When did DAB become standard in the 8V?

[Stephen C]

I've been lurking here for a few weeks after deciding to buy an 8V A3 Sportback over the latest SEAT Leon, but I now have a reason to post something!

After testing a couple of used A3s yesterday (13 and 63 reg), I kept noticing that none of the cars had DAB. I found this odd, as these were Sport and S-line cars with B&O Sound Systems, etc. As far as I was aware, DAB was a standard feature in all A3s from SE onwards. Is this something that has recently been changed?

On a somewhat related note, have there been any other significant changes in features between now and previous A3 8Vs sold?

I've compared the used prices of these cars with their list prices and what brokers like Drive the Deal and Carwow can do and it seems that, unless the used prices can be discounted a lot, it makes sense to get exactly what I want (for a little more or the same) via one of these brokers / using it as a negotiation tool. Any suggestions here?

Thanks, and I look forward to being an Audi owner soon!

 

[cemerson]

DAB is standard as of build week 22 this year - so anything built after around early June 2013.

 

[Stephen C]

DAB is standard as of build week 22 this year - so anything built after around early June 2013.

Cheers, did anything else like this change at all this year?

 

[cemerson]

Not as far as I know, that was the only change I was told about (I ordered before then but my build week was after then so was told about it when I ordered)

 

[Dan_G]

Worth adding that Audi dealers will match drive the deal prices.... If they say they won't, go to another dealer.

DTD cars are dealer supplied in the first place.

Get the car you want, with DAB and extended warranty.

 

[TreborA4]

I understand that DAB became standard on 1 April 2013 (no, I'm not kidding!).
I paid for it as as an option and took delivery on 28 March 2013!

 

[cemerson]

It was standard as of build week 22 2013. April 1st was the announcement (round about then anyway) of it, and if you had ordered then it would probably have been built after BW 22. Time of delivery is irrelevant!

 

[MiT]

no way, thats a shame, i always wanted DAB as as well.

 

[danilotto]

Hi All,

This is my first post after a bit of lurking. Nice to meet you all.
I ordered my S3 8V in December. Build week 4 (end January 2014). I do not know if the DAB reception will be enabled on my car. What I can say is that on the Italian configurator, DAB reception is still an option, and quite expensive too: about 300 €.

I had a DAB car radio on my VW Lupo some years ago and I have to say that here in north Italy there are four or five DAB stations broadcasting and with signal only in the biggest cities. And also in big cities I experienced continous switching between the DAB station and its analog pair. Due to continous silences and interruptions between the analog station and the DAB station it ended that I switched off the DAB ultimately and no more used this function.

I do not know now which is the situation but they told me that in Italy the DAB frequencies will be reassigned to digital television broadcasting and so the the DAB radio is phasing-out here. So I do not care about DAB.

Do you have in the UK a lot of active DAB stations with a strong signal also outside cities?

Greetings

Dan

 

[cemerson]

I don't know what the situation is in Italy, sounds like DAB is still an option there (and cheaper than it was when it was an option here!)

I don't listen to the radio all that much so I don't know what the DAB is like here, but I think it's better than it sounds over there.

 

[Stephen C]

Hi All,

This is my first post after a bit of lurking. Nice to meet you all.
I ordered my S3 8V in December. Build week 4 (end January 2014). I do not know if the DAB reception will be enabled on my car. What I can say is that on the Italian configurator, DAB reception is still an option, and quite expensive too: about 300 €.

I had a DAB car radio on my VW Lupo some years ago and I have to say that here in north Italy there are four or five DAB stations broadcasting and with signal only in the biggest cities. And also in big cities I experienced continous switching between the DAB station and its analog pair. Due to continous silences and interruptions between the analog station and the DAB station it ended that I switched off the DAB ultimately and no more used this function.

I do not know now which is the situation but they told me that in Italy the DAB frequencies will be reassigned to digital television broadcasting and so the the DAB radio is phasing-out here. So I do not care about DAB.

Do you have in the UK a lot of active DAB stations with a strong signal also outside cities?

Greetings

Dan

We have a lot of DAB radio stations in the UK, but it is broadcast at such a low bitrate that it can sound worse than FM. There are no 'HD' radio stations like you might find with satellite radio in the US.

The real benefit is the range of stations and the fact that you don't get interference like with analog radio. It can sound better to stream over the internet using TuneIn on your iPhone!