Q7 ramblings

[Dave Eaton]

well said, i agree 100%.  for an eg, if anyone gets a chance look at the
last s-class user interface - there must be 50 buttons on the dash of that
car - each one a potential point of failure.  the new s-class with the
amended command interface, is much cleaner (maybe 8 buttons), and quite easy
to use - even for a plutocrat.  And undoubtedly more reliable....

note too, that the recent consumer reports reliability survey rated audi as
by far the best german (and best non-japanese) marquee. 

dave
'03 rs6
'04 allroad tdi

-----Original Message-----
From: Ti Kan [mailto:ti at amb.org] 
Sent: Saturday, 3 March 2007 8:39 p.m.
To: Dave Eaton
Cc: quattro at audifans.com
Subject: Re: Q7 ramblings

Dave Eaton writes:
> #3: people have been warning about overcomplication and the expense of 
> failure since efi removed the carb & points. i'm still waiting for the 
> sky to fall.

So, with this system, whether it's MMI or dozens of switches, what has to
happen electrically is identical -- modules talking to each other.
Audi's MMI, BMW's iDrive and Mercedes' COMAND merely package the human
controls together in a screen based interface.  There is a benefit in this
sort of arrangement in that new features and changes could be done via
software upgrade, with little or no need for actual hardware change.  I
won't argue that a separate switch for each function would be more direct,
but with the sheer number of them that would be needed, it might have been
just as confusing and user-unfriendly, if not worse.

Unlike BMW's iDrive which has almost everything into a single knob and must
be navigated through menus, Audi's MMI has pushbuttons and knobs surrounding
the "big knob" that gives you direct access to the most common features.
The automotive press has been unanimous in saying that MMI is better than
iDrive.  I suspect that once an owner gets used to MMI, it would become
second nature to use.


-Ti