What specification would you want Audi R8 Team to consider for immediate production

[L3MAN]

Following last posting on R8 preview days...........

Audi R8 Team checks this site for feed back, so please add to this wish list:-

1/ Sat Nav & CD Autochanger as standard (9)

2/ Audi Exclusive colors / interiors - dark purple etc (8)

3/ Color lcd screens also between the rev and speed gauges (8)

4/ Extended leather and alcantara (6)

5/ Visual / camera parking sensors on LCD screen (6)

6/ Ipod and MP3 connection as standard (5)

7/ Ceramic Brakes (5)

8/ Bucket seats + airbags (4)

9/ Ride height adjustment for speed bumps (4)

10/ DVB and DAB reception in MMI (4)

11/ Start / stop button / keyless start (4)

12/ Basic indicator control / set up (3)

13/ Perfomance Exhaust or Sport Exhaust Button - a button that opens up all flaps for immediate sport exhaust sound at any rev. No need to rev high to get it. (3)

14/ Titanium coloured 19" wheels (3)

15/ Colour coded calipers (3)

16/ Magnetic ride as standard (3) - probably everyone would agree

17/ Driver seat, steering column, and mirror memory button (2)

18/ Leather / carbon luggage set (dealership gift!!!) (2)

19/ Silver carbon fibre sideblades as an option (2)

20/ Sports Suspension option (2)

21/ Coloured Instrament dials (2)

22/ Heated seats as standard (2) - probably everyone would agree

23/ Steering column electrically adjustable (1)

24/ Polished Aluminium Sideblades (1)

25/ Adaptive cruise control (1)

26/ Aluminium Steering Wheek (1)

27/ Bigger paddles for R Tronic (1)

Please add your posting and I will update to front page and change order to reflect importance

Audi R8 Team, hope you are watching

[R8chris]

- the color lcd screen between the rev and speed gauges
- more colors (dark purple etc)
- bucketseats with sideairbags
...

last but not least - the case set (leather/carbon) should be a "thank you" present from AUDI for us all!! (i heard it should cost around 5.700EUR, that would be a little bit too much for just empty cases...

[Guilty]

Definately the Color LCD screen R8 team: sorry, but that red monochrome LCD is so cheap. I had in in my 1999 S3

And also the alcantara / extended leather combination is a must!

And if you are really reading this:

- The information supplied to the dealers is poor.
- The marketing from country to country differs too much. Some get VIP introductions etc. I had to go to the Essen motorshow on own occasion/initative.
- It is a struggle to choose the R8 colours, not to see in in real live is one, but not even able to see some pictures with the colours... Come on!

[L3MAN]

- the color lcd screen between the rev and speed gauges
- more colors (dark purple etc)
- bucketseats with sideairbags
...

last but not least - the case set (leather/carbon) should be a "thank you" present from AUDI for us all!! (i heard it should cost around 5.700EUR, that would be a little bit too much for just empty cases...

Good shout on the luggage Chris - fingers crossed for the "thank you" option

[jeanplilley]

The Sat Nav should be standard item included in price. It was included in my much cheaper S4 bought over a year ago. The fact that it is an expensive option on a car of this price is cynical at best and some might think Audi were taking the piss.

John

[Kreso]

-Bucket seats
-Ceramic Brakes
-different exterior color scheme-example IMHO Lava Grey will look excellet with Phantom Black side blades
-all Audi Exclusive options(leather and color) immediately! This is exclusive product so, individual chocie is a must IMHO.

[Paul]

Good thread L3MAN ... I will remove any off topic posts from here as soon as I see any ... or when I am made awate of them ...

My current thoughts on this subject are:
Bucket seats should have been standard imho as ... 1. They are lighter and more in keeping with a "sports car" ... 2. The electric seats, whilst supportive, are not as supportive as the bucket seats ... 3. Being a "sports car" surely you should have the "sporty" options as standard from the start (i.e. bucket seats) and the "luxury" options as optional extras (i.e. electric seats)

Ceramic brakes are a little like bucket seats with arguments for inclusion from the start ... I do not think they should be standard like hte bucket seats, but ... this is a high performance sports car and ceramic brakes are inherantly a "high performance" item ... not only will they offer better high performance braking ... they are lighter and therefore will benefit the car (albeit in a very marginal manner) ... not to mention they give off less dust, not really a good argument to include them as an option from the start ... but they are a significant option that a number of early customers would no doubt like to specify for their car ... I know I am still giving them serious consideration and would likely specify them, but do not know at the moment whether I will be able to have them on my initial car.

Extended leather with Alcantara on seats and door panel inserts should be an option ... so far as I am aware Alcantara will wear just as well as, if not better than, leather ... offers a better and more user friendly finish ... Alcantara will not be as hot when you return to the car if it's been in direct sunlight ... also, you are less likely to 'slide' about on a seat with Alcantara on the base of it ... also giving the option of Alcantara would in many peoples opinion provide a more interesting finish with door panel inserts covered in Alcantara with leather topping off the door shoulders.

Parking sensors the audio beeps are all well and good ... but with the R8 being a ... 'halo' ... 'flagship' ... 'brand topping' ... car it would have made sense to include the visual parking aids that surely could be incorporated and displayed back on the LCD screen ... which I understand are already available on the Q7 (the camera could be an optional extra on top of graphical visual parking aids, although it possibly wouldn't be needed) ... BMW seem to do graphical parking aids fairly well (a friends 5 series displays a picture of the car and areas around the front and back of the car change colour as the different sensors tell the computer how far each one is from any object it senses) ... Mercedes have a very simple and very effective system of two graphical displays with two areas on each display ... one display represents the front with the two sides showing you how far the left, or right, side of the car is from an object, the lights going from orange to red as you get closer to an object ... with another display visible through the rear view mirror that displays the same kind of information for the rear of the car ... very simple yet very effective.

