For my friend's birthday last night, after dinner, I took her for a spin in our 2009 Audi S5. In lieu of a gift, heh. She's a former owner of an Audi A4, currently leases a Mercedes C300 and is now looking to purchase a new car after her lease is up. BMW? Another Audi? In any case, I knew she'd get a kick out of the S5 and she did, going on and on about how sexy it looks and how she fell in love with one that she saw in white. She liked how smoothly it shifted; a big deal since she usually hates being the passenger in "herky-jerky" manual-shift cars.
But the thing that really made her seriously consider getting an Audi again was the red interior lights. "It's so soothing. I miss that," she said wistfully, admiring the Audi's and noting that her C300 has white lights. I agreed. The red is definitely easier on the eyes at night. What do you think?
Caroline Pardilla, Deputy Managing Editor @ 14,215 miles
sgude says:
10:28 AM, 01/ 7/10
Red, FTW!
fuhteng says:
10:55 AM, 01/ 7/10
My 08 Pontiac with a red-interior 100% supports this post.
huyracing says:
11:01 AM, 01/ 7/10
Red is used is supposed to make you hungry. lol. My GTI has red interior lighting and I don't mind it.
joliveira says:
11:09 AM, 01/ 7/10
Looks great
wobbly_ears says:
11:29 AM, 01/ 7/10
You took your friend for a spin in your car in lieu of a gift for her b'day??
To paraphrase Sonic's ad 'You're Cheap!!'
caroscuro says:
11:43 AM, 01/ 7/10
wobbly_ears,
Eh, I bought her dinner. Plus she likes the Audi THAT much.
DLu says:
12:01 PM, 01/ 7/10
My '04 Mz6 has all red-lit instruments etc. It's quite boring now. Maybe it's because it's not as classy as the S5. ;)
audisport says:
12:11 PM, 01/ 7/10
Red is easy on the eyes, for sure. I think that the worst on the eyes is VW blue. annoying as heck.
throwback says:
12:17 PM, 01/ 7/10
I prefer the green Saab uses.
audisport, I agree on the blue. I could not get used to it when driving my brothers Golf at night.
e90_m3 says:
01:25 PM, 01/ 7/10
Reddish orange is great. Some low-rent Pontiac rentals have dark red illuminated panels. Those are really hard to read.
norsairius says:
01:39 PM, 01/ 7/10
Did you let her drive it? That would have been great for a gift too! Especially if she likes Audi.
I'm a bit of a gearhead myself so I enjoy the opportunity to drive anything new, haha.
roadburner says:
02:56 PM, 01/ 7/10
I prefer the soft red lighting in my 3er and X3 over the neon blue in my MS3.
sherief says:
03:31 PM, 01/ 7/10
I love the red lighting in my '05 A4.
cr_driver says:
06:09 PM, 01/ 7/10
Since when red is soothing?
cwc1 says:
06:11 PM, 01/ 7/10
I think VW blue is cool looking and distinctive. My 2002 Jetta has it, with the red pointers, and I've never had trouble with getting used to it at night.
kingkhalas says:
06:13 PM, 01/ 7/10
Red is the best choice because it has the least negative effect on your night vision.
bkochuk says:
07:16 PM, 01/ 7/10
@cr driver: +1
e34bmwlover says:
07:24 PM, 01/ 7/10
Love the red lightning in my bimmers also. Does that audi has an overhead led bulbs to help you find buttons easier? I know my E39 does and really makes a difference.
2006vr6 says:
07:42 PM, 01/ 7/10
Red in my last Audi Allroad gave it a cockpit feeling. My two Passats have the blue as did a Subaru I had recently. Thinking the CTS has the blue too. Blue lightens up the dash more than red. Red keeps the cockpit darker at night. Okay - who cares. It is what it is. You can always get a mood ring or buy a Stang if you want to change some color.
dubaizen says:
08:15 PM, 01/ 7/10
I had been given an Audi A4 as company car back in 1999, and I used to love driving it on the Autobahn at night when everything was dark outside and you would have the red interior lights glowing the instruments/radio/climate control. VERY VERY sexy!
markedwards says:
08:58 PM, 01/ 7/10
I've had an '01 Jetta that's blue and red. Currently have an '04 Touareg that's white backlit instruments with red overhead spots and an '09 BMW 3-series with the classic orange. Also had a C-class with all white for several weeks in Europe this past summer. I think people who say one color is easier on the eyes than another are really splitting hairs. The Touareg, 3-series and C-class also all include the factory navigation systems. Those screens have a greater impact than the instrument panel light colors.
hybris says:
11:12 PM, 01/ 7/10
Red glowing IMHO gives almost any car a Knight Runner kinda feel or a prototype military vehicle vibe.
campi3ell says:
11:43 PM, 01/ 7/10
Haven't been in an Audi at night, so I'll have to look for the red and see. I'm used to the green on my Ford
fundango says:
08:13 AM, 01/ 8/10
My RSX has red interior lighting. Great because it's non-intrusive at night, but I never quite considered it soothing.
bimmerjay says:
05:00 PM, 01/ 8/10
For the record, BMW doesn't use red or orange, it's amber! And to echo the others, amber is used because it is very soothing on the eyes at night. It's all function: the eyes have to adjust the least from the interior environment (displays) to the exterior environment (taillights, street lights, other nighttime ambient light) by using such a warm color temperature.
Blue lighting is a ridiculous fashion accessory that will eventually die as all fads do, and it is horrible on your night vision. Blue is cold and sits on the other end of the spectrum from what you see outside the car. Idiotic. Pretty much all the other colors are compromises between functionality and fashion.