Handy Cup Holder for the A4/S4

  

Cup holder closed and out of the way

It firmly holds almost any beverage container with the exception of some of the super-human sizes. This holder firmly held cups in my GTI during many high-g maneuvers so I transferred it to my A4. When I purchased my S4 I added this same cup holder within a week--I really missed it.  It doesn't interfere with passenger leg room much. The evil stock cup holder in the A4 (if you can really call it that) is, for the most part, useless unless you exclusively drink canned drinks and keep the g-forces low. Even worse is the cup holder in the S4. It's located high on the dash and looks like anything that drips from the cup (condensation anyone?) will go either into the radio or into the climate control console.  I've vowed not to use the high-mounted unit.  I wonder how many radios and climate consoles Audi will eat thanks to the factory cup holder.  Time will tell.

Installation requires drilling two holes and takes about 5-10 minutes. Placement is critical; if it's to far back it will interfere with the seat when fully forward with the holder open (for those occasions when your passenger is an umpa-loompa) or the glove box if to far forward. The front edge of my cup holder is 5-1/2" from the leading edge of the console.  Don't measure and drill blindly... make sure there are no clearance problems on your car--model year changes might make this measurement bogus.  Alignment is not that hard you just have to pay attention. 

Please, no lectures about drinking while driving or the cardinal sin of eating in the car in the first place... I spend plenty of time stopped in traffic to safely wet my whistle.

One word of caution:  when drilling into the console be certain you don't snag any of the wiring harness that runs nearby.  If the drill bit goes in to deep you can do damage.  Word from a reader of the 'Zone was that if you damage the harness it MUST BE REPLACED because it's part of the airbag system and a repaired wire will constantly turn on the airbag light because of an impedance change in the wire.  Wow, is it that sensitive?  I dunno... that's what the poor fellow told me about his experience.  He had to have his harness replaced after he cut into it while installing a radio.  Big money. Ouch!  To be safe I'd recommend putting a small piece of wood or something directly behind where you are drilling to avert disaster in the event the tool gods are in a feisty mood.

Cup holder open ready for duty

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