Central dash driver information system would have been so much better to be like that found in the RS4 ... imho ... it's clear, easy to read, provides lots of information, is easy to navigate round (I would have thought that the control buttons could be mounted on a secondary control stalk ... on the opposite side of the steering column to the cruise control) like they are in an A3 and probably other cars in the Audi range) ... the red dot matrix type display is, imho, a backwards step from the excellent display used in the RS4.

Audi Exclusive scheme should really have been made ready for the first customer models ... I am sure Audi feel they have put together an appropriate selection of colours for the R8 ... but this is such a specialist car and being made in such limited numbers (when considered against Audi's main model line up) it would have been the ideal opportunity for Audi say to it's customers ... "here are the basic colour options ... but you can pick (at cost obviously) any colour paint we do and any colour leather we do" ... that way customers would not be forced to make a compromise in their colour selection - as I have and no doubt many others. Sure having Imola Yellow paintwork and Magma Red leather seats might mean Audi say you wll have to wait a couple more weeks for us to make such a car over the standard production time ... but by allowing customers the choice of any Audi paint colour and any Audi interior trim colour they wuold be making progress towards a truely customer focused specification selection process, probably to be reserved for their high end cars only, but it would gain them loads of praise and quite probably increased customer loyalty and an even more positive perception of their customer service by potential new customers.

Inlay options are fairly basic ... the initial brochure has "Carbon Sigma" and "Micromettalic grey" ... what about brushed aluminium (it would not be my personal choice) the R8 is largely made from aluminium and Audi are reknowned for using it ... you might not want the monospoto in aluminium ... but why not in other places around the interior? Piano black is on its way, but that only provides three different inlay options.

Sideblades I know they are a 'feature' on the car ... but why not allow them to be colour coded with the bodywork ... also ... why no aluminium sideblade ... as they are a 'feature' on the car why not feature and display one of the key materials. A big area of contention for me is the inability to specify your own sideblade colour ... asides from the Audi chosen contrasting colour, or the two optional finishes - CF and OS - there is very little scope to pick something that you are going to be happy with. I appreciate that Audi might not want to send out an Imola Yellow R8 with Brilliant Red sideblades ... but, for example why can't I pick Daytona Grey paintwork with Phantom Black sideblades. This example is not my preferred colour scheme, but both these colours are in the standard range of colours for the R8, yet I can't even ask for this colour scheme ... well I can ask but I will be politely informed I can't have my R8 finished in this manner using standard R8 colours.

Luggage set would be a very nice 'dealership gift' although I think it might be a little unlikely to expect Audi will give out many luggage sets as gifts ... maybe the person at the top of each dealers R8 list might get a set, but only those customers that get their car in the first production year for each country ... i.e. the first 450 cars destined for the UK ... if Audi are selling through 150 dealerships in the UK they would only give out 150 sets in the first year and none thereafter ... can you put a price on customer loyalty, possibly not! People hearing of this are more likely to be impressed with Audi's approach to customer service and how they treat 'committed' customers. Preferably these gifts would not be handed out to 'celebrities' unless the celebrity in person had put their money down early and been treated in the same manner as a non-celebrity and had not been given any favourable treatment just because they had been on telly, in a film, or play for a football team ... regadless of who they are when it comes down to basics they are no different from anyone else.

[R8chris]

-Bucket seats
-Ceramic Brakes
-different exterior color scheme-example IMHO Lava Grey will look excellet with Phantom Black side blades
-all Audi Exclusive options(leather and color) immediately! This is exclusive product so, individual chocie is a must IMHO.

exactly! what can be more exclusive then waiting for more then half a year for a product delivered only approx a 100times in switzerland... ??

some other points:

- light package WITHOUT the automatic rain sensor wipers (i'd rather have the 4level switch manually) (sounds stupid but sometimes the wipers are not behaving as they should, compare it to a manual gearbox)

- DVB and DAB reception in MMI --> this will be the first mod I will do to my
R8, cause I cant miss sitting in traffic jams without my TV reception

[L3MAN]

The Sat Nav should be standard item included in price. It was included in my much cheaper S4 bought over a year ago. The fact that it is an expensive option on a car of this price is cynical at best and some might think Audi were taking the piss.

John

Could'nt agree more

[Paul]

In addition to my first post in this thread
Sat Nav Plus should indeed be standard ... for a brand topping car it is outrageous that it is not standard ... well done to John for pointing this out ... my memory is awful at times!

Not fussed about the rain and light sensing package ... its a lazy aiding device ... and more often that not, if it's been raining when you put the key in the ignition you have to give them a kick start the wipers to get them going on auto mode anyway.

Basic indicator control please ... multi flash indicators with a light push on the indicator stalk is another "lazy aiding device" which serves little purpose, other than making you lazy and is something I despise on modern cars ... if I want to indicate to the right, or left, with three flashes ... I'll flick the indicator on and then flick it off after three flashes ... but when I want to say 'thank you' at night to someone by flashing one indicator once, then the other indicator once, I cannot do so with the daft idea that they have put on the RS4 that if you lightly flick the indicator stalk it flashes the indicator three times ... I know it might only be seen as a small matter ... but being the courtious driver that I like to think I am ... I frequently say 'thank you' to another motorist I've passed by a single flast on one indicator followed by a single flash of the other ... at least I did until I got my last A3 and then the RS4 ... now at night I end up flashing my indicators like a lunatic ...