Test drive Audi A8 D3 2003 - 2005 Sedan

Audi A8 /5100 km

The first computers - then they were called computers - special rooms were allocated to the Soviet Research Institute. The MMI system of our eight, probably, would require a whole floor.
Two months ago, we wanted to write a report on the work of the Multimedia Interface (MMI) system of our A8. But, honestly, they were afraid: it seemed to us that like any complex electronics, this one would require a long addiction. They were afraid, it turns out, in vain. However, about everything in order.
Wipes, but does not grasp. The thoughtful reader once reproached us for the fact that too chocolate cars are on our long-term test: expensive, powerful, reliable. Audi is just that. We answer: and there are spots in the sun, here is confirmation. In early June, one editorial officer went to another to the dacha for barbecue. It is clear, by car, besides on Audi A8. A formal reason was a test of dynamic characteristics on the Moscow-Kyiv highway, and speaking in simple human language, I really wanted to grab at a speed of one of the best highways in the near Moscow Region. Why not? On the way, the employee received the task to call on the food market in order to purchase all kinds of drinks. The employee decided to combine the editorial order with personal interests: to buy at the same time in the neighboring construction market and a new toilet in the repaired apartment. Half an hour - and in the trunk there was already a toilet, and on the floor, at the feet of the absent rear passengers, - bags with full glass -glass. The driver pressed the Start button with a light movement of his hand - he was used to doing this with a button, which is quite understandable: the Advanced Key system not only allows you to store the key in his pocket, but also remembers all the user installation - chair, mirrors, radio .. For some reason the car did not start up the first time. There was a feeling that gasoline was over: it twisted, but does not grasp. Nonsense, the employee thought, because an hour ago he poured fifty liters of the 95th into a tank at a decent refueling. After the third attempt in memory, memories of a gas pump surfaced. Search in the eight of the gasoline pump was stupid. Four subsequent attempts to start a car in a traditional way - with the help of a key - also did not give anything. The journalist dialed the number of the service center, the consultant of which expressed his readiness to immediately accept the car for diagnostics, but so far he was able to help only with the telephone of the friendly evacuation service ...
Diesel Iveco rolled quite quickly - after about half an hour. By that time, the market was already closing, and the guards looked quite suspiciously at an expensive foreign car, which was lonely standing near the pavilion metal. Cutting, welding. The truck driver professionally removed the plug on the front bumper, screwed the towing eye there and had already begun to unwind the winch cable. Turn the key until the ignition is turned on and put the box lever to the neutral position, ”he instructed the journalist. On the twentieth, probably, once for this day a colleague sat down on a dead steering wheel. It was not easy to catch the moment of turning on the ignition - the key turned to the end, and suddenly - lohe! - The engine earned. Cursing, the driver of the tow truck tamped the cable and went to write out a receipt for a false call.
Adventures of electronics. Then there was only one path - to the service. No, it was possible, of course, to try to go to the cottage and just ... not to jam the engine for another fourteen to sixteen hours, but it was still decided in the service. We arrived without adventures, and after half an hour a journalist, the toilet and drinks took a breath into the trunk of the replaced Audi A4 1.8 T.
The verdict of the service, which was announced on Monday, was as follows: the refusal of the engine speed sensor. The case is so guaranteed that the detail still had to look: there has never been this with eights. Taking the already repaired car, we asked us to show us what was broken, and asked how much it would cost for money, and not under warranty. The receiver brought a tiny bag, in which lay a piece of wires with a small, the size of a photographic anchlet coil, a barrel at the end. The Bosch inscription was knocked out at the end. Five thousand eight hundred rubles, - having checked with a piece of paper, said the service.
For the days that remained before renting, we again enjoyed the eight ride and finally gathered in spirit to tell about the most obvious advantages and disadvantages of MMI.
+ The new control system of the most important functions of the machine, including suspension, navigation, climate, audio and video system, allows the user to get comfortable and not get confused in concepts in just two to three days. The system reminded us of the German language grammar: everything is logical and clearly, exceptions - the rarest case. The panel under the right hand of the driver is divided into sectors with inscriptions: radio, CD/TV, machine, phone and so on. In the center is the Jaeikiki washer, which serves both the cursor and Enter at the same time. Each of the buttons can be pressed along with the common Setup key, that is, general installations. There is also the Return key, that is, return to the previous menu. Everything looks rather clumsy on paper - this is the case when, as they say, you can’t describe in words, but in practice almost everything that the driver does is intuitively clear to him.
- There is one significant but: the driver must at least minimally own one of eight foreign languages- in Russian MMI has not yet said. But it is possible to load the instruction directly onto the screen from the CDs attached to the car, but the load speed is quite difficult to turn reading into a tedious lesson. However, we are honestly warned that CD does not replace the paper.
-/+ navigation and service in Russia, alas, do not work. Although there is a place in the trunk for the navigation disk. But it shows the TV very well. There is no DVD player in the standard - it is rather an attribute of the LONG version, but it can be installed additionally. The sound quality and the logic of the audio system will probably cause delight among audiophiles: 12 Bose speakers with high -frequency squeaks are installed in the car, including the rear passengers, and you can configure the sound both under the driver and for the passenger. Some attitudes, again, due to our specifics, do not work in Russia. This applies to a large list of filters at the radio station: nature, children's programs and so on. We were especially pleased with the function of increasing volume depending on speed - it is called Audiopilot. In tune with our magazine. But functions such as the tire pressure show and the state of the battery is a good help to the lazy driver.
For security reasons, the system will not allow the driver to enter the menu of serious attitudes requiring attention, while driving. This does not apply to adaptive air suspension: and the Car section appears a visual image of the machine, which shows what height the car is raised or lowered.
Apparently, of the same security reasons, the automaker did not make the function of disconnecting the ESP exchange stability system on the MMI. The button remained in its traditional place.
Text Alexander Fedorov, photo Sergey Sherestnikov
 
Costs (May 20-23 June)
Mileage city/highway - 1900 km
AI-95 gasoline (356 l) $ 130
Moika $ 12
Liquid in the washer tank $ 4
Total $ 146
 
 
 
 

Source: "Autopilot"