Your Top 5 Optional Extras............

RobinA3

RobinA3

Well-Known Member
Gold Supporter
Joined
Aug 11, 2005
Messages
2,021
Reaction score
128
Points
63
Location
Cheshire
Out of interest if you had to spec your A3 with 5 optional extras what would they be 1 being the most important to you and 5 being the least.

Mine would be (assuming Quattro wasn't included as an option or else it would be no.1),

1 - Armrest
2 - Xenons
3 - Multifunctional Steering Wheel
4 - 6 Disc Headunit
5 - Full Nappa Leather
 
RobinA3 said:
Out of interest if you had to spec your A3 with 5 optional extras what would they be 1 being the most important to you and 5 being the least.
Click to expand...

Most important:

Reverse Parking Sensors
Symphony II Changer
Heated Seats
Black Headlining
Cargo Nets
 
As mine would be an SE quite a lot of the options I would want are already standard like:

Auto dimming rear view mirror
Storage pack
Cruise control
Front centre armrest
Interior lighting pack
Light and rain sensor pack
17"-16 spoke alloys

so my personal choice of 5 options is:


Acoustic parking system
Drivers Information System (standard on the sport but not on the SE)
Auto dimming door mirrors
Symphony III - 6CD system
Front fog lights.

If Metallic paint is regarded as an option then that would also be in my Must Have list.

Also two 'no cost' options - change the Vivona inlays to Walnut and the No-smoking pack.
 
Xenons (Dont know why these arnt standard)
Satnav ( just for the sake of it not to use)
Ipod adaptor (miss this from my last car and have now gotten one from fleebay)
Parking sensors (great although i would never of ordered them they are a godsend except when you get in a car that doesnt have them and you forget and reverse into a post lol):applaus:
central armrest
 
Bit of a pointless question as option prices vary so much, i.e. for the cost of one option you could have 3 or 4 of some others.

Ignoring costs though, if I could have any five options, and only those five:

1. RNS-E
2. GSM phone prep
3. Front centre armrest
4. Light & rain pack
5. BOSE
 
Assuming I go for a sport then:

1. Xenons.
2. BOSE.
3. Light and Rain Pack.
4. Interior Light Pack.
5. Heated Seats.
 
quality post mate!!

1. Armrest
2. Multifunction SW
3. BOSE
4. Heated seats if winter or int light pack if not
5. Rear mats when picking up the pis@ed up mrs and her mates
 
For me it would have to be

1 - 6-disc in-dash MP3 stereo (Symphony III) (I hate changing CDs)
2 - Cruise Control (makes motorway journeys more relaxing, and less chance of getting pulled for speeding)
3 - Centre Armrest (just makes it more comfy :D )
4 - Auto dimiming mirrors (rear view and wing) (I'm lazy, but auto-dimming wing mirrors sound great)
5 - Parking sensors (I'll know where the rear end is, but the missus might not ;) )

Personally, I don't do enough night-time driving to warrant £600 or so to specify Xenons. Bose is a bit of waste of money to me as well, as I don't normally listen to my music loud, I'm not a music conosouer, and the standard speakers are better than any other standard ones I've had in the past. And while satnav looks nice, as a factory options its way too expensive to consider when I've already got a PDA with TomTom6, which I can use in any car or on foot ;)
 
alanjonesbath said:
Personally, I don't do enough night-time driving to warrant £600 or so to specify Xenons
Click to expand...
Ditto. The number of people who say "omg you must have Xenons, once you've had them you'll never go back" is ridiculous.

Yes, in an ideal world we'd all have every option but, whilst the xenons cost nearly £700 I'd rather spend the money on options I'll see some more benefit out of tbh. Amazing how many people think £2k for the RNS-E is a total rip-off yet are happy to blow £700 on some slightly better headlights. All a matter of perspective.
 
My top 5

RNS-E when you dont have it you really want it.(i dont have it )
Xenons fantastic wouldnt be without.
Dipping mirrors inside & out just love the way they work.
Heated seats on leather so glad of these in this cold weather.
Coming home lights function always use this in winter, lights my drive lovley.
Can i have a 6th BOSE just love the sound.

Options i never use,
cruise control i dont do many motorway miles.
Armrest hardly ever use it but it does look good.
Home link i dont have an electric doors although i could connect up some outside lights.
Rear sunscreen.

