A few of our readers had a question about the S5 and I was curious myself.
What are those slots just to the right of the gearshift lever?
They look like HVAC register vents or perhaps a microphone for the Bluetooth/navi interactive voice response.
I checked with the Audi guy and it turns out they are just fancy...coin holders.
Honestly, I was a little disappointed.
Albert Austria, Senior Engineer @ 12,250 miles
fuhteng says:
02:22 PM, 11/11/09
Weird. Wouldn't the coins pop out over bumps?
adavis2493 says:
02:32 PM, 11/11/09
Wow, I was right!
I use mine for coins, and they don't move around over bumps.
srlracing says:
02:34 PM, 11/11/09
Yeah because when I need a coin holder I only need to hold 3 coins. The coin holder in GM trucks, and if I remember Ford trucks are excellent.
questionlp says:
02:42 PM, 11/11/09
I like the card/coin tray that is at the top of the center stack in my A4, and if I have too many coins, the ashtray works as a backup. Yeah, I like to carry quarters when I have to go into downtown, as it works for both the meters and parking garages.
Can't quite tell the scale, but is the slot long enough to hold two quarters each?
jackson611 says:
03:08 PM, 11/11/09
i usually just keep coins in cup holders, but this works because i only keep quarters in the car.
phennighausen says:
03:26 PM, 11/11/09
It's actually designed for parking passes, and cards that you need to get into secure car parks. Business cards also work.
jackson611 says:
06:01 PM, 11/11/09
that sounds cool to have a space to put parking cards, but i usually put mine in a less noticeable spot, so that a potential thief doesn't see anything worth going after, especially something that can be perceived as golden as a debit or credit card!
altimadude00 says:
09:20 PM, 11/11/09
This sounds like the engineers ran out of buttons to put on the dashboard, so they gave you a near useless place to put coins and junk. An ash tray works just fine (like on my previous car) or molded in coin holders or the GM coin holder work much better. At least you're not questioning the use of them.
benson2175 says:
10:56 PM, 11/11/09
I don't know where you guys live but if I leave coins in my car junkies are guaranteed to break into it to rummage. Vancouver Canada.
the_big_al says:
11:27 PM, 11/11/09
Ashtray works as a better coin box for me. I can carry more and I it's not in sight of would be thieves. Not that I really worry about thieves anyway, but...
norsairius says:
07:25 AM, 11/12/09
The guy was kidding with you, it's ventilation for the high-efficiency flux capacitor. He's just not allowed to tell it to you straight.
audisport says:
09:02 AM, 11/12/09
I thought for sure that they were HVAC sensors for the auto climate control.
johnthacker says:
09:35 AM, 11/12/09
"This sounds like the engineers ran out of buttons to put on the dashboard, so they gave you a near useless place to put coins and junk."
Look to me more like they had to make a left-hand and right-hand drive version, and so wanted to keep that area symmetrical so it could easily be flipped. However, they ran out of things to put in the corresponding position opposite the electronic parking brake handle.
In the UK version, I'm sure that the parking brake is where the "coin slot" is and vice versa, as everything's flipped.
hurls65 says:
11:32 AM, 11/12/09
A4 Avant (you guys get rid of that car and not say anything?) has the same center console...
Dumbest looking coin holder ever, but it holds six quarters and they don't move at all.
The biggest issue is that if you're a bit anal retentive/OCD, you have to have SIX quarters (and only quarters) in it or it just looks off...
cr_driver says:
04:07 PM, 11/12/09
Me too Albert. Me too...
bensamra says:
11:57 AM, 11/13/09
Coin holder!? I use it for cards, parking, access, etc.