practical or based totally on desire. The pano. roof helps light up the interior, the passenger screen (a divisive option) works for me - Disney+ for those that want in-flight movies, or as you have highlighted, lets the passenger assist with entertainment and navigation. Mine has massage seats - heated and cooled. These are comfortable although it took a short time to find the sweet spot of settings. Side bolster adjustment too for that hugging support laterally. The Hybrid + definitely helps with economy and will give the Green Fraternity a fuzzy feeling until they realize it only works up to a certain speed and a short duration. Times that it is most noticeable are when in traffic such as motorway tail backs or in Towns and also when arriving home and car parks. I expect you have already experienced adaptive cruise but it was new to me and when sat in tail backs I found it works perfectly. The regeneration seems to work as described although there is no State of Charge gauge but it does show when power is being recuperated. I have parking and towing assist but have not tried these in the past 9 months of ownership although as a tow car it works will- More to like than dislike.

Sorry that you have had such a bad experience - my new Audi was a tad troublesome but I cannot fault Audi for the the way they have supported their product since I took ownership. There were a number of bugs in my car's software that an update has resolved. That first impression counts and I must admit I had doubts about my initial decision to purchase but with all things brand new there is a risk. Mechanicals work, that is a given. Electricals around emissions, safety, hybrid and driving assistance can be temperamental. That is not the reserve of Audi with people I know having issues with JLR and Ford Hybrid and Electric models.

over years different self driving functions have crept in. They work to a fashion but nothing replaces a well conditioned, trained and alert Human at the wheel.

I do not think that Audi have perfected the Traffic Sign Recognition yet, and due to the sate of some road signs I am not sure it will be 100% fixed in the future. Auto speed limitation is also not something I am interested in but I do use Google Maps for Nav and that can ping false limits. For example, when you pass A roads whilst on the M-Way and the GPS locations thinks you are on a different road. With all things techy like the HW and SW in these advanced motors there will be improvements and enhancements all the time but even the tech has its limits when it comes to what us Humans present and expect at times.

1 Deg F is cold - in electronic terms is is what I would call f'ing cold. Most electronic assemblies have working range temperatures that are dictated by the operational temperature range (Highest and lowest) of its components. We get in our cars and expect everything to work be it -20 or +40 C in all humidity levels and expect them to just work. The more complex cars have become, the more we will get the odd glitch. The way sensors communicate on CAN, it only takes a slightly out of range signal to raise a flag. I concede that Software (Firmware) can have a lot to do with what alarms raise and when we see them - note that all the SW and FW is doing is setting how many times a sensor signal has to go out of range and for how long it is OOR before flashing up an alert. Yes sensors can fail rather than get a little confused temporarily but a failed sensor would be raising an alert on every start up or maintaining a persistent warning on the dash. Back in the day of carbs and chokes we would dismiss a miss fire as carb icing in the winter- now we will see an EML come up causing all sorts of concerns.

Hi, Sorry for the lack of an update - have not been out in car that much since the "operation". I have not had any (Fingers crossed) Stability Control alerts since the update. It seems to have fixed all the false alarming including TPMS etc. I do get some warnings regarding driver assist, collision avoidance and auto headlights when setting off at times but I put this sown to frost or debris on the array of camera and sensors. I should clean the car more often. The nearside blind spot monitoring still flashes away at anything more than a kerb but that is not a key issue to me. Last issue I have, which I put down to the HUD work is that one of the ambient LED sections shows a different colour to the rest if different colours are set for top and bottom zones. I have a theory that this is down to when the dash board was removed for the HUD control module change. This can wait for when its convenient to drop car back at Bath Audi again.

I downloaded mine from the Web - YouTube - Latest Maps and also got Apple Carplay / Android Auto enabled through SW upgrade. I think there was a pinned topic on here somewhere...

Oh how I wanted a mk1 Escort Mexico with an array of Cibie Spots along the bonnet back in the day but what I am referring to are the light unit upgrades. These sort of units was what I was thinking of https://www.bing.com/ck/a?!&&p=32ffbf4cd2986362b825664990a793b03513539ff12777c954259a09d16cbc90JmltdHM9MTc2MjEyODAwMA&ptn=3&ver=2&hsh=4&fclid=02ba3146-f70f-61ce-0be4-2707f6ef60c6&u=a1L3ZpZGVvcy9yaXZlcnZpZXcvcmVsYXRlZHZpZGVvP3E9aGVhZGxhbXArdXBncmFkZXMrYnVsYnMmbWlkPUUzQTcxNkVGMDNGQzA3NEM4QjQzRTNBNzE2RUYwM0ZDMDc0QzhCNDMmRk9STT1WSVJF

Hi have the Matrix LED option and do not get any complaints (flashes from oncoming drivers) when driving at night. I think there are a number of factors at play here. 1st issue is those that upgrade convention headlights to high intensity conventional or LED units where the headlamp bodies are not suitable. Next is high beam assist. Too slow to be relied upon but it is called "assist". Lastly is the mention of beam alignment on SUV type vehicles as mentioned above - some seem to be at eyeline rather than just below as set out in MOT standards. Previous Audi had LED lights - the fog option spread more illumination to the kerb. I saw the BBC conversation and the advice given was the same when I started driving in 1987. My main complaint is not headlights but Fog Lights - how may folk drive with them on persistently rather than switching them off when visibility improves and / or when a vehicle is visible behind.

My A6 C7 had flush roof rails with pairs of indents at 3 points along the length of the rails. The roof bar option had a plate in the internal side of the feet that use these holes to locate and secure the bars.

To try and divert some frustration I am making a game of it. "Guess the Fault Displayed Today" Had a new one to me last night "Steering Fault" "Safe to Continue" The evening before, the traction control decided it would be turned off and would not switch on. - To me it smacks of a incompatible SW / HW combination. The messages have to be over CANBUS and the central control unit will be getting scrambled messages. Some of the faults put the car in limp (limited performance) mode. I can understand the flap VAG must be in tyring to resolve these issues. If they were in America Lawyers would be jumping all over it.