Options i dont like the look of,
Storage pack just dont like the net in the passenger footwell.
 
alanjones good point - forgot about cruise control. always handy when police behind!!

i know this has been debated but are xenons really that good?? i have been looking at replacement cars over the last few weeks and the sharky salesmen also go on about them so much??!!
 
Mine are.

1. Xenon plus lights
2. RNS-E
3.GSM phone prep.
4.Rear parking sensors
5.Light and rain pack.

Its amazing how many people dont get the xenon lights they really do make the car nice to drive at night, especially in this weather(the road is lit like daylight in front of you). Once you have a car fitted with them you will never go back. The are easily worth £700 and are fantastic IMO.
 
All these people saying GSM phone prep.
I had a loan car last month with this option fitted. Yes it was nice but NO different to my Nokia bluetooth car kit.
Which costs £65 from ebay and takes 45 minutes max to fit.

You cant tell its fitted and just like the GSM kit syncs with the phone when you get in and turn the key. Comes up on the DIS and Head unit and plays out the speakers.

I also have TOMTOM 6 on the phone and so wouldnt spec a OEM sat nav.
You can also get the TOMTOM voice to play out the phone speaker or headunit via the bluetooth car kit
 
dandle said:
Its amazing how many people dont get the xenon lights they really do make the car nice to drive at night, especially in this weather(the road is lit like daylight in front of you). Once you have a car fitted with them you will never go back. The are easily worth £700 and are fantastic IMO.
Click to expand...
Sorry but it's not a case of "dont get" them. I've been in plenty of cars with xenons and still didn't bother ordering them on the new car.

I don't dispute they are much better than standard halogens but I'm afraid they're still hideously expensive and, unless I was having to do a lot of night driving, I wouldn't pay the asking price. If they were more like £300 I'd go for it but £700 is obscene. If I'd had another £700 to spend on the car I'd have got a sunroof before the xenons.

I appreciate that everyone has different priorities and this is indeed what this whole thread is about but I wish people wouldn't assume their priorities are the same as others'. If you find xenons indispensible then fine but that doesn't mean I do, just as I find the RNS-E and GSM kit indispensible yet loads of others don't :)
 
Odd, how nobody has said Metallic paint or S line?

S Line,
Metallic paint,
Xenons,
Auto dipping mirrors,
rear park sensors,

I wouldn't have (again)
Leather, I can not see any advantage in it over plastic seats, it's cold in the winter and hot in the summer.
centre armrest--on my 8L it spent 4 years in a bag in the garage!
front spots (with Xenons you just can not tell when they are on due to the Xenon's brightness! they just get cracked and cost you £90 a time)
I like the interior light kit, but you can keep the auto headlamps and rain sensor

Guess it's a good job we are all different eh! that's probably why these are all "extra's" I walked away from a 2.0T because it had an armrest...........
 
Vertigo1 said:
Sorry but it's not a case of "dont get" them. I've been in plenty of cars with xenons and still didn't bother ordering them on the new car.

I don't dispute they are much better than standard halogens but I'm afraid they're still hideously expensive and, unless I was having to do a lot of night driving, I wouldn't pay the asking price. If they were more like £300 I'd go for it but £700 is obscene. If I'd had another £700 to spend on the car I'd have got a sunroof before the xenons.

I appreciate that everyone has different priorities and this is indeed what this whole thread is about but I wish people wouldn't assume their priorities are the same as others'. If you find xenons indispensible then fine but that doesn't mean I do, just as I find the RNS-E and GSM kit indispensible yet loads of others don't :)
Click to expand...
Yep, £700 is obscene for two headlamps, after market conversions are quite cheap now.

As is a Tom Tom go compared to RNS-E, and it will go in your "other" car

Dandle did end his post with "IMO"..........................
 
Vertigo1 said:
Sorry but it's not a case of "dont get" them. I've been in plenty of cars with xenons and still didn't bother ordering them on the new car.

I don't dispute they are much better than standard halogens but I'm afraid they're still hideously expensive and, unless I was having to do a lot of night driving, I wouldn't pay the asking price. If they were more like £300 I'd go for it but £700 is obscene. If I'd had another £700 to spend on the car I'd have got a sunroof before the xenons.

