Audi A6 Tech Package worth it ?

[mrankin]

Hi,
I am about to order a new C7 A6 Avant for my wife and after checking them out at the dealers the first thing I noticed on the interior is that some had nice big bright retracting screens, whilst others had small lower resolution ones. The difference being the HDD SatNav - which is pretty expensive and may as well be bought as part of the £150 Tech Package.

The question I have is - is the Tech Package worth the money ?

If I look at what it provides


Colour DIS - certainly looks a lot better than the monochrome one
AMI - for iPod and USB. Though looking at other threads on this forum it would appear that SDHC is pretty much as good - but do you get cover art etcx with SDHC ?
Advanced phone prep fopr bluetooth - neither my wife or I have a rSAP compatible phone so we cannot use the data connection via Bluetooth. Does the "normal" headset profile integration still work ? Certainly don't wanmt to keep taking SIMs out and don't want to buy a new one just for the car.
HDD SatNav - is this significantly better/different to the stadard SD Navigation ? Clearly has a better screen, topographic maps and POIs ? It would still apear that voice control and TMC is on the basic nav.

ose
I have been trying to compare online but pretty much every photo/vide/revie has the tech pack installed so I would appreciate views from th with and without it. Escpecially anyone who didn't get it and regretted it.

I would also appreciate any views on whether the Tech Pack will have some residual value come resale ?

Any and all comments appreciated

Mark

[robob123]

I don't have tech pack. Must admit I haven't driven a car with, but I'm more than happy with the standard equip. The sat nav works very well, connectivity to my smart phone is excellent for calls, phone book access and for playing music stored on the phone. Also playing music from the sd seems very good. For me the options on the a6 seemed to be a never ending sliding scale, which can take you into a8/q7 price territory, so I went for almost options and my car still feels extremely accomplished, well specified and luxurious.

[robob123]

Should say 'almost no options' above.

[mrankin]

Thankls for the feedback - I know what you mean about the options some are eyewatering. Out of curiosity which options did you go for and are you happy with them ?

Mark

[robob123]

As it goes I bought a new car from stock that happened to have 19" 5 arm alloys, s line, met paint and heated seats, so no gadgets to speak of. I've only done 750 miles and still finding features. I may not be the best bench mark, as set out to buy a 2nd hand a4 but got drawn to a new a6 by the deal. Mine came in at less than £30k, so cannot expect massive spec. That said with leather, sat nav, cruise, auto this and that all as standard, the a6 is a good package to start with.

[Timothy Nathan]

As I am always saying, it is Tech Pack Advanced that is really worth going for, particularly for the ACC. I would not buy a car without it now. Perhaps rather than my typing out the whole rationale again, you could search for ACC on this forum?

[Guest 2]

You should keep a Word doc Timothy and copy and paste into a thread when need be! ;)


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[MFGF]

I opted to get the Tech Pack on mine, and I am very pleased I did! Your non-rSAP phones will connect quite happily using hands free profile, and you have the option of popping a pay-as-you-go sim into the dash to get online services if you want them. This will disconnect your phone, but you can either forward your calls to the car, or else just let the google earth maps cache and then pop the sim out again. The google search for destinations is excellent!

I use my iPod for music in the car, so the AMI is great for me. You get more options for selecting music than from the SD cards - album, artist, playlist etc.

Overall, I'm really happy with the Tech Pack. If I had o re-order the car, I would definitely opt for it again.

MF.

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[mrankin]

Thanks Robo - same thing happening to us meant to buy nearly new but dealer sucking us in with an offer

Thanks MF also good to know how you use the tech pack.

Mark

[Blackmore Spur]

I went to dealer to buy used A5 sportback but came home with better priced A6! Did deal on A6 SLine 2.0 TDI from stock, elec seats, metallic paint, 20" Rotor wheels. wouldn't have chosen spec but 4k miles later proved great deal. Standard phone connection and sat nav fantastic. Can't see any point in the fiddly advanced phone option and swapping sim cards.... I just get in car phone in pocket and it all connects seemlessly

[braytac]

I haven't had my car delivered yet so I can't say much about user experience with the tech pack, but the main reasons I chose it are the colour DIS, bigger screen, 3D satnav and the ability to use the touch pad to scroll and choose your destination on the map. In my experience postcodes are rarely accurate enough, particularly when I am driving to businesses, so the ability to pick my destination was important to me. I also wanted to be able to select a destination using Google maps on my PC and send it to my car, same reasons. I don't believe you can do that with the standard one or indeed use Google maps in the car if needed to check destinations.

