OK, maybe I'm missing something but does Audi really expect you to be able to drive and scroll around the map on the nav screen at the same time? See the above picture of our 2009 Audi A4 Avant's nav screen? Well the function to scroll around the map requires that you click on that arrow icon on the lower right. Horizontal arrows mean you want to scroll on the map sideways and vertical means scrolling up or down. But you have to first move the line to where you want to look and then click the button again to move that box where you want to go on the map. Huh? Try keeping your eyes on the road at the same time you're trying to see where the next major street is on the map.
Of course, the nav guidance itself is nice, as editor Chris Walton has already said. The nav lady gives clear instructions, sometimes multiple times and you get plenty of heads-up before your next turn. But if you just want to see where the freeway is or something, better pull over first.
Also, it took some figuring out how to exit the above function since there's no "back" or "return" option on the screen. I just resigned myself to not using the map function. But when I eventually looked down at the button I was using to click the screen, I saw the return button. Heh, oops. It's not a very intuitive place for it. Naturally this is a nonissue to Audi owners.
Caroline Pardilla, Deputy Managing Editor @ 18,532 miles
foxtrot685 says:
12:37 PM, 09/14/09
wow... that does really sound complicated. you'd probably get used to it after a while if you owned the car but that would seriously make me consider skipping the nav option and getting a garmin instead.
jeepsrt says:
01:04 PM, 09/14/09
It has to be a royal P.I.T.A to go from car to car all the time when every car company has a different nav system. Although I would like to have that problem, and Mercedes has the worst nav in my opinion.
caroscuro says:
01:11 PM, 09/14/09
foxtrot685, Oooh Garmin!
jeepsrt, Yeah, that's not that big of a problem. :)
gdmstrb says:
01:32 PM, 09/14/09
jeepsrt - M-B's interface is pretty awful. It strikes me as offering the bare minimum of information, and it looks pretty dated.
German manufacturers as a whole have some of the worst setups. I find it funny that Hyundai will be adding a touchscreen unit for 2010, yet M-B/Audi/BMW still rely on joysticks and counter intuitive knobs.
jeepsrt says:
01:59 PM, 09/14/09
@gdmstrb
German manufacturers as a whole have some of the worst setups. I find it funny that Hyundai will be adding a touchscreen unit for 2010, yet M-B/Audi/BMW still rely on joysticks and counter intuitive knobs.
Add Lexus to that list as well, they are going from a touch screen to that dial that is like a computer mouse. I don't get it, touchscreens are the easiest and most convenient way to navigate these systems.
rlyon says:
02:07 PM, 09/14/09
Every nav unit I've seen has a return button with the rest of the buttons. Sounds like a personal issue to me. Although, as a B7 Audi owner, the horizontal then vertical scroll is a joke. I'd much rather a joystick to move it around.
eblock2 says:
02:22 PM, 09/14/09
Touchscreens are easier to understand but a joystick can be used without taking your eyes off the road. The screen can also be placed out of the driver's reach, and at a more ideal location higher on the dash.
bkochuk says:
04:29 PM, 09/14/09
it's less of a nav and more of a wtf.
hurls65 says:
09:44 PM, 09/14/09
@foxtrot: that's exactly what I did. $2k for the factory Nav, $300 for a garmin that has a markedly better interface, more POIs and just plain works...
falkinator says:
05:26 PM, 10/13/09
Why no updates? This car still around?