I appreciate that everyone has different priorities and this is indeed what this whole thread is about but I wish people wouldn't assume their priorities are the same as others'. If you find xenons indispensible then fine but that doesn't mean I do, just as I find the RNS-E and GSM kit indispensible yet loads of others don't :)
Click to expand...

I wasnt having a pop at you mate just saying that I dont think they are a waste of money at all:). What i was getting at was people that dont spend the money on factory fit ones because they are too expensive but then moan the A3s (and the A4s for that matter) standard lights are so bad. With some trying trying to retrofit either the whole light unit and a HID kit(or just the HID kit). For what you get it isnt a bad price if you look up decent HID kits and you getting the projector headlight and wash system. My thought was that if im spending that much money on a car is another £650ish going to brake the bank to get some decent lights on it.

The standard light should have been much better than it is though. Maybe thats Audis way of screwing a few more quid out of some of us:). I had a brand new A4 loaner last week and the standard lights are dire, much much worse than the lights on my 6 year old Volvo even.
 
It does make sense though after this weeks holiday night driving that people don't realise how bad their two candles really are that they cannot actually see where they are going ie. into me oncoming, or missing the road altogether.....

Splitting between candle power and xenons is literally like that, thats why I call it candle power. I never had xenons before, always wanted them but couldnt afford them.

Money not releavant in this options choice xenons are someone more useful than an armrest.
 
As I said, everyone has different priorities but I have to say I'm surprised at how many people go on about how bad the standard lights are as I've never had a problem with them. They're no worse than the lights I've had on any other car tbh.
 
I have always upgraded my headlights with Philips '50% more' halogen bulbs and it does make quite a difference. I have driven previous loan cars with ordinary Xenon rather than Xenon plus and did not like the change from Xenon to halogen when I used main beam. But with the Xenon plus, as both beams are Xenon, and with the inclusion of Daytime Running Lights, I decided to specify them for the A3 I have on order.

Personally I cannot understand spending over £2,000 on an RNS-E and not spending £675 on Xenons.
 
1. rear parking sensors
2. centre arm rest
3. cruise control
4. xenons
5. front 6cd change with full bose system
 
Ive got what i wanted on my 06 S-Line but would of liked,

1, Heated seats. Full leather is cold this time of year.
2, Xenons. Had them on my mk5 GTi, never set right after a few attempts from the dealer.:box:
3, RNS-E, coming soon...
4, Cruise Control.

Very happy with this car at the moment.
 
Vertigo1 said:
As I said, everyone has different priorities but I have to say I'm surprised at how many people go on about how bad the standard lights are as I've never had a problem with them. They're no worse than the lights I've had on any other car tbh.
Click to expand...

Well you not missing what your not seeing ;)
 
h5djr said:
I have always upgraded my headlights with Philips '50% more' halogen bulbs and it does make quite a difference. I have driven previous loan cars with ordinary Xenon rather than Xenon plus and did not like the change from Xenon to halogen when I used main beam. But with the Xenon plus, as both beams are Xenon, and with the inclusion of Daytime Running Lights, I decided to specify them for the A3 I have on order.

Personally I cannot understand spending over £2,000 on an RNS-E and not spending £675 on Xenons.
Click to expand...

Well, you by RNS-E to be told hold to get there, and you use xenons to see how to get there:p
 
h5djr said:
Personally I cannot understand spending over £2,000 on an RNS-E and not spending £675 on Xenons.
Click to expand...
That's the whole point - everyone has different priorities.

If you (or anyone else) has the above attitude then that's fine, what I have a problem with is those (not yourself necessarily) who have such an attitude but regard anyone who dares to think the opposite as "mad" or "not getting it". To such people I'd ask that you respect my choices - I'm perfectly well aware of the advantages of xenons and have made a deliberate choice not to spec them. It's not a case of "oh bless, he doesn't get it" so please don't insult me by claiming otherwise.

Rant over :)
 
As you say, each to his own.

