European Press Launch, Dusseldorf

The UK press contingent joined forces with the Russian press for a couple of days to drive the A8 in North West Germany. We didn’t speak a word of Russian but fortunately for us, they spoke perfect English. We all got along just fine, and we all concluded that the A8 is a great car for Russian diplomats, Russian millionaires, and Russians who want luxury and comfort. Whether you are British or Russian though, most prospective A8 buyers are looking for a car to be driven in, as opposed to drive themselves, and the Audi A8 is a great to be chauffeur driven in, wherever you happen to be.

When we got the invite from Audi UK to go and see and drive the A8, and it said it was in Dusseldorf we couldn’t understand why they had chosen that city. We had never been there before, and wondered what the city and its surroundings had in store for us. Would we be amazed or disappointed by the roads and scenery?

The facelift A8 has had a few changes to the exterior but these are limited and on the whole, difficult to spot. To call them subtle is probably a little unkind, but true. There has been a minor resculpting of the bonnet, single frame grille, bumpers and the lower edge of the headlight units has sharpened the front of the car a little. At the rear, the design of the LED tail lamps has been revised and the bumper of all models, except the S8 now incorporates two ‘rhomboid’ tail pipes. New chrome elements around the car, new gloss black window surrounds mark out the revised A8.

There is a good choice of petrol and diesel engines available, but only really one to have; the 3.0TDI will take the lion’s share of sales in the UK. This engine produces 258ps, goes from 0-62mph in 5.9 seconds with a top speed of 155mph, where permitted. The combined fuel consumption is 47.9 mpg and Co2 emission of 155g/km.

Other engines available are: 4.2 TDI 385ps, 3.0 TFSI 310ps, 4.0 TFSI with 435ps or 520ps, 2.0 TFSI hybrid with a combined 245ps, and 6.3 W12 500ps, most of which are coupled to Audi’s Quattro four-wheel drive system. Most models are available with Long Wheelbase, which in Europe take account of 25% of sales, in North America it rises to 75%, and strangely in China all A8 are LWB.

Whatever is under the bonnet, the question is how does it feel to drive? In fact, the more important question is in this case is, how does it feel to be sat in the rear? But let’s start in the front, and the driver’s seat: it is a fantastic place to sit, with all controls at your fingertips, easy to use and all of them up to the highest quality. Driving this large executive saloon is no more difficult than a much smaller car, it does not feel at all clumsy, and is so safe and solid. 

In the rear it is a very nice place to sit for any journey, long or short. Getting in and out is easy and once in you are surrounded by luxury. The smell and feel of the wood and leather is superb and the fit and finish is excellent. You just sink into the seats which are so luxurious and extremely comfortable. Travelling a long distance in the rear of an A8 is an absolute pleasure. 

The interior trims need to be carefully thought about as some look very classy and others look a bit old fashioned, or even a bit tacky. If you chose the wrong one, then you could end up with a car looking more like a Ford Granada Ghia X.  Worse still, the wood inlays could look like a piece of laminate flooring has been stuck on the dash. If you get it right, it is wonderful; if you get it wrong you are stuck with a cheap looking interior.

The cars we drove all had the brilliant Google-Map Satellite Navigation, this not only plans your route and gives you guidance like any other navigation system. It also gives a birds-eye view of what is around you. You can look out of the car window, see a building alongside and there on the screen in front of you is the very same building, but from the sky. It also helps you find your way around and puts everything into perspective.

Although it’s just a facelift of the previous car it does have some much improved or in some cases all-new technology. One of these is the new invention of Audi Matrix LED Headlights, which are very clever (but I would guess they are very expensive to replace should you have an accident).  These lights provide maximum and precise illumination at all times, but do not dazzle other drivers. The vehicle uses multiple source information including interior mirror camera and GPS data/navigation to identify the appropriate lighting required – automatically switching when entering built-up areas or when oncoming traffic is detected. This Matrix System is capable of establishing and tracking multiple road users and illuminating the appropriate corridor(s) of light either side of them to maintain maximum visibility. The light from the headlight basically detects other cars lights, and goes ‘around’ the car, so your lights do not dazzle other drivers. After many presentations during our time in Germany and Audi saying just how wonderful they are and how well they work. The first question was how safe are they? Well we did not get chance to find out as, we didn’t get a chance to drive the A8 in the dark, which was a pity and an opportunity missed by Audi. 

The subtle changes to the A8 do add a bit more style to the car, it has cleaner engines and still maintains it lightweight features, including the aluminium Audi Space Frame. The A8 is luxuriously equipped and a great drivers car and an even better place for passengers. With the Quattro system, it is also a very safe car in the wet, snow and ice.

The one to have is the 3.0TDI SE which costs from £58,800 OTR, but it would be easy to order over £10,000 in options. First deliveries are due in January 2014.

Martin Ward, Manufacturer Relationship Manager