I don't' know if I will use the AMI yet, or even if it will talk properly to my Windows Phone, but if it does it could be handy since I can keep all my music in one place, also hoping it will work as a charger. However, I suspect I would use the internal hard drive, which I think is also part of the tech pack. I use SD cards in my current Passat CC and they are a bit slow to read when initially switching too or wanting to get the track list, although maybe that is better in the Audi.

One of the final deciding points was when I went for a test drive, all excited in anticipation of the screen rising out the dash, yes I'm a bit of a geek, and I was rather disappointed when presented with a rather small looking screen. Having watched many videos on YouTube previously, which all use the advanced satnav it seems, the difference was very noticeable to me.

[ti rich]

I don't have Tech pack and am more than happy. I do however have the AMI (which i never use, not an ipod/iphone fan) and the colour DIS was supplied but not paid for (Audi forgot it was there)

I can live without the tech pack for sure. Standard Nav is OK for me. Colour DIS is nice i must admit!

[Timothy Nathan]

I don't think I'd've bought Tech Pack if it weren't a precursor to Tech Pack Advanced, but, having said that, I am still upset to have paid for it, but not have it work properly.

[skibuddy]

Here are my experiences with the MMI & Media player specifically.

Album art needs to be embedded in each and every MP3 track for it to be displayed. By default, most MP3 ripping tools (iTunes, Windows Media Player etc) only store it in the first track of an album that is ripped. Using iTunes it is easy enough to retrospectively embed the album art in each track (simply Google to find out how), but it does bloat the file size a little. Without doing this, the album view on the MMI Media player will only display the album art if the first track in the album just so happens to be the one with art embedded in to. No guarantees this with be the case.

The Album view is listed based on a combination of Album Name and Track Artist(s) (not the album artist), so for a single album where there are multiple artists on a track you end up with multiple folders being displayed, horrible. This can be overcome by modifying the MP3 tags (I use MP3TAG) to change the track artist to be that of the album artist. Doesn't help with Now XX for example where there are various artists.

Copying 1,900 totalling 12 Gbytes in size from an SDHC card to the Jukebox was very slow, nearly 2 Hrs.

iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPAD all work well via the AMI cable. This would be my recommendation. Not as cheap as an SD card, but there you go. Album art, play lists etc are all displayed in true Apple style as you would expect. Far better that connecting them via BlueTooth.

Kids love the in the in Car wifi hot spot and have used their iPODs to stream a movie stored on a NAS drive at home to a Wifi iPad.

On-line traffic information (rather than TMC) has to be activated and is then licensed for a period of 3 years. No idea how much it will cost to extend beyond 3 yrs.

House number look-up against street and/or postcode doesn't cover all streets/postcodes for some reason. For example, been living at current address for 15 years and our street isn't covered by House Number look-up, but adjacent street is.

My Audi management of navigation contacts doesn't work.

I use a Samsung Galaxy S which connects using rSAP just fine and fully integrates for phone, data services etc. MMI prompts before establishing a data connection for On-line Traffic, Google Maps etc. Not tried Street View yet.

The telephone contacts and location contacts are dependent on which phone is connected to the car, as discovered by my wife when she drove the car and our home address was no longer defined.

With a data SIM in the dashboard of the MMI, only blue tooth connection to the contacts list on an iPhone 4s is possible.

[jbanfie]

Hi Skibuddy

With regard to

Kids love the in the in Car wifi hot spot and have used their iPODs to stream a movie stored on a NAS drive at home to a Wifi iPad.

Could you explain how this is achieved as it sounds really cool - I guess you start with a movie loaded onto the ipod at home?

Thanks

Jon

[skibuddy]

Digital copy of Movie made from the DVD using DVD43 and Handbrake to create an MP4 file (for personal use only, obviously). I just use the default profile for iPhone 4 in Handbrake. This is then stored on a Western Digital My Book Live network attached storage device. WD provide an iPad, iPod Touch and iPhone App call WD To Go that allows you to remotely connect to and browse the NAS drive. Locate where you stored the MP4 movie file, and the rest is as they say 'easy'. The My Book Live also has a TwonkyMedia Server on it and I have also used an AirPlayer app for the iPad to connect to it to stream music and movies. This is a little more complicated because you need to do some port mapping on your home network router to forward port requests onto the Twonkie Media Server. This is normally port 9000.