My personal problem with the RNS-E is that you can a better navigation system that can find places by postcode, that can warn you of speed cameras and speed limits, provide a digital speedometer at same time as having all the normal DIS readouts and if you have it loaded on a PDA can do a thousand and one other things as well, for around £500-600 which makes the RNS-E very expensive. You can also use it outside the car just as well as inside, set it up indoors the night before, use it when you go for a walk, send emails, look-in at the internet, look at you contacts list, convert currency when you go on holiday, have a translation dictionary, carry and use spreadsheets and word documents etc etc etc.

I know a lot of people seem to like the RNS-E but, apart from the fact that it looks smart, I cannot see any advantage over a Symphony III (£265 extra to the Concert III) and a good PDA/software system. But as I said at the beginning - Each to his own.
 
you're right mate - as a system there are others out there in my opinion with better usability, guidance, route finder, more special destinations etc.
I have been using a tom tom 1 and it does the job just as well and its only 150 squid odd now in the sales. Although it can get bit annoying when you press the wrong letter on inputting and you have to put everything in again!! Plusit has all those downloads for speed cameras etc which is really really useful - much cheaper than my road angel.

But it does look a tidy system in the car!! I can see why some people dont like them stuck on the windscreen and all the hassle of taking it in and out, charging etc.

****Random point here and sure you have all heard it but I read or saw somethingabout car theft, and thieves pinch satnavs not only for the unit but if your car is parked up somewhere and they clock thats its going to be there a while e.g train station or supermarket, then they look at the home destination programmed into the unit, know you're not in and head there and raid your house!! I thought it was genious in a quiet sort of way.........sorry to babble
 
There's no disputing that an aftermarket system like TomTom does provide features that the RNS-E doesn't but then the RNS-E does things the TT doesn't, again I spose it's what features you value that determine which way you go, in addition to the price of course! :)

For what it's worth, the only things I miss from my old Tomtom setup are the speed of entry using the touch-screen and the speed camera database. In all other ways I find the RNS-E vastly superior. I love the big display, the DIS display, the much clearer directions, the way it lowers your music to make itself heard, the turn list display, the junction popup display and many other things. Yes it'd be nice if it did full postcodes but frankly the partial system works fine for me as it's rare that I have a postcode without a street and number so this isn't a major issue and I've already used the GPS speed readout to ascertain the accuracy of my standard speedo so I know exactly how fast I'm going.

As with all options, everyone has differing opinions of their value and it's this that decides what you go for. If we all went for the same things then life would be very boring :) I fully understand that many people think the RNS-E is a ripoff but I happen to class xenons the same way :)
 
For what it's worth, the only things I miss from my old Tomtom setup are the speed of entry using the touch-screen and the speed camera database. In all other ways I find the RNS-E vastly superior. I love the big display, the DIS display, the much clearer directions, the way it lowers your music to make itself heard, the turn list display, the junction popup display and many other things. Yes it'd be nice if it did full postcodes but frankly the partial system works fine for me as it's rare that I have a postcode without a street and number so this isn't a major issue and I've already used the GPS speed readout to ascertain the accuracy of my standard speedo so I know exactly how fast I'm going.
Click to expand...

Out of your list the only things that I would find useful at some times would be the way it lowers the volume to make itself head. I say 'at some times' because, these days, I find I tend not to play anything whilst I'm driving. All the other items are not important to me although my system using an HP iPaq 4700 + Destinator 6 software + CF card slot mounted GPS + RoadPilot MicroGo covers them. I'm not interested in a large display because although it's large it's in the wrong place. I never look at mine whilst I'm driving, I reley on the spoken instructions. The same applies to the DIS display. My micro go tells me about cameras and speed limits and I can easily change it to kph which I find very usefull for sticking to speed limits on the Continent. I have download quite a number of useful POIs onto my system like the location of other B+Q stores (I work part-time for B+Q), of Homebase stores (I visit Homebase stores to compare prices with B+Q) as well as such things as certain Hotel chains, Audi dealers etc etc. Not sure if you can do this with the RNS-E. Also I don't know about the spoken instructions on either TomTom or the RNS-E having not heard either of them, but those from 'Ellie' on Destinator 6 have always been very clear using routes both in the UK and on the continent.

But as we both agree what is important to one is less so to another. Personally I would much rather have the Xenon Plus and the Daytime Driving Lights (required in some European countries and recommended in others). Personally the only thing that the RNS-E has over my set-up is the appearance, although mine is quite neat with the MicroGo being hard wired and the wires almost completely hidden and the 4700 being carried in a hard wired cradle, again with the wires almost totally hidden.

