Heated Steering Wheel
11-03-2011, 08:09 PM
#11
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I have to double check that. It is my wife who uses the "bun warmers" even in mild weather, and she told me that it did not come back on. I shall test and report.
11-04-2011, 04:14 AM
#12
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If you have the cold weather package, that would mean you have back seat heat as well. I would hope they DO go off (at least the back seats). If someone's been riding in the backseat, uses the heated seats & they remain on, then the driver needs to remember to climb back there & turn them off at some point. OR your driving around for some time with them on.
As for how much of the steering wheel is heated,darn! I had assumed the entire wheel. Again, I wonder what the experience of an A8 owner would reveal.
As for you Mr. Kaufman...it's not cold enough yet for you?? You ARE in Canada right
. It's been cold enough in the lower 48 a few times already to use that extra heat!
As for how much of the steering wheel is heated,darn! I had assumed the entire wheel. Again, I wonder what the experience of an A8 owner would reveal.
As for you Mr. Kaufman...it's not cold enough yet for you?? You ARE in Canada right
. It's been cold enough in the lower 48 a few times already to use that extra heat!
11-04-2011, 04:45 AM
#13
AudiWorld Senior Member
If you have the cold weather package, that would mean you have back seat heat as well. I would hope they DO go off (at least the back seats). If someone's been riding in the backseat, uses the heated seats & they remain on, then the driver needs to remember to climb back there & turn them off at some point. OR your driving around for some time with them on.
As for how much of the steering wheel is heated,darn! I had assumed the entire wheel. Again, I wonder what the experience of an A8 owner would reveal.
As for you Mr. Kaufman...it's not cold enough yet for you?? You ARE in Canada right. It's been cold enough in the lower 48 a few times already to use that extra heat!
As for how much of the steering wheel is heated,darn! I had assumed the entire wheel. Again, I wonder what the experience of an A8 owner would reveal.
As for you Mr. Kaufman...it's not cold enough yet for you?? You ARE in Canada right
. It's been cold enough in the lower 48 a few times already to use that extra heat!And yes, up to now we were rather lucky with the weather. We have seen on the news reports of snow, very low temperatures, rain, flooding and all that good stuff south of us, but we have avoided all that so far. I know, our turn is coming, and you guys will be laughing at us when in February temperatures here hit the -25°C (-13°F) mark and have 6'of snow on the ground.
11-04-2011, 07:43 AM
#14
AudiWorld Senior Member
Corrections to my previous statements.
After further, more lengthy investigation, I found that:
a. The steering wheel IS heated all around. When it is just turned on, the ends of the two horizontal spokes get warm fairly soon. The rest of the wheel take much longer to heat up. Once it all comes up to temperature, the heat remains fairly even all around the wheel.
According to the manual, this function gets coded to the individual key, so the driver who shut the car off with the steering wheel heater on would get it heated again when getting back into the car, even if another driver used it (with the other key) without the heater.
b. The seat heaters DO come back on after restarting the car (this is also true for the heated rear seats). My wife is wrong (though I would never point that out to her).
The manual states that after 10 minutes, the seat heater will switch down from level 3 to level 2, no mention of auto shut off after a period of time.
After further, more lengthy investigation, I found that:
a. The steering wheel IS heated all around. When it is just turned on, the ends of the two horizontal spokes get warm fairly soon. The rest of the wheel take much longer to heat up. Once it all comes up to temperature, the heat remains fairly even all around the wheel.
According to the manual, this function gets coded to the individual key, so the driver who shut the car off with the steering wheel heater on would get it heated again when getting back into the car, even if another driver used it (with the other key) without the heater.
b. The seat heaters DO come back on after restarting the car (this is also true for the heated rear seats). My wife is wrong (though I would never point that out to her).
The manual states that after 10 minutes, the seat heater will switch down from level 3 to level 2, no mention of auto shut off after a period of time.
11-04-2011, 08:07 AM
#15
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That's good news about the steering wheel. Not so much about the rear seats. I'll just have to remember to shut the back seats off after rear seat passenger use. Thanks for the additional investigation!