I have also copied the same MP4 file onto an SDHC memory card and put this directly into one of the SD slots on the MMI system. The movie played like a dream on the MMI display, until you try to drive away that it is. How to override this is the subject of another thread entitled A6-C7-VCDS-Tricks.

[Timothy Nathan]

I find HandBrake on the PC an absolute dog, taking up to 18 hours to covert a DVD.

I strongly recommend www.converterlite.com, which is simple, fast and free.

[pitch3110]

Digital copy of Movie made from the DVD using DVD43 and Handbrake to create an MP4 file (for personal use only, obviously). I just use the default profile for iPhone 4 in Handbrake. This is then stored on a Western Digital My Book Live network attached storage device. WD provide an iPad, iPod Touch and iPhone App call WD To Go that allows you to remotely connect to and browse the NAS drive. Locate where you stored the MP4 movie file, and the rest is as they say 'easy'. The My Book Live also has a TwonkyMedia Server on it and I have also used an AirPlayer app for the iPad to connect to it to stream music and movies. This is a little more complicated because you need to do some port mapping on your home network router to forward port requests onto the Twonkie Media Server. This is normally port 9000.

I have also copied the same MP4 file onto an SDHC memory card and put this directly into one of the SD slots on the MMI system. The movie played like a dream on the MMI display, until you try to drive away that it is. How to override this is the subject of another thread entitled A6-C7-VCDS-Tricks.

Don't mean to hijack but can you ping some pictures of your car please matey.
All the dealer ones are the same and it would be good to see some DIY ones.

Ta
Pitch

[MFGF]

Don't mean to hijack but can you ping some pictures of your car please matey.
All the dealer ones are the same and it would be good to see some DIY ones.

Ta
Pitch

What are you looking for specifically, Pitch? I would be happy to take pics and send them - just let me know what you need! Probably easier than you driving the 215 miles from Lowestoft to Southampton to see the car tonight :)

Cheers!

MF.

[jbanfie]

Can I thank those learned PC users for the recommendation of DVD43, Handbrake and Converterlite.

I actually managed to get a DVD onto my iPhone, which means I could get one onto an iPad if I had one!

My findings-

DVD43 took a while to crack the css??? on the disc
Converterlite wouldn't play ball didn't like the disc file
Handbrake converted to mp4 fine and took 30 minutes (my PC has Core i7 chip running 8 threads on 4 cores which all hit the roof and my fan came on - first time that's happened)

I still very much dislike itunes software though!

[pitch3110]

What are you looking for specifically, Pitch? I would be happy to take pics and send them - just let me know what you need! Probably easier than you driving the 215 miles from Lowestoft to Southampton to see the car tonight :)

Cheers!

MF.

Funny that been at a bash tonight (on the square.....oo er misus) and there was a chap there who traveled up from your neck of the woods. He could have brought it up with him.......hehehehehehe

Pics .... Really wheels and car obviously, some snaps of the media if the big screen one.

Cheers matey

Pitch

[MFGF]

Funny that been at a bash tonight (on the square.....oo er misus) and there was a chap there who traveled up from your neck of the woods. He could have brought it up with him.......hehehehehehe

Pics .... Really wheels and car obviously, some snaps of the media if the big screen one.

Cheers matey

Pitch

I was just an Interloper in Southampton - I just arrived home in Staffs :-)

I will get some nice pictures of the car and the MMI for you and post them up. Hopefully my vwaf sticker will have arrived and be installed by the time I dig out the camera, too.

Cheers!


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[skibuddy]

Don't mean to hijack but can you ping some pictures of your car please matey.
All the dealer ones are the same and it would be good to see some DIY ones.

Ta
Pitch


Uploaded some pictures to an album here http://www.vwaudiforum.co.uk/forum/album.php?albumid=1064

[Guest 2]

What happens if you're right handed and go to use the touch pad from the drivers seat? :confused:

Another thing Audi need to add to their list of 'forgetting'

1. iPhones
2. Right handed people

[Timothy Nathan]

What happens if you're right handed and go to use the touch pad from the drivers seat?
It's ok, actually. It's not like you're writing a novel.

[pitch3110]

Uploaded some pictures to an album here http://www.vwaudiforum.co.uk/forum/album.php?albumid=1064

Cheers Bud. It looks great.

Pitch

[skibuddy]

What happens if you're right handed and go to use the touch pad from the drivers seat? :confused:


Obviously intended for the left hand drive market. I just get my passenger to do it, otherwise it is a bit like a 3 year old trying to learn the alphabet.

