Audi only 28 years behind

[steve2006]

Just watched an advertisement for Audi promoting their "Virtual Dashboard" where it appears completely black until the ignition is turned on and then the clocks appear to float.

Uncanningly  similar to the first LS400 model that appeared in 1989.... Vorsprung durch years behind springs to mind.

 

[Newbie1]

And now with LCD screens replacing dials it's not really much of a trick, is it?

[Cotswold Pete]

IMHO all this gadetry is a darned distraction, which I assume with the coming of driverless cars is not an issue.

Maybe in the future cars will come with kettles, fridges, bookcases (for us traditionalists), a workbench, and wine cellar, all useful to keep you busy while the car whisks you up the M1 into the back of another car!

It might be 28 years behind Lexus, but Lexus then must have known you only want a certain level of distraction, not a full-blown IT system in the dashboard.

[lockeyboy]

24 minutes ago, Cotswold Pete said:

IMHO all this gadetry is a darned distraction, which I assume with the coming of driverless cars is not an issue.

Maybe in the future cars will come with kettles, fridges, bookcases (for us traditionalists), a workbench, and wine cellar, all useful to keep you busy while the car whisks you up the M1 into the back of another car!

It might be 28 years behind Lexus, but Lexus then must have known you only want a certain level of distraction, not a full-blown IT system in the dashboard.

Already been done 

 

[Newbie1]

Reading on here about the failures of the multiple ECUs in the LS460 made me realise the LS400 is as complicated car as I want.

[Chris Skelton]

Citroen had an ad for the 2CV.

It was a list of features that other cars had, that the 2CV DIDN'T have. At the bottom was the slogan

"Nothing to go wrong" !!!

As to Audi. They do seem prone to expensive repairs. My neighbours S8 V10 - well, what do you expect? - had huge bills recently for not very serious faults..

They DID used to have a solar recharging system in their sunroof once though, which I thought was clever-now not featured.

[nickd]

I wonder how long all these in dash LCD's will last?  Bound to very expensive to replace.

[Cotswold Pete]

2 hours ago, nickd said:

I wonder how long all these in dash LCD's will last?  Bound to very expensive to replace.

Longer than the rest of the car I would think, modern LCD systems are well robust, however the issue tends to be the naff connectors used which break under vibration stress.

 

[dougie175]

Biggest issue with the Audi clocks is when you bake the car in the repair process the 2 plates on the speedo separate under the heat and cause all kind of starting and running issues, its a nightmare!