Design Flaws

[MikeB]

Anyone here care to add to this list? I'm aware that the Audi R8 team monitor this forum, so PLEASE PAY ATTENTION! They are only niggles, but for the sake of future R8 owners, surely they could sort them out


1) The bottle/mug holder in the centre is entirely unuseable if you happen to have an elbow.

2) The sunvisor is fairly useless with a low sun ahead, or completely useless if the sun is shining through the drivers window.

[KfabR8]

Possibly the rear carriers? There are two of us that have had the toe controlling link pull out of the cast aluminum housing.

Agreed on the cup holders.

Does anyone else experience a change in the mode of the dash board's center display? It's not uncommon for me to get in and start the car only to discover that the display's gone to the navigation screen when I've left it on the speedometer display. It also resets all the first screen's data such as mpg, trip meter, time, etc.

[ianerrid]

Personally I consider the flat bottom steering wheel a design flaw, looks pretty but gets in the way when wheel twirling. Also, the R-Tronic stick works in the wrong direction - down should be forward and up should be back.

[R84ME]

Anyone here care to add to this list? I'm aware that the Audi R8 team monitor this forum, so PLEASE PAY ATTENTION! They are only niggles, but for the sake of future R8 owners, surely they could sort them out

1) The bottle/mug holder in the centre is entirely unuseable if you happen to have an elbow.

I hope Audi monitors our forum. I know one is supposed to be DRIVING the R8 but there is another facet of the cup holders that irritates me.

The R8 travel mugs with the Carbon fiber strip around them - sold as accessories by Audi - flop around like a newly hooked fish during anything but straight line driving. You'd think travel mugs made & sold by Audi would at least FIT THEIR CUP HOLDERS!

[swansailor]

Personally I consider the flat bottom steering wheel a design flaw, looks pretty but gets in the way when wheel twirling. Also, the R-Tronic stick works in the wrong direction - down should be forward and up should be back.

Ian,

Just to balance this (and no offense meant but if Audi is taking note...): I don't agree with the complaint about the steering wheel ... when I did the two day course at Audi Sportscar Experience, the instructors encouraged us never to "twirl" the wheel but always to keep hands at 3:45. I have now got into the habit of driving that way and I think it leads to much better overall control. I note that most race cars don't have circular steering wheels.

As for the R-Tronic ... I have heard that the R8 has the stick direction opposite to that of BMW but I am not sure what criteria make the Audi way "wrong" and the other one "right" ... can you or someone explain?

SS

[SBFV10]

I guess Ian it initially seems more "intuitive" to pull the stick down, like the way BMW has it, based on a manual tranny of going to the "higher" number gear like 2 from 1, 4 from 3, 6 from 5.

Not that I really care...as long as I remember which car I'm in, I wouldn't call either system a mistake.....but I must say honestly, my first inclination is to "pull the lever" down when I think of "upshifting". Then again the word "upshift" does make you think of pushing UP doesn't it?


HUM!!!!!!

Steve

P.S. I also love the shape of the wheel!

[Mainy]

Cupholders and visors aside the only bugbear I have is that I think the front lights just don't seem to light up the road ahead that much :-(

[R84ME]

Ian,

Just to balance this (and no offense meant but if Audi is taking note...): I don't agree with the complaint about the steering wheel ... when I did the two day course at Audi Sportscar Experience, the instructors encouraged us never to "twirl" the wheel but always to keep hands at 3:45. I have now got into the habit of driving that way and I think it leads to much better overall control. I note that most race cars don't have circular steering wheels.

As for the R-Tronic ... I have heard that the R8 has the stick direction opposite to that of BMW but I am not sure what criteria make the Audi way "wrong" and the other one "right" ... can you or someone explain?

SS

I think Ian's point is that when you do need to rotate the wheel 180+ degrees, it's not where you expect it, because of the flat bottom. The purpose of a flat bottom steering wheel is to allow for clearance getting in & out of the car (instead of removing the wheel). It's pretty worthless on a production car with an adjustable steering wheel and seat, but it adds to the illusion of LOOKING like a race car.

[desperado]

Here's the list so far. I added #8.

1. The bottle/mug holder in the centre is entirely unuseable if you happen to have an elbow.
2. The sunvisor is fairly useless with a low sun ahead, or completely useless if the sun is shining through the drivers window.
3. Weak connection of the rear toe link to the carrier.
4. The R8 CF travel mugs don't fit the cupholders.
5. Most feel the R-Tronic stick should pull rearward to shift to a higher gear.
6. Some don't care for the flat bottom steering wheel.
7. Some think the headlights aren't bright enough.
8. Provide an option in DIS to turn off the blue tint in the backup camera as it obstructs the ground in low light.

[SDR8]

I am not sure of the 2010 versions, but the head unit for the 2009 is a bit annoying each time you get in the car. If you had the map up when you turned the car off it should come up when you start it again, not the enter destination. If you had presets up for the radio, it should not revert back to the channels in the band (FM, AM or Sat), it should go back the preset display.

You should be able to fold the mirror in with or without the key being on.

The passenger mirror should have an option to auto tilt down when you are backing up. I know the camera helps, but a second visual aid to see where the back tire is would be good.

Add the TPMS features in the DIS (like in many other Audis), rather than making us go the the dealer.

They should allow users to set the windows to roll down by the remote (press and hold unlock=windows down, etc) by the DIS. I know in 2008s you could set this with a vagcom. They could not get my 2009 to work this way.