The little niggles that prove humans designed it

Ive had my 996 for about 6 weeks now and absolutely loving it. Truly fantastic car and the perfect everyday foil for my now sunny weather Elise. Therefore it seems only fair to single out the tiny little things that are just so ever so slightly irritating And in fairness it is only very slight. So here goes- Console switches on the right are hidden by the steering wheel. Particular prob for rear wiper though I now have a good 'feel' for where it is. Very basic design error surely? Alarm fob - only one toggle switch for the alarm means a manual check often has to be carried out defeating the purpose. Im used to my Audi fob with one for on and one for off. On the Audi I often gave the 'on' a second 'make sure' blip which I now cant do as it turns it off (if it was ever actually on). You know what I mean Four cd holder on the dash - very dated. Anyone know a decent replacement section other than satnav? Wiper stalk. Why up for on and down for intermittent with off in the middle? Surely off should at the bottom with the various speeds in sequence would be more sensible? Auto central locking - I can imagine why some people might want it but I find it a pain the proverbial. Can the auto engage be switched off? Seats - now find the general shape very comfortable but is it just me that drives with my head much further forward than the fixed back shape supports? If I drive with my head on the headrest it looks like Ive got rigor mortis or suffering from a medical condition that may lead to it. Maybe Im a hunchback (didnt realise before) but even adjusting the seat's position means I still have several inches of space behind my head when driving. I know seat shape is personal but the Elise driving position is unbeatable. Exhaust sound - again a bit personal. Id prefer more acoustic drama under acceleration. Minor gripe and to be remedied courtesy of Dervish's old K & N (cheers mate). Car steams up quite easily - not much of a prob and I think just "small cabin" syndrome. Remedies with aircon and much better than the Elise for this. Radio - 12 station switches is unnecessary and makes them too small for quick operation. Particularly a problem on the move as you really have to look down closely. Why is there no wheel/stalk control for channel and volume on a car at this price? My mum's Micra has it! Radio (2) - why is the cigarette lighter beside the main on/off volume switch? Looks like it and too close. Front boot release catch - the red manual release after intial electrical opening is a bit fiddly and requires fingers under the bonnet to lift it first. Usually two hands used too. One to lift and one to slide the catch. Would remedy with just a little more initial lift once the electric release has been hit. Well there are some trivial annoyances to be getting on with. Most relate to switchgear it has to be said. But in truth has barely scratched the overall lustre of what is a fantastic car. The above just proves that humans did after all design it! Feel free to add or better still suggest solutions to the above!

I agree Coming from a previous audi owner, I must say that in the ergonomics dept audi has it sewn up. Think porsche possibly stuck with the {its not broken so why fix it} method, but fail sometimes in even trying to imporove. If only audis were nice to drive, then we wouldnt all fall in love with porsches!!! I guess these little niggles just make them quirky, also when closing my bonnet, its not enough just to drop it from a few inches, I then have to press it down but maybe thats just mine!!!! and why is the button for puting the spoiler up and down almost at my foot in my 996!!! still love it though!

Auto lock is easily disengaged by the OPC - I had it put back on :!:

Console switches - agreed, sometimes I have to peer around to see them ! Alarm fob - most cars are different so can understand Four cd holder on the dash - just take it out and use the space for storage Wiper stalk - try switching between a german and japanese car and it's all reversed ! Auto central locking - hang on autolocking ! we have that ?? Seats - better you dont try bucket seats and it assumes that you dont like moving in the seat, with only 1 setting back or forward Exhaust sound - get be fixed with a PSE, but that low speed noise can be a bit for show and these supercar engine do rev.. Car steams up quite easily - Porsche and air con system, never a great history, 996's were the 1st cars' it actually worked on most of the time, yes seriously... anything earlier and the air con was a complete con! Radio - The new cars have steering wheel controls but again Porscvhe and Audio has never been a great combo, they are about 10 years behind on tech ! Radio (2) - dont forget these are designed as LHD so having that fag lighther socket to hand is important for those Cigar smoking exec's back in Stuttgart ! Front boot release catch - at the end of the day thank god they focus on the mechanical engineering rather then these touches, as all is forgiven when you fire up your 911 and go for a drive ! For money the interior is a joke, best left in the last decade, but it's the drive that I'm after.

Welcome... Thank God you didn't buy a 993 :wink: :twisted: The wiper system is standard on most German cars I think. There is a very good reason for it, that escapes my memory at the moment, but an ergonomics engineer did explain it to me once! I think it's either something to do with knowing which setting it is on without having to look away from the road, or so that you can do a single manual wipe? I actually find the bonnet catch very easy and it's always clean as well: Maybe your bonnet struts are a bit weak or something, because mine pops up enough to be able to open it with one finger.

Absolutely. I hope my post makes it clear that these are only tiny things and love the car. I have had an Elise since 2001 and modified it enormously. By comparison little nuances in the 911 are tiny. And the bucket seat thing - the Elise has buckets and they fit me perfectly ironically. Better head position. Best seats Ive been in as it happens. I guess its just a question of body shape. Please dont put me down in the prima donna garage jewellery brigade. When you've had an Elise as a daily driver and loved it (still do) you get an honorary pass into the hardcore masochist's car club

Seats are fantastically comfortable - my dad has had a bad back for the last 30 years and he says they are the most comfortable ones he has sat in. Wait until you use them with a helmet on though, you will sit there like a tortoise with its head poking out of the shell. Misting up is not a problem - just leave the AC on the whole time. It isn't like a Ford where turning the AC off is like hitting the turbo button.

I have the sports seats in mine, and find it the most comfortable car I've driven seat-wise even compared to our A8 over a long distance. Its a shame though that the memory function is not available with sports seats. I have also retrofitted a rain sensor- cost £160, and you never need touch the wiper stalk again apart from the squirter or if it rains really hard. Can't say I've ever confused the cigar lighter with the radio volume! I don't like the CDr22 particularly- I will upgrade to a Grand Prix or Cascade in due course. Exhaust note drama easily rectified with PSE 8) I guess the ergonomics would work better in a LHD car- the radio on and volume switch would be close to hand, and you could see the rear wiper switch. Agreed though steering wheel controls would be nice, an option on 997. I do miss the little lever you pull on the 993 etc to pop the fuel filler open. I also miss having an oil temp gauge.

I absolutely love my 996 (Christina's her name btw...lol) and have quickly learned to put up with her few quirks. The wiper one is the strangest one to me also, having VAG group cars in the rest of the family. I like the way in the Audi's that you can just flick the wiper arm down and it will do a single wipe and spring back. I share the Key fob thoughts too. I'm always one who thinks "Sh*t, did i lock the car?". On the Audi's you can blip the "lock" button again..and from quite a distance too. A double blip on the fob will also Deadlock the VAG cars. With Christina, I have to go all the way back to her to check if she's locked...oh well. No others to report. Love the seats, bonnet/front compartment release can be done with one hand. Would be nice to have a button on the fob to open this so you can put stuff in the car before opening the drivers door...but hey...this is pretty much your everyday supercar, so i'm just glad it has some boot space! I'm hoping Porsche will tap into Aud's know-how on ergonimcs and interior design now that their allegiance is greater than ever. Have any of these design issues been rectified on the 997? However, i see these quirks in the same light as i do J Lo's butt and Cindy Crawford's mole...i.e I can live with them no problem! Taran :wink:

On mine you get a single wipe if you push the wiper arm up slightly, or do the squirty. On mine you can also open the front luggage bay from the fob, but that may be a facelift thing. I still have to check if mine's locked though...

OT I know, but with the latest Audis the remote can actually tell you if you looked the car or not. Here's how. If you press the lock button with the remote out of range from the car the red led flashes a series of flashes. If the flashes are steady paced the car was locked by you. If the flashes are rapid then the car is unlocked and your glovebox is probably being ransacked as you find out :shock: . Damn clever

The lower button on my keyfob does this. Has to be held for a moment or two tho. Mine is a facelifted model dont know if this was added.

Oh right, i didn't know this! I'll check it out later on the RS4. Nice one, cheers Asim! Taran

Glad to hear they have sorted out the front compartment release on the facelift. Good stuff. Taran :idea:

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