Just as Audi itself is throwing model after model at the market in its drive to establish not just credibility amid its more established BMW and Mercedes rivals but something closer to superiority, so too can you detect a change of aspiration for its flagship. Sensibly, Audi has put forward for evaluation an A8 equipped with its epic 4.2-litre V8 diesel engine.
The A8 continues to plough a lonely furrow as the only luxury car to be constructed around an aluminum spaceframe, the argument being that it’s lighter than conventional steel but easier to manufacture than the aluminum monocoque arrangement preferred by Jaguar.
Despite its extra size the entire car is around 50kg heavier, a modest increase given its added content.
In the fullness of time, there will be A8s driven by the front wheels only, but our 4.2 TDI is exclusively quattro drive. Not least because of reduced internal friction, new turbos and higher (up to 2000bar) pressure for the common-rail injection system, the V8 diesel’s performance has been transformed. Don’t pay undue attention to its 345bhp because the 24bhp increase this represents only seems impressive until you read what really matters: a 110lb ft increase in torque to 590lb ft. All this, says Audi, with a 19 per cent improvement in fuel consumption due to the added efficiency and longer gearing of the eight-speed automatic gearbox.
It hits 60mph in 5.0sec flat and 100mph in 13.0sec, numbers you’d have needed a supercar to match 10 years ago. It is the fastest-accelerating diesel car we have tested, and by a huge margin. The steering may be accurate but so too is it lifeless, meaning that even driven hard the A8 fails to interact with the driver in the same way as a Jaguar XJ does on the smallest journey. Its handling appears as something to be admired from a distance, not savoured as an integral part of the driving experience.
Everything from the engine and gearbox past the suspension and steering to even the headlights and, would you believe, the seatbelts come with driver-selectable comfort, automatic and dynamic modes. Were it not for the fact that all these choices lie in layers that need to be delved into rather than being thrust upon you, it would be entirely overwhelming. