Hippogriff

I know what you mean about the Audi Dealers! Sheffield Audi are utterly rubbish. I do seem to be having a better time with Wakefield Audi, when I gave up on Sheffield Audi, but that's a 20-mile or so inconvenience for me that I shouldn't ever have to experience. Whether it's enough to put me off the actual cars is another question, but it's got me actively looking at other marques... the Dealers might be wanting, but the cars are pretty good. Thought I would add this P.S. - one other thing I loved about the IS 300h F Sport was... wait for it... the CVT. I've had my 2 A4s and both came with the multironic (multichronic, I believe some people refer to it as) gearbox, which I am actually a very big fan of. The A3 Saloon will come with S tronic.

Cool, I'm not taking the plunge until around September, so I will monitor this thread for your comparison. I've always had standard audio systems in cars, the A6 Black Edition will come with BOSE (which I'm a bit unsure about, but I'll give it a good test) and the 300h obviously has the choice of Mark Levinson. I don't use CDs any more, so one thing that I am interested in finding out is what file types are supported by the car... is it just MP3s (which might not do justice to a premium audio system) or is there the opportunity to use something lossless (despite potential larger file sizes) like FLAC, WMA (the lossless one) or even a WAV taken at the same quality as a CD itself - 16-bit 44.1KHz - is there any way, at all, to get your album cover art displayed on the main screen (either via tags or folder.jpg), do the USB ports in the car provide enough 'juice' to use a small USB hard disk (don't have any Apple stuff), can you voice control your music selection. These are the kinds of questions that I have going around inside my head and that I know the answer to will have a bearing on my overall decision-making process. Let's see if I can get that extended test drive sorted... hopefully not one where I sit there, parked-up, trying to get various pieces of digital audio to play.

I've been an Audi A4 (2 cars) for the last eight years. I'm currently looking for a new car... it has to be a four door saloon, but I'm not overly concerned with the size itself - what interests me more is the technology platform and the gadgets / toys. From Audi I'm pondering the A6 Black Edition and will be taking one for an extended test drive next weekend. My head has also been turned by the upcoming A3 Saloon. I don't think I would be interested in a 'new' A4 as it hasn't moved on enough from my 4 year old car. However, I've also taken out a Jaguar XF 2.2d Sport recently and also - a revelation - the Lexus IS 300h F Sport. I did go into a BMW dealer over this weekend, but I wasn't impressed with anything I saw. The Lexus has really thrown me, I must admit - it's come completely from left-field and I am very taken by it. I am in the process of asking to book an extended test drive. I did not think the interior was as nice a place to be as any Audi - I will be honest, but it was a pleasant surprise. The seats (heated and ventilated) were really great. The electric adjustment of the seats and steering column and easy entry / exit were fantastic. However, I would say the interior was better than the BMW 3 and 5 I was in yesterday. I would also say (and this is entirely subjective) that it's on a par with the Jaguar XF (which some might be surprised by). I did not like the gear stick, but that's something I would not be touching that often... I prefer straight back and forwards ones, rather than a slalom type route from P to D. I would never use the flappy paddles. The test drive was enjoyable. The ride is really firm - and that's from me, who's driven a A4 Sport (notoriously firm) and is currently in an A4 S line (again, quite firm, but not as much as previous generations). I was surprised to hear that AVS can only make the ride firmer!!! I would have hoped for a comfort mode - but maybe you don't buy an F Sport if that's the major concern. The dial on the F Sport is beautiful. So swish. I loved it. Its movement when it slides across is ace. The hybrid nature of the car really opened my eyes. I felt it had plenty of power but I realise I was only doing some inner city driving and a little bit on a dual-carriageway, where I didn't have the opportunity to give it some welly. When starting off from standing, it's just eerie... silence! Like a toy. The voice control would be something I would obviously need to get used to - on the test drive I said "suspend guidance" and she said "find nearest Chinese restaurant" - which got me laughing. I would like the sat. nav. to be better - it looks a little aged and the colours were garish (maybe there are settings for that). I am interested in Lexus Connected Services as that implies there are better things you can do with that technology - and I need to find out more. Also the Lexus Hotspot is something coming soon, I believe, which I would be interested in. Lastly - I detest-detest-detest the sat. nav. nag screen! What the heck is that huge analogue clock doing slap-bang in the middle of the dashboard? It's really anachronistic. I was not pleased with the fact the key-less entry only works on the front doors and the fact that there is no option for auto-folding mirrors on the F Sport. I liked the heat / UV resistant glass. The DRLs are really cool. And those claimed CO2 emissions. Visually, I did not like the matt black trim on the bottom rear of the F Sport, but - other than that - it's a really nice car - from the front it looks like a confused wasp! Personally, I would love to hear from folk who have purchased one of these... I'm interested in what the technology platform is like... what devices have you connected for music, does the parking spot finder feature work, what's the upgrade Mark Levinson audio like, will you get the Lexus Hotspot when it comes out, did you stick with the 18" wheels or drop down to 17"? Hippo