11-05-2011, 03:47 AM
#16
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Corrections to my previous statements.
After further, more lengthy investigation, I found that:
a. The steering wheel IS heated all around. When it is just turned on, the ends of the two horizontal spokes get warm fairly soon. The rest of the wheel take much longer to heat up. Once it all comes up to temperature, the heat remains fairly even all around the wheel.
According to the manual, this function gets coded to the individual key, so the driver who shut the car off with the steering wheel heater on would get it heated again when getting back into the car, even if another driver used it (with the other key) without the heater.
b. The seat heaters DO come back on after restarting the car (this is also true for the heated rear seats). My wife is wrong (though I would never point that out to her).
The manual states that after 10 minutes, the seat heater will switch down from level 3 to level 2, no mention of auto shut off after a period of time.
After further, more lengthy investigation, I found that:
a. The steering wheel IS heated all around. When it is just turned on, the ends of the two horizontal spokes get warm fairly soon. The rest of the wheel take much longer to heat up. Once it all comes up to temperature, the heat remains fairly even all around the wheel.
According to the manual, this function gets coded to the individual key, so the driver who shut the car off with the steering wheel heater on would get it heated again when getting back into the car, even if another driver used it (with the other key) without the heater.
b. The seat heaters DO come back on after restarting the car (this is also true for the heated rear seats). My wife is wrong (though I would never point that out to her).
The manual states that after 10 minutes, the seat heater will switch down from level 3 to level 2, no mention of auto shut off after a period of time.
I appreciate your follow- up on the steering wheel heating issue. My final question is, does the factory or dealer code the keys. When I asked my dealer, he said that he had never heard of the heated steering wheel being tied to the key.
Thanks,
Don
11-05-2011, 06:21 AM
#17
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There is no special coding effort needed.
11-05-2011, 09:09 AM
#18
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If you have the cold weather package, that would mean you have back seat heat as well. I would hope they DO go off (at least the back seats). If someone's been riding in the backseat, uses the heated seats & they remain on, then the driver needs to remember to climb back there & turn them off at some point. OR your driving around for some time with them on.
As for how much of the steering wheel is heated,darn! I had assumed the entire wheel. Again, I wonder what the experience of an A8 owner would reveal.
As for you Mr. Kaufman...it's not cold enough yet for you?? You ARE in Canada right. It's been cold enough in the lower 48 a few times already to use that extra heat!
As for how much of the steering wheel is heated,darn! I had assumed the entire wheel. Again, I wonder what the experience of an A8 owner would reveal.
As for you Mr. Kaufman...it's not cold enough yet for you?? You ARE in Canada right
. It's been cold enough in the lower 48 a few times already to use that extra heat!
11-05-2011, 10:00 AM
#19
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On my A8 the steering wheel heat is switch, not MMI controlled. The heat element is thermostatically regulated and at least on very cold days the warmth comes on quickly and borders on hot. After a few more minutes, it is uniformly warm. I often inadvertently leave it on since the only way to know it's on is to press the switch and read the status in the center screen. As far as I can tell, the entire wheel feels equally warm. I've had the heated wheel on 2 A6's and now the A8. My only comment is it would be nice to have a discreet light to let you know if it's on. As far as I know, the A8 rear seat heat inactivates if no one is sitting on it despite the switch position but I may be mistaken.
11-05-2011, 11:20 AM
#20
AudiWorld Senior Member
On my A8 the steering wheel heat is switch, not MMI controlled. The heat element is thermostatically regulated and at least on very cold days the warmth comes on quickly and borders on hot. After a few more minutes, it is uniformly warm. I often inadvertently leave it on since the only way to know it's on is to press the switch and read the status in the center screen. As far as I can tell, the entire wheel feels equally warm. I've had the heated wheel on 2 A6's and now the A8. My only comment is it would be nice to have a discreet light to let you know if it's on. As far as I know, the A8 rear seat heat inactivates if no one is sitting on it despite the switch position but I may be mistaken.
The only way I can tell if it is turned on or not is by looking at the display on the instrument cluster that shows the different energy consumers, and that shows Heated Steering Wheel" when it is on.