Road Test: Audi A8 4.2 quattro tiptronic

By Damien Tomlinson - 12/10/2005

Ever wondered what motoring might be like on the high side of $200,000? No? Well, you're not alone. For many Aussie motorists, the mention of a car worth that sort of money is immediately divided into how many Monaros you could buy for the money, and thought of having one is little more than a dream.

Well, in the case of Audi's fresh-faced new A8 4.2 quattro, it's a bit more than three Monaro CV8-Zs.

Now, being a regular driver of a car worth about a tenth of that, it could have been easy to go ga-ga, as many of my colleagues around the country do, at the array of gadgets, the supreme performance, the ultra comfort and the prestigious styling.

The regular motoring review for anything worth this much is flowery adoration, punctuated by frothing superlatives and kid-in-a-candy-shop, new-money ramblings about how the wife loved it, the friends loved it, it was perfect, blah blah, signed off with, in a last-ditch attempt at justifying the scribe's wisdom at purchasing a Camry (hey, it's got mag wheels!), "but it's way too much to spend on a car".

Well, I was determined to buck that trend. The average income of a regular motoring journalist, compared to that of someone in the prestige market, would make you cry. But there are people in that bracket who look to places like Web Wombat's Motoring Channel for advice and an objective review of a car that is in their price range.

No matter what car you're reviewing, you can always apply a simple test when analysing it. It's basically two questions:

- What is the car's intended function?
- Does the car fulfil its intention?

The above formula applies to every car - Ferraris, Lamborghinis, whatever. Recognising that people in that market consider A8s as I would consider a Mazda 323 (that is, as their daily transport), I set out to test Web Wombat's most expensive test car yet...

Now I'm a fan of Audi products, and with the quality we've come to expect from reviewing the S4 and S-Line, and even the impressive little A3, expectations for the revised A8 were high.

The mid-life update of the flagship sedan has included a front-end restyle to include the now across-the-range "single frame grille" design, and it really sets off the front and distinguishes this latest effort from the earlier models.

Also, Audi has worked on what it calls "silver vision" to round out the front end. As they say, "when viewed from the front, the entire headlight unit now appears silver, with the orange indicator bulb no longer present to interrupt the purity of the headlight design."

I don't know if I'd get that excited about it, but it looks pretty good, and compared to the "old" A8, it's definitely a nice touch.

As far as standard equipment goes, the 4.2 quattro tiptronic I drove - other models include the long-wheelbase versions ($217,100) and the L 6.0 W12 quattro tiptronic ($325,000) above it - there are many welcome tweaks.

First is Audi's new adaptive headlight technology, first seen on the all-new A6, which adds a pivot function to the bi-xenon headlights, in addition to the A8's traditional side lighting system, which illuminates when the wheel is turned past a certain point - when reversing, or when the indicator is used.

Another key addition is the "Audi Parking System Plus" at the front and rear of the vehicle. In addition to the familiar acoustic parking aid, there is now a new optical parking function viewed through the Multi Media Interface (MMI) on the in-dash screen, which pops up or down out of the dashboard as required.

Speaking of which, the MMI, which debuted on the last A8 and has since become standard fare on the A6 and some A4 models, is an absolute treat. I haven't tried BMW's iDrive, but I can certainly vouch for the A8's system. As they said at the dealership, if you can work a mobile phone, the MMI will be no problem for you.

If it is all a bit much for you though, Audi includes a CD- ROM version of the owner's manual, which can be loaded into the CD stacker and accessed through the MMI.

Once you're proficient with the system, you can use it for setting all of the car's functions, from giving names to CDs in the stacker, setting the ride height of the air suspension, modifying profile settings for the cabin lighting system, and even adding and editing user profiles for the system.

On that, the A8 comes with a remote keyless entry system, with sensors under the door handles "sensing" when you're near and unlocking the doors, a la Lexus LS430.

Where the system does differ from the Lexus is that, once inside the car, the maximum of four user profiles, controlling suspension, lighting, seats, mirrors, steering wheel and the stereo, are triggered for each driver using very James Bond-esque fingerprint scanning technology.

This same scanner controls the ignition, so as new drivers get into the car, their settings are automatically loaded when they start the car. Very clever, and a nice gimmick.

So, fingerprint scanned, seat, mirrors and wheel adjusted, it's time to set off. The brilliant 4.2-litre V8 is a joy from the start. With F1 paddles on the steering wheel for instant manual control of the six ratios or the choice of using the gearstick for flick-flick action, there's something for every style in this cockpit.

Riding on the standard 19-inch five-spoke rims (20-inch alloys are optional) shod with 255/40 R19 at all four corners, the A8 is all class.

Our graphite grey example was nicely set off with chrome highlights at each end and on the door handles, and in traffic, it's hard not to be noticed; the design of this 1.8-tonne behemoth is subtle and muscular, not lairy or pretentious.

The engine is the one out of the brilliant S4, pumping out 246kW and 430Nm at its peak. I think this is about as small an engine as I would be comfortable with in such a big vehicle.

The 4.2 is throaty enough to satisfy, and has enough power to comfortably match up the A8's styling with grunt. I haven't seen the 3.7-litre variant, but I'm more interested in trying out the 6.0-litre W12 first.

While quattro is the most obvious driving aid built into this car, there are thousands of other sensors and aids doing their best to keep you off a hospital gurney. Again, as per the Lexus flagship, A8 also features a laser automatic cruise control system.

In my opinion, this system is a lot cleverer than Lexus's. Its graphical display shows you how far away the nearest car is, and its presets for distance seem to be better sorted as well. What it translated to for me was a more relaxed motorway cruise than I remember in the LS.

A big feature on the shopping lists of buyers in this bracket is the audio quality, and in this respect, A8 does not disappoint. With 230 watts pumping through nine speakers in various locations throughout the cabin, Bach never sounded as good. For that matter, neither did Nickelback, The Allman Brothers and AC/DC!

Overall: 4.5/5

Overall, it was very hard to find fault with the A8, but possibly one concern that has developed across the range is rear legroom.

Audi's boots are by far the biggest I've seen anywhere, but they create the room at the expense of the shins in the back seat. Five adults will still be more than comfortable, but there is definitely less room than you expect after seeing the size of the car. If you want to impress your friends, show them the boot first.