[Tj2k]

The Bad:

It's quieter - so this is on the good list as well - but there are times when I like to hear what's going on - but the 8 to me, is a car which defines effortless power, in a relaxed, comfortable, no fuss manner - so along with double glazing and the like - can't be held against it too much.

Rear Heated Seats and A/C Control for Rear Passengers - This is an odd one. Drop the rear arm rest and the rear of the car suddenly looks more luxurious. There’s a lovely display of more leather and that trim that was selected when the car was new but also, the controls for the heated seats and rear passenger A/C settings. I thought this a little odd given that, in my D3, the arm rest spent it’s life in the upright position. SO, if you have 3 rear passengers, the rear passengers can’t use the heated seats or adjust the A/C. No big deal I suppose – but the car does accommodate 3 rear seats and yes the rear-heated seats are only heated for those seats on the outside – but still, not a great design feature in my opinion. I would have preferred Audi to have left them where they were located in the D3. Yes, it may not be very often you have 3 rear passengers and if then, they may not be bothered about heated rear seats or fiddle with the heat settings – but – the options are there in the first place for rear passengers. So, looks nice but not that practical on those few occasions you have 3 rear passengers.

Parking in your garage / Wing Mirrors! If you have a garage like ours, a single car-width entrance (ours is a tandem double), you’ll probably notice that getting the car safely through the gap is more difficult than the D3.
I'd initially thought the car was much wider than the old one, but I don't think that’s the case; it's actually the wing mirrors, they're huge! At least a couple of inches on each side of the car - bigger than the D3 - so when you first get your car home and are getting safely into the garage, you'll probably notice like me, that you have to fold in the mirrors to get it through the gap and the fold'em back to finalise your parking. My 1st attempt wasn’t easy!

MMI Buttons – The gear selector has a large leather covered pad on it – beware metal watchstrap wearers! The idea is that the driver rests his/her wrist on the wrist rest and has his / her hand ideally located above the MMI control console. My issue with this is, that although your hand is ideally located for access to the buttons, I found that my finger nails (which are not long by any stretch!) where impacting the buttons rather than my finger tips and so I had to make a conscious effort to ensure I was using my finger tips. Not the end of the world – but some getting used to needed here!

Seat Heating – no longer via MMI, only 3 heat settings – so only 3 heat settings which is a shame – but the top setting is as hot as the old, the middle setting is equivalent to the setting 3 on the D3 and 1st setting is probably something between 1 & 2. Additionally, the heated seat control does not seem to go via MMI (though I understand that seat-heating can be eliminated should the Power Management control unit decide that it needs the power to start the car’s engine if it feels the battery is low). So, you hit the button and that’s your lot – no MMI visual operation as with the D3!

Some glitches with iPhone 4s Connectivity

BOSE – whilst playing a track from (Voff Voff – by Eberg), some excessive panel vibration from the rear / boot area on the bass / beat parts of a track (very disappointed about this – going to have to get this sorted out under warranty). I donlt think this a specific fault on my car – I think they’re probably all going to do this – given what experimenting with holding things down and listening to panels attempts revealed – so bit of a shame that!

Tools in the Boot – There’s a Jack, a warning triangle and that’s your lot! If you have the removable tow-bar (I don’t have the fully automatic one), the bar is provided is a bit of a flimsy bag, which can be located in the recess on the right – where in the D3, the battery is).

The boot is much smaller- not only because this car has the full-sized spare wheel either! It’s simply not as deep – what a shame!

Full-Size Spare Wheel - I have the full size apre wheel option – the wheel is in the boot, face up, with the car’s battery in the recess of the wheel itself. The boot, as a result, is a lot higher and so less deep / not as much space and coupled with it being not as long as the D3, this is on the Bad list!