AUDI'S FLAGSHIP HAS COMFORT WITHOUT COMPLEXITY

+ Click to Enlarge TYPICALLY AUDI BUT WITH MORE CLASS: The A8's single-frame grille and LED running lights say "Audi", the detail work gives it that distinctive "carved from solid" look.

July 29, 2010
By Dave Abrahams

Audi's fourth-generation A8 subtly sets out to convey status without ostentation, comfort without complexity. It is, without a doubt, one of the most sophisticated luxury cars on the market yet has notably fewer knobs and buttons than its competitors.

Its refined, almost austere styling looks almost simplistic (and very Audi) at first glance but as you look deeper you begin to understand how much work has gone into this seemingly simple result.

And the same applies to each of the car's systems. Here's one example: the four-seat A8 has four-zone auto aircon - but each occupant has only one control.

You rotate said knob until the little red led screen alongside it displays the temperature you would like your part of the cabin to be at and the car does the rest; simple as that.

It adjusts the rate, volume and temperature of the airflow to maintain that temperature around your seat, even making allowance for which side of the car the sun is on. But you don't need to know all that, and that's the point.

All Audis are designed on the "first glance, second glance" principle. At first glance the A8 is unmistakeably an Audi; the single-frame grille, LED running lights, elegantly curved roofline and one third/two thirds ratio between glass and sheet-metal are a dead giveaway.

Then you look again and you begin to take in the detail work that gives the A8 its distinctive "carved from solid" look.

That grille no longer has rounded edges; it has crisp geometric corners, chunky chromed slats rather than black honeycomb mesh and, thanks to a buttress on either side, a three-dimensional look that gives it more depth than those on lesser Audis.

The corners of the body are sharply defined (which also makes the A8 look shorter than its nearly 5.2m overall length when seen in profile) and the three horizontal lines that define that profile are crisply edged, each with a quite complex concave curve below it to throw a small shadow on the side of the car and further emphasise the gravitas of Audi's executive transport.

The interior is just as special; there's a trim line running right round the cockpit above the fascia and at the window line of the doors that ties it all together like the cockpit of a yacht.

It's a time-honoured concept on roadsters, pioneered in 1947 by Pininfarina, but this is the first time I've seen it used inside a sedan. It breaks up what would otherwise have been a vast expanse of fascia and lowers the top line of the fascia to make the cabin visually even more spacious.

The marine analogy continues with the gear shifter, a big, satin-chromed handle that looks like the thrust lever of a large powerboat and moves from gear to gear with a solid precision that makes every shift an Event.

TOUCHPAD CONTROL

But there's also a more practical aspect: the flat padded top of the grip is also a neat and comfortable rest for the base of your left palm when twirling the knob of the multimedia interface that controls most of the car's infotainment functions.

New for this model is a touchpad similar to that on a laptop computer; write a key letter on it with the tip of your left index finger – "L" for lighting, say, or "C" for climate - and the MMI will go to that page. Also standard is voice control of all the MMI functions.

The cabin is light and very spacious, finished with quiet, unostentatious luxury in leather and understated wood veneer with an abundance of brushed aluminium and stainless steel trim that looks hand-crafted and neat, slightly old-school detail work such as the round-faced, centrally-mounted analogue clock that we are assured was not bought off the shelf but specially crafted for the A8.

The front seats have a potentially bewildering 22 parameters of adjustment - and that doesn't include the (standard) heating and ventilation! - but controlled by only three controls that are shaped like a miniature seat so that intuitively moving one in a given direction will adjust the seat in the same way.

MORE ENGINES TO COME

As we said: technology made simple. As is the LED ambient interior lighting that brightens automatically over each section of the cabin as that seat's door is opened.

Audi's executive express is motivated, for now, by the company's familiar 4.2 FSI petrol V8, tuned in this application for 273kW at 6800rpm and a muscular 445Nm at 3500rpm.

Still to come in 2011 are a 4.2 V8 TDI, V6 3.0 supercharged petrol engine and a V6 3.0 TDI.

Audi quotes 0-100km/h in 5.7sec for the petrol V8 and an electronically limited 250km/h terminal velocity, at a cost to the environment of 9.5 litres/100 km and 219g/km of CO2 - a reduction of 1.4 litres or 13 percent compared to the previous model despite a 16kW increase in power.

But it is the manner of attaining those speeds that impresses. The V8 drives through an eight-speed Tiptronic transmission with paddle shift and quattro all-wheel drive with mechanical centre differential that can transfer as much as 80 percent of the drive to the rear wheels or 60 percent to the front depending on the grip available to the individual wheels.

INSTANT KICKDOWN

Driven with finesse, it will accelerate briskly and almost silently through the 'box with almost imperceptible gearshifts well below the torque peak.

But push firmly down on the accelerator pedal to overcome a second, stronger return spring and the transmission instantly kicks down a couple of gears in one move.

The engine note rises to a distinctly sporty V8 rumble and the front of the car rises like a speedboat getting up on the plane as overtaking manoeuvres are completed with effortless authority and a not unpleasing hint of arrogance.

Use the paddle shift to keep the revs in the play zone above 3500rpm and the 1835kg A8 can be made to hustle like a much smaller car, downshifting smartly into corners and powering out on a wave of torque.

The A8 is by no means a sports car - Audio has plenty of those to choose from - but the company's executive flagship can be made to behave like a real musclecar with the right provocation.

ADAPTIVE AIR SUSPENSION

Suspension is entrusted to double wishbones and an anti-roll bar at front and trapezoidal links with wishbones and an anti-roll bar at rear.

The adaptive air suspension, engine management, transmission shift points and power steering are tuneable through three settings – comfort, safety and dynamic – and the driver can programme a fourth, individual mode (within certain reasonable limits) using the MMI control.

Comfort mode is magic-carpet smooth - and notably quieter! - while dynamic mode transforms the car into a road-hugging, tautly suspended machine with no body roll to speak of even when cornering hard enough to light up the stability control's warning lights like a Christmas tree.

The steering (in any mode) is heavier than that of its two main German rivals (that's a function of all-wheel drives and applies to most SUV's as well) while that same all-wheel drive imparts an accuracy of steering and road-holding that reminds you why the original quattro made such an impact when it was introduced to rallying in the early 1980's.

But, once again, you don't need to know that. All you need to know is that the A8 goes exactly where you point it with commendable precision, absolutely no fuss and the minimum of effort on the part of the driver.

VERDICT

Upwardly mobile performance-car drivers won't like its unfussy, somewhat remote driving persona but established people who can afford a million-rand motorcar and have nothing to prove will enjoy its space and comfort, authoritative presence, slightly conservative styling and, above all, the uncomplicated way it gets the job done.

That's engineering in very human terms.

The Audi A8 4.2 FSI costs R1 096 500, which includes a one-year unlimited distance warranty and a five-year or 100 000km maintenance plan.