JDR76

I'm somewhat surprised to see this. I am not a fan of touchscreens and always thought Audi's MMI dial was one of the better solutions. Full article here.

Aron9000

You'd think that Audi and Porsche(the new Panamera uses a similar setup) would've learned that this is garbage tech and had stuck with real buttons. Lincoln figured it out and went back to real buttons and a rotary **** for volume, Cadillac is still lost in the woods with their hard to use CUE system. The thing with real buttons is you can feel with your finger tips and muscle memory where the button is without taking your eyes off the road. With touch screens, there is no tacticle feel, they FORCE you to look down at the screen to do something as simple as turn on the seat heater or adjust the blower fan.

mmarshall

I'm with Aron on this one. Newer (and more complex) does not always mean better. And he's correct....Lincoln did absolutely the right thing.

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

but i don't think it matters much, because almost everything is also controllable by BUTTONS on the steering wheel, or by voice (or even hand gestures on a 7 series, lol). there's more options than just center console and other location buttons. i will agree with you that touch screen isn't always convenient. on my jeep the only way to turn on the heated/cooled seats is through the touch screen.

TangoRed

I mentioned this in the Lexus LS thread and somewhere else on this forum months ago. The new Audi A8 will be completely touch screen, even the headlight switch.

JDR76

Sorry I missed that.

TangoRed

Oh I wasn't criticizing your post, just bolstering the point of the article and noting that Audi's been planning this move for some time.

tex2670

Which is just absolute stupidity.

I'm all for cleaning up clutter of too many buttons. But cutting down to only 3, plus steering wheel controls, just doens't make sense either. My iPhone has more hard buttons than this Audi .

Hoovey689

iTrader: (16)

No surprise here that Audi is going this route. Porsche is also on a mission to remove buttons.

Och

iTrader: (3)

Huge step backwards.

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

but looks to me like there's still tons of buttons on the steering wheel.

corradoMR2

To be honest, I was not overly impressed with the MMI on my A4. Still lots of rotating of the dial to highlight the menu item you want and the "click-click-click..." sound while rotating the dial was irritating. Your eyes were still focused on the screen and not on the road. The Lexus RTI/screen combo is not stellar either but I am more used to it in terms of where things are and how to get to them. If the touchscreen on the new Audi interface allows for fewer navigation/easier access to items you need to select, then I'm for it but control via winter gloves may be a challenge.

Och

iTrader: (3)

**** on BMW idrive which shows selection on the HUD in the newest 7 series is the best.

Sulu

So Audi removed the high-mounted propped-up tablet and moved it down lower than the main instrument pod? You go from head-up to head-down. How is that progress in human factors? Unless that central screen is meant solely for control purposes and not for display purposes.

dseag2

I'm sorry to see Audi go this route, since I think the MMI button is fairly easy and I hate touchscreens. Yes, the button is sometimes cumbersome (like for Nav), but scrolling through music tracks is a breeze.

I guess the main thing is that Audi now has the Virtual Cockpit and that is all controlled by buttons on the steering wheel. I've seen comments from many owners saying that is what they primarily use and the MMI screen has become secondary. There is also voice command for Nav and, at least for me, it works pretty well.

I still think it is a step backwards. I had touchscreens in my '01 and '03 GS and almost everything was controlled there. Hated it.