Basic / stupid questions about my first Audi.

[Speedbird1300]

Hello all, I guess i'll be a frequent visitor to this site so Hi.

Next week my first Audi arrives A6 SE Ultra with some extra bits added on, some stuff however the salesman was not too clear with his explanation so was hoping you guys would help me out.

1/ I currently use TomTom with live traffic updates but the A6 has a nav system that allegedly has this type of live traffic system built in but i cannot understand how it gets it's info as i've been told i do not need to do anything???

2/ I like to switch between summer and winter tyres and wheels. Do I have to have wheels with the TPMS fitted or will the car be ok on just 'standard' winter tyres without it? (TBH i am not really aware if the A6 has them to start with, but suspect it does)

3/ Do all 17", 5 stud alloy wheels fit all cars with 5 studs or are the holes sometimes at different dimensions? (making sure my wheels for winter will fit the new car)

4/ It was the following of an A6 on the motorway that pointed me towards an A6 as a potential choice for me, especially with it's "funky" Dynamic rear indicators. Doh! mine doesn't have them. Are they a retro fit?

After all that, I hope i'm in the correct place and thank you for any answers.

Mike

[ukgroucho]

I'll take a shot at these - others will update

1/ I currently use TomTom with live traffic updates but the A6 has a nav system that allegedly has this type of live traffic system built in but i cannot understand how it gets it's info as i've been told i do not need to do anything???

There are 2 types of traffic data that the A6 can get. The radio based TPS/TPM stuff or whatever it is called (which is a bit hit and miss for how up to date it is) and traffic data to google maps. The radio based stuff you don't ned to do anything, the google maps stuff you only get if you have the correct phone connect options as you will need to put a SIM card in the dashboard... I do not think the tis standard on the SE

2/ I like to switch between summer and winter tyres and wheels. Do I have to have wheels with the TPMS fitted or will the car be ok on just 'standard' winter tyres without it? (TBH i am not really aware if the A6 has them to start with, but suspect it does)

Tyre pressure monitoring is done WITHOUT sensors in the wheels (which are a liability if you get an over enthusiastic tyre changer). It actually uses the ABS sensors to detect rolling circumference differences in the wheels... pretty sensitive too. The only thing you have to do when you change wheels is to go into the MMI and reset the TPM system so it knows that the current wheels / pressures are correct.

3/ Do all 17", 5 stud alloy wheels fit all cars with 5 studs or are the holes sometimes at different dimensions? (making sure my wheels for winter will fit the new car)
Will any 5 stud wheel fit? Absolutely NOT. You need the right 5 stud pattern and also you MUST get wheels with an offset that is close to your vehicles OEM wheels. There are some companies out there that can suggest wheels that might fit... I just bought Audi originals (barely used) off eBay germany - just use Google chrome to search eBay.de and it will translate german to english for you. There are plenty of sets of barely used ones with winter tyres fitted - and no need to tell your insurance company as they are original equipment.

4/ It was the following of an A6 on the motorway that pointed me towards an A6 as a potential choice for me, especially with it's "funky" Dynamic rear indicators. Doh! mine doesn't have them. Are they a retro fit?
No... at least very unlikely.. Certainly retro-fitting them to pre-facelift cars has proven to be very expensive when folks looked into it (£1000+). Whether it is easier / cheaper on a facelift car I'm not sure but I still think it would be very pricey and you will need help coding parts etc.

After all that, I hope i'm in the correct place and thank you for any answers.

Mike[/QUOTE]

[Speedbird1300]

Thank you ukgroucho for your reply it made things so much clearer. One thing however my nav system was an extra and does have a sim slot.
Great tip about eBay.de.
Thank you

[pany]

If you've got a sim slot worth using for google traffic. Not perfect but much better than TMC in my experience.

[Elansear]

Hi Re rear indicators, I was under the impression that UK spec Facelift cars had Dynamic as standard on all variants. Re SIM I use a Gifgaf 1g sim at £7.50 month and always have data left. Enjoy...

[Speedbird1300]

If you've got a sim slot worth using for google traffic. Not perfect but much better than TMC in my experience.

Thank you for that, can you give me some more info on what sim card is needed i'm a bit confused as the only sim i have is in my iPhone which has as much data as i could need.

Is there no way to tether the Nav System to my existing phone data contract?

Thank you.
Mike

[Speedbird1300]

I have now been told that dynamic indicators are on S Line and above Doh!.

Can you give me more info about your gif gaf sim please.

Surely you don't just slot it in and forget it?

Mike

[pany]

Can you give me more info about your gif gaf sim please.

Surely you don't just slot it in and forget it?

Mike

Thats exactly what you do. Unfortunately you can't use your iPhone for traffic updates on sat nav, but put a sim in dash and it will use that for data, and can use as a back up phone.

[mikeruss]

there is another posting about sim usage. I use a three data sim - lasts for 12 months, 12GB for £23.

[mikeruss]

one more thought, its worth getting more data than you need for traffic as the sim operates as a wifi node for everybody in the car

[Speedbird1300]

Thats exactly what you do. Unfortunately you can't use your iPhone for traffic updates on sat nav, but put a sim in dash and it will use that for data, and can use as a back up phone.

Thanks again, now i am more confused as i just watched dan Audi info video that states that the unit will always use the installed sim in preference to the blutooth attached smartphone.

To me that says, anyone calling me would need to call the number of the installed sim acrd and not my number? how does that work.

Thank you

[pany]

Go into settings under phone. You can choose whether to use SIM in car or personal phone as preferred number to dial out. You can also choose whether to use the sim data allowance as a hotspot for others in the car, or turn that off. You can't use the iPhone data allowance for the mapping due to apple not supporting rsap iirc.
Text message can be displayed from either the SIM in dash, or your iPhone, it will display the relevant device, no need to switch devices.

[Speedbird1300]

That makes it much clearer thank you. Just need for the car to be delivered.

One final thing, if i was not using an iPhone would tethering be possible? is it just an 'Apple' thing?

[pany]

Go into settings under phone. You can choose whether to use SIM in car or personal phone as preferred number to dial out. You can also choose whether to use the sim data allowance as a hotspot for others in the car, or turn that off. You can't use the iPhone data allowance for the mapping due to apple not supporting rsap iirc.
Text message can be displayed from either the SIM in dash, or your iPhone, it will display the relevant device, no need to switch devices.

[twaters]

I use a Three Data Sim which gives 12gb data for 12 months for £30. In 6 months in 5.5k miles, of using it for Google Maps I've used less than 1gb.





Thank you for that, can you give me some more info on what sim card is needed i'm a bit confused as the only sim i have is in my iPhone which has as much data as i could need.

Is there no way to tether the Nav System to my existing phone data contract?

Thank you.
Mike