Audi Talk

[MiniDave]

The bride's car is a 2014 Audi Allroad (smallroad they call them, as it's based on the A4 instead of the A6 like our last one - although the newest version is based on the A6 again!)

Anyway, there's nothing wrong with our car, first of all.....we've owned it for about 1 1/2 years and have  had no mechanical issues at all. However there are a few things we would like to change. Newer Audis like most cars have a dizzying array of electronical goodies and this one is no exception.

First off, there is no way to shut off the radio - I've dived deep into all the forum resources and spent hours combing threads....all you can do is hit the mute button, and it's a total PITA. Not sure why they did this but I have to guess it's something to do with the phone interface, they want to be sure you hear it ring or something, I dunno. On top of that the bride likes to listen to her media LOUD, so when I get in and start the car I feel like I get my eardrums poked with an ice pick or something! So, I want to change the start up volume to something more reasonable - she can turn it up when she's in the car, at least my ears won't bleed everytime I drive her car!

So, there is a way to fix this - you can either go to the dealer and pay their $150/hr labor charge to have them screw it up for you, or you can order some specialized software and DIY - which is what I did and the reason for this thread................

I'm hopeful that the specialized interface cable will be here by the first of the year, there are a lot of other little "features" we would like to modify too, everything from how long the lights stay on after you lock the car to.....well, I don't know, she has a list in her head. Some things you can do from the MMI in the car, others require the cable and software.....I don't know what all we can change but she's a "techie", so I'm sure she'll spend days going thru every single thing.....that's my girl!

So, anyone else ever use the Ross Tech cable and software on a VW product? (it works on everything they've made since 96 - except Porsches)

[cstudep]

If you own a somewhat modern VW and want to work on it yourself it's damn near a requirement, at the very least it is money well spent I think. It was very useful when I had a Golf GTI, and when I knew several other people with modern VW cars. Not having a VW for many years now I am not as familiar with it as I probably once was. I also sold it along with the car when I got rid of it.

[MiniDave]

The package I bought for $200 is good for 3 vins, I seriously doubt we'll buy more than two more Audis before I can no longer drive so I think we're safe. They do continually update the software to cover the newest cars so if we do get a newer version Audi at some point I think we'll be covered.

I'm looking forward to seeing what all we can do with it....

[cstudep]

Yeah they were always pretty good with updates and what not so I doubt you have any issues there. I think you can pretty much do just about anything that a dealer would be able to do. I am sure there are some things that maybe you can't access but I never ran across anything I couldn't do when I used it. It was actually pretty impressive what you could do and/or mess up with it. LOL