Good Design?

mjs4x4

A2OC Donor
As a new A2 owner there are a lot of things I like about the car - but as with any car - there are a couple of things that just make you laugh.

1. Which technical genius at Ingolstadt decided to incorporate the fog lamp warning lights in the switch (by your knee) rather than in the slightly more usual and sensible place called the instrument binnacle?

2. Who managed to come up with the ridiculous design and position of the ASR switch?

Hopefully both, (or maybe it was the same person), have now moved on to careers more suited to their ability!!

Mike
 
Why is the handbrake so far over to the left. If the passenger is wearing a large coat, it will invariably interfere with the driver making a grab for the handbrake.
 
I have had no trouble with either of these things.

I reckon the fog lamp switch is good because it is incorporated into the main light switch. The last thing I want is a load more switches.

As for the ASR switch, I have never had cause to use it. I know it is there so I can't see the difficulty.

The main design issue I have is with the climate control. In my old car, I was able to operate the heater without looking at it at all. With this, the display is down so low and all the buttons seem to be uniform so it is tough to feel my way around it. I invariably end up having to take my eyes off the road.

I also keep knocking the fuel cap button on the way out of the car. At least, I think I do. The flap is quite often sitting open when I come back after a while.
 
Rob Earl said:
Why is the handbrake so far over to the left. If the passenger is wearing a large coat, it will invariably interfere with the driver making a grab for the handbrake.
This is because the A2 was never meant to be anything other than a left-hand drive car. When they made the right-hand drive version, things like the handbrake were left as they were.

This also explains the ridiculous foot rest. On left hookers, the foot rest takes up the space occupied by the plastic bump in the trim panel in front of the door. On right-handers, the footwell has to accomodate the pedals and the hump (now doing b****r-all) and a footrest, so guess what suffers? Yep, the footrest is made narrower!

I've had this information confirmed by Audi UK (so it must be true!!).

Cheers,

Mike
 
Skipton01 said:
This is because the A2 was never meant to be anything other than a left-hand drive car. When they made the right-hand drive version, things like the handbrake were left as they were.

This also explains the ridiculous foot rest. On left hookers, the foot rest takes up the space occupied by the plastic bump in the trim panel in front of the door. On right-handers, the footwell has to accomodate the pedals and the hump (now doing b****r-all) and a footrest, so guess what suffers? Yep, the footrest is made narrower!

I've had this information confirmed by Audi UK (so it must be true!!).

Cheers,

Mike

Yeah, that is quite irritating too. And the arm of the clutch pedal is shaped in such a way to take even more space.
 
The only things that drives me nuts are that my right knee always seems to catch on the door grab-handle. This means that I have to lower the seat more than I would like, so that my knee fits under.
The heater controls are also not my favorite, they do need to be more tactile so that you can adjust without looking.

On a plus point I just discovered that I can change radio channels and skip CD tracks by twiddling the RH knob. Yes I know this is in the mannual!

I also like the illuminated mirrors in the sun visor, and the way the interior lights fade in and out when the car is locked/unlocked.

Other than that, I think the design of the A2 is streets ahead of anything else around.
 
Smick,

I was not criticising the incorporation of the fog lamp switch into the main headlamp switch. That's fine and has been standard across the VW Group cars for years.

What is stupid is the WARNING LIGHTS to remind you that the fog / rear fog lamps are on. These are illuminated symbols in the switch. On other VW Group cars I have owned the symbols are illuminated in the instument cluster - not on a dashboard switch down by your knee which is in any event obscured by the steering wheel.

Echoing the other comments - all VW Group car handbrakes are located on the left for LHD - we should just be grateful the A2 does not have an armrest which makes this a painful exercise for RHD.

I don't find climate control adjustment too bad - but it must be worse on cars with Symphony where it is located lower down.

Mike
 
The handbreak is very annoying, my gf's coat or straps of her bags obstructs it all the time! The other stupid-ish thing are the position of the cup holders. They are great piece of mechanical engineering, but your drinks will always block the vents above it. Given you have cold drinks in summer then no problem. but my cup of tea/coffee gets cold very quickly having cold air blasting at it in the summer!

The rear seat belt catch on the C-pillars are great ideas, except for the inexperienced A2 passengers, especially women in my experience, cannot figure out it is meant to be pulled out...
 
I love the fact that the rear seat backs can be locked into the vertical position to provide a decent shaped boot.

Jonathan
 
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