Time to start the C8 thread?

[wildbore]

I feel a little bit confused about the new touchscreen version of the buttons. IMHO as you can't feel the buttons with your fingers, so you have to look down to find the virtual button's position. I'm not sure it's better then the former MMI button related solutions. I want to drive a car and not to program a computer during driving.

I work on MMI systems as part of my job (for VW group, actually); I honestly don't think anyone in the industry wants to fit touchscreens, either; there is no possible way it can be argued that they are better from a driver's point of view than proper buttons. But their uptake is being driven by the huge amounts of tech that is now fitted to cars (too much to manage using buttons, plus it allows for new tech to be added partway through a platform's lifecycle without re-engineering the interior and the wiring) and it's also being driven by Apple and Google, who are aggressively pushing their car connectivity, which is also being demanded by drivers, too (so the manufacturers are getting it from both sides). You have to have a touchscreen to have a meaningful experience using Apple CarPlay or Google Android Auto.

The saving grace for all this new tech is that voice control is getting substantially better with each iteration, meaning that the need to physically touch buttons and scroll lists is reducing. All your media can now (in the C8) be effortlessly accessed by voice, and - really - what else do you ever use the MMI for once the car is on the move? Even in my C7 I use voice for all navigation interaction and using the telephone and, with automatic climate, I can't even remember when I last touched the heating controls, apart from defrost and seat heating.

[ukgroucho]

The new V8 that is fitted to the Panamera is a joint Porsche / Audi development project. And Audi hasn't made use of that engine yet... (although it is due to go in the A8 this year) so I am at least expecting one final V8-engined RS6 before we all go electric in the C9. Hopefully the S6 will still be V8-engined, too.

Everything I've seen suggests the C8 S6 will be the 2.9 V6 TFsi twin-turbo from the RS5... RS6 will still be V8

[Akash]

So in short, wait 6-7 months while someone works out how to port across the new MMI system into the C7/C7.5, and we have a C8

[Whippy53]

I give it three months before before we get someone posting ' has anybody fitted a front bumper from a c8 onto their c7?'

[istate75]

This review has just been posted of the new C8 in whatcar. I'm not sure about the interior TBH. I think I prefer the dash layout of my C7.

https://www.whatcar.com/news/audi-a6/

[A6S]

Not too keen on the look. Looks a bit like a stretched a3 saloon. Still not a fan of the fake exhaust tips either. Prefer real exhaust sticking out the rear valance.
Must be my age but I prefer buttons to touch screens. Can’t stand greasy paw print on a screen.
It doesn’t shout I want one now.

[Johnny31]

Not too keen on the look. Looks a bit like a stretched a3 saloon. Still not a fan of the fake exhaust tips either. Prefer real exhaust sticking out the rear valance.
Must be my age but I prefer buttons to touch screens. Can’t stand greasy paw print on a screen.
It doesn’t shout I want one now.

Fully agree. I'm actually test driving SQ5 to replace my Avant.
BTW the fake "pipes" on that one are remediated by ABT already - bless them...

Sent from my mobile...

[AT.]

First of all, thank you for these detailed information. This is a nice to know thing, that the two mobile tech giant can force even a VW scaled company to obey their needs. It sounds like a future, which I will not like at all.

Your view is very interesting, but I still have some concerns about your opinion.

All your media can now (in the C8) be effortlessly accessed by voice, and - really - what else do you ever use the MMI for once the car is on the move?

First of all, all these features are available in the most common languages on Earth. However this is not true for the minority languages. Even if I can speak english or german a little bit, but these are useless if I try to explain a street's or person's name in hungarian. Believe me, it's a nightmare, it's totally useless. By this, I never use the voice recognition system. I prefer the touchpad, it's a perfect thing. Which seems to be missing form this interior!

IMHO, now I understand why BMW is experimenting with the hand gestures. They know, that the touchscreen solutions are very dangerous and useless in a car, so they intend to offer an alternative way. So these features are not benefits but these are trials to correct the ideologically faulty system.

with automatic climate, I can't even remember when I last touched the heating controls, apart from defrost and seat heating.

I'm with you about it. I have the manual selector clima unit panel, and I like it more then the former digital version. I never use it. It's an A6, so there is no reason to change the temperature during driving. It was set to 23°C, and that's all what I need. You are also right about the seat heating and the defrost, but there is another useful selection, the internal/external airflow selector. And I want to select this without to look down and to search for the virtual button area.

However, these are all minor thingswhich you can get used to. My major problem with this internal look is, that I miss the MMI panel from the driver's hand area. Why it was removed? What's the advantage to put an empty area there? Do I have to really touch the screen to select something? I had to do this in a C8, while I have a far easier way in my C7? Honestly, my arms are not very long, so it will be a torture for me to try to select anything on the upper screen.

For me, this internal design definitely looks like a real fashion modell, a fashion guru's gorgeous dress, something that looks amazing on the stage, but you will never ever pick it up for a weekday.

With this design, for me, this car looks like a downgrade to a medium class car with the same setup with the touchscreens... it's look futuristic, very elegant, far more trendy that the current one - only the heart, the MMI is missing which made the C7's MMI area unique.

So, I can understand the touchscreens. These are trendy thing, can be charged a lot if they will broke, so these are good things for the manufacturers. Well, let there be touchscreens. But why on Earth the removed the MMI panel from my hand area? Why they installed an entire luminating screen for the night against to some LED's?

I'm not sure it will be my preferred layout for a car. Fore a living room yes, definitely yes. Looks just perfect. But for a car? Which I will use? They did not win me yet, and I'm not sure they will win me if I will try this layout.

Thanks again for your information!

[champakpopat]

Having seen the pics of C8, more like time to delay the start of C8 thread until further notice

[Tomo1971]

I work on MMI systems as part of my job (for VW group, actually); I honestly don't think anyone in the industry wants to fit touchscreens, either; there is no possible way it can be argued that they are better from a driver's point of view than proper buttons. But their uptake is being driven by the huge amounts of tech that is now fitted to cars (too much to manage using buttons, plus it allows for new tech to be added partway through a platform's lifecycle without re-engineering the interior and the wiring) and it's also being driven by Apple and Google, who are aggressively pushing their car connectivity, which is also being demanded by drivers, too (so the manufacturers are getting it from both sides). You have to have a touchscreen to have a meaningful experience using Apple CarPlay or Google Android Auto.

The saving grace for all this new tech is that voice control is getting substantially better with each iteration, meaning that the need to physically touch buttons and scroll lists is reducing. All your media can now (in the C8) be effortlessly accessed by voice, and - really - what else do you ever use the MMI for once the car is on the move? Even in my C7 I use voice for all navigation interaction and using the telephone and, with automatic climate, I can't even remember when I last touched the heating controls, apart from defrost and seat heating.

I agree that touch screens are not great on cars - you have to look at your finger to see where it is touching. At least with buttons you can feel it and the level of control.