Audi A8

Audi has launched the new version of their flagship A8, and from the outside at least it is virtually indistinguishable from the old A8. The big reveal took place in Miami on the 30th of November and Audi immediately began proclaiming the A8 to be the sportiest car in its class, something I personally am rather sceptical of considering the flagship engine in the A8 is a diesel. Even if Audi aren’t talking utter garbage I’m not sure I want to live in a world where class leading cars are diesels so I’m just going to ignore that bit of information for now.

The new apparently more aerodynamic body ( it has a drag coefficient of .26 if really must know) is fabricated from lightweight but still strong Aluminium and is based on Audi’s acclaimed Aluminium Space Frame (ASF) design. So the A8 should be light, at least for a car in this segment, which is always a good thing but somewhat pointless if there isn’t the requisite powerful motor to take advantage of a lightweight car.

Fear not however because Audi are offering some impressively powerful engine options in the A8. There are two V8 engine options both boasting a 4.2 litre capacity. First up is the 4.2 TDI which produces 258kW, which is less than the 4.2 FSI petrol churning out 273kW.

Where the 4.2 TDI turbodiesel really shines however is in its torque production, here it puts out 800Nm of toque which is enough twist to rotate a small planet. The mountains of torque that the A8 TDI can summon allow it to accelerate from 0-100km/h in 5.5 seconds.

The petrol 4.2 FSI is a nat-asp direct injection V8, and whilst it may take the crown for horses production the petrol A8 only makes 445Nm of torque, which sadly is not enough twisting power to rotate a small planet. As such the petrol A8 limps in behind its diesel brethren with a 0-100km/h time of 5.7 seconds.

Being as it is that this is a big new Audi it comes as no surprise that Audi have also spent a lot of time on the lights, a closet obsession of theirs. There are full LED headlights that can dynamically adjust their direction and throw using information from the sat nav system. So the A8 will know when you are entering a corner for example and adjust the direction of the headlights so you can see better. In fact that is just one cool little feature in the A8’s lighting system, but it still begs the question, why is Audi so obsessed with their lights?

Audi A8 interior