98 A4 musings

[ti@amb.org (Ti Kan)]

I was at the Carlsen dealer yesterday to get my 96 A4q looked at
(The radio's FM reception suddenly became very poor, and they wound
up replacing the whole radio to fix it).  Anyway, while I was waiting
I strolled around the lot to look at the new cars, and sat in a new 98
A4 2.8q for a little while.

I noticed a number of small changes compared to my 96 model that are
interesting.  The obvious ones are the color and wood choices (Atmospheres
stuff), but here are some others:

1. Different door lock pin (shorter) and alarm LED next to it.  My 96
   doesn't have an LED on the door.  The only alarm indicator is the
   blinking fog light switch light.

2. An extra wire-mesh grille on the inside door panel, above the speaker
   and below the power mirror controls.  What's that for?

3. The speaker grilles now have a badge that says "Audi/Bose".

4. The instrument cluster graphics is slightly different, there is coarser
   gradations on the clock, but they added numerics to the 12, 3, 6 and 9
   o'clock positions.

5. The digital odometer and trip odometer LEDs now light up momentarily
   when you open the car door.  On my car, it will light up only when
   you turn on the ignition, or if you turn on the parking light/headlight.

6. The 98 manual trans shift knob is bigger and uglier than the 96.

7. The radio is different (I knew this one already).  The new Audi Concert
   unit seems to have somewhat better front panel ergonomics than my Audi
   Delta CC unit, but I light the Delta CC's looks better.  The volume control
   knob is closer to the driver's side on the Delta CC.

8. The climate control's '-' and '+' buttons have smooth faces rather than
   the sculpted ones as on my 96.

9. The spring-loaded dual cup holders as found on my 96 A4 is no longer there.
   In its place is a storage trough.  The larger storage trough next to
   the hand brake handle is now where the dual cup holder is now.  The new
   cup holder is simply two dished-in areas with two little tongues for
   cup retension.  Maybe this could hold a cup better than the old design,
   but not as "trick".

10. The arm rest lid-open latch is different.  The old design was to slide
    the button sideways to open, the new one is to push in.

11. The sports steering wheel center is subtly reshaped compared to mine.
    Also, slightly different textures.  The faux bolts "dimples" are gone.

12. The dome light fades out gradually rather than just turning off.  Cool.

Anyway, just thought I'd share this with you...

-Ti
96 A4 2.8 quattro
84 5000S 2.1 turbo
80 4000 2.0
-- 
    ///  Ti Kan                Vorsprung durch Technik
   ///   AMB Research Laboratories, Sunnyvale, CA. USA
  ///    ti@amb.org
 //////  http://sunsite.unc.edu/tkan/
///