I know a lot of forum members like the centre armrest. But for me it's only use is to put my PDA+GPS in when I leave the car for a short while. I always fold it up when I'm driving as I find it gets in the way of using the handbrake and as I tend to drive with my hand at 10-2 on the steering wheel my arms are nowhere near the armrest!

Sorry for the long post, but I do find it interesting to compare how people use the kit that they choose for their particular car. It also helps us to make informed judgements on whether we thing a particular option is worth paying the extra for or not. It's a good job were not all the same or life and our cars would get very dull.
 
1. Xenon lighting
2. Cruise control
3. Armrest
4. DIS
5. 6 CD Symphony II Unit (to aid RNS-E retrofit :))

With regard to the RNS-E/Tom Tom debate above (which is surprisingly common in this forum these days), I've not used TT extensively but certainly can vouch for the RNS-E. Having had it installed now for around four weeks, it's the perfect integration with DIS that wins it hands down for me; the little roundabout and junction displays along with the countdown bar and time/mileage counters is absolutely fantastic. Much safer in that you're only looking at something which is right next to the speedometer - which you should be checking anyway!

One final point about retrofitting however; while it might seem folly to order a new car and omit any options you really want or need to save money, you can retrofit most factory/dealer options at a fraction of the cost. So far, I've added the RNS-E itself (around £460 retrofitted instead of £2175 new), 17" Star alloys (£130 upgrade after I'd sold my 16s, £750 option on my SE new) and a rear sunblind (£24 from eBay, £90 option new). Mind you, you've got to enjoy working on cars, which happily I do! :)
 
(around £460 retrofitted instead of £2175 new),
Click to expand...

At that sort of price even I might consider it, but not at £2175. £2175 is half as much again as S-tronic!
 
h5djr said:
I know a lot of forum members like the centre armrest. But for me it's only use is to put my PDA+GPS in when I leave the car for a short while. I always fold it up when I'm driving as I find it gets in the way of using the handbrake and as I tend to drive with my hand at 10-2 on the steering wheel my arms are nowhere near the armrest!
Click to expand...
I really couldn't live without the armrest. I too fold it up out of the way when driving around town as it gets in the way when changing gear but once I'm cruising on the motorway I fold it down (got that down to a deft elbow motion :) ) and it's a godsend.

Also doubles as a handy place for the phone cradle :)
 
Vertigo1 said:
I too fold it up out of the way when driving around town as it gets in the way when changing gear
Click to expand...

i never fold mine up when i am in town changing gears, i think that the gearbox is so nice to use i tend to use my wrists to change gear rather than moving my whole arm
 
It's great that Audi make the centre armrest folding - that way we can all use it or not as we choose. I drove a Toyota recently and that had an armrest similar to the A3 except that it did not fold.
 
The centre armrest is really good; combined with cruise control it makes long distance driving much more comfortable.
 
I had cruise on the last car (was an SE so came with it) but used it so infrequently I didn't bother adding it to the new one.

The main use was maintaining a steady 40 or 50 in motorway roadworks. TBH, in normal motorway driving it was too hard to maintain a constant speed in traffic to bother with the cruise. If you did a lot of night-time driving when the roads were much quieter I could see the benefit.
 
Vertigo1 said:
The main use was maintaining a steady 40 or 50 in motorway roadworks
Click to expand...

Thats what i use it for mostly

when i looked for a car to buy the armrest and cruise was at the top of my list as i do a lot of travelling to and from oxford from cheshire

now i have cruise i only tend to use it when i am in roadworks or at night when i am trundling at around 70mph

using it at higher speeds can be quite dangerous as your foot isn't prepared to stamp on the brakes if you have it resting on the side.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

R
Optional extras
Replies
3
Views
1K
NHN
NHN
A
Optional Extras
Replies
3
Views
1K
tdisportuk
tdisportuk
Indestructable
Optional extras
Replies
27
Views
8K
SilverSport
S
M
Blk Edition, optional extras.
Replies
19
Views
3K
pu6486
pu6486
D
Help! Which optional extras?!
Replies
19
Views
1K
phil_w
phil_w
Top
Back