[MFGF]

What happens if you're right handed and go to use the touch pad from the drivers seat? :confused:

Another thing Audi need to add to their list of 'forgetting'

1. iPhones
2. Right handed people

It seems to understand my left-handed scrawl perfectly. I was very impressed!


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[nealeb]

It seems to understand my left-handed scrawl perfectly. I was very impressed!



I agree - you are writing single capital letters and its character recognition is remarkably effective.

What do you reckon, though, guys? Will it be easier for Audi to get the UK to drive on the right so that right-handed drivers can be accommodated by the touch pad, or to get Apple to properly support rSAP?

[ti rich]

Just to add if you use a blackberry you can create a wifi hotspot in the car, or anywhere, using that. The latest software allows you to do this on the newer model phones.

[MFGF]

I agree - you are writing single capital letters and its character recognition is remarkably effective.

What do you reckon, though, guys? Will it be easier for Audi to get the UK to drive on the right so that right-handed drivers can be accommodated by the touch pad, or to get Apple to properly support rSAP?

Definitely more likely for Audi to persuade the government to switch to driving on the right! lol :)

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[Timothy Nathan]

Or a MiFi (http://www.t-mobile.co.uk/shop/mobile-broadband/wireless-pointer/).

[nealeb]

Just to add if you use a blackberry you can create a wifi hotspot in the car, or anywhere, using that. The latest software allows you to do this on the newer model phones.

But am I right in thinking that the car itself can't be configured to connect to that hotspot, or to (for example) a hotspot at a motorway services? Although I'm not sure why you might want to, given the relatively limited Internet access that you get via the MMI (apparently - still haven't actually tried it myself...). I believe that my Galaxy S2 can also be configured to set up a hotspot, so I'm guessing that this is probably not uncommon with modern phones.

[Timothy Nathan]

The car itself sets up the WiFi hotspot based on either the SIM in the dash or the connected rSAP phone. It acts just like a MiFi, or a tethered phone.

The Blackberry in the description above is a bit of a red herring. If the car has access to SIM information (which it might get from the Blackberry via rSAP) then it can run the WiFi hotspot, but it has nothing to do with the Blackberry itself.

AFAIK, it cannot receive WiFi.

[ti rich]

No I was only suggesting an external phone to create a WiFi hot spot for the on board money guzzlers (sorry kids) in the back.

The car can't use that for sure.

[Timothy Nathan]

I'd suggest that both the car UMTS and a MiFi will offer better value than a tethered phone. Just how much better depends on the network, but tethering typically costs £1 a day on top of usual charges, so four times as much as a data contract.

[ti rich]

Blackberry don't charge me a penny extra for tethering as long as it remains within my data usage limit. The only issue to watch is that tethered data is not compressed like normal blackberry data and hence uses your allowance much quicker. However, everyones. Contract is different.

Only suggested this for us that don't have upgraded Nav.

[rickerby]

I went to dealer to buy used A5 sportback but came home with better priced A6! Did deal on A6 SLine 2.0 TDI from stock, elec seats, metallic paint, 20" Rotor wheels. wouldn't have chosen spec but 4k miles later proved great deal. Standard phone connection and sat nav fantastic. Can't see any point in the fiddly advanced phone option and swapping sim cards.... I just get in car phone in pocket and it all connects seemlessly


Before getting my A6 I had a Mercedes C Class with over 2 grands worth of "COMAND" sat nav/media thingy. The standard A6 SD card system beats this hands down. If you just want sat nav to get you where your going, spending thousands more on the Tech Pack makes little sense I feel.

[belly buster]

I can't help but feel the Advanced Nav is a flawed offering right now.

Please help me try and understand how this works.

Ideally you want it to hook up to your bluetooth mobile and it can then use google maps / traffic etc. while you can make + receive calls as needed.

But this only works with some phones? And definitely not the iPhone 4S/5.

So you can put a SIM card in the dash. Great - get a PAYG data SIM and you're good to go. But now the bluetooth doesn't work? Really?

I hate technology that doesn't work. I think this would drive me nuts.

[Wuffles]

You missed the (and I was told this today by a dealer) slightly out of date maps in comparison to the lower spec (non HDD) version.

Actually, that's a bit unfair. I was told that by an idiot and it was being used as an excuse as to why I still can't find the dealership on my up-to-date higher spec version whereas on the lower spec courtesy car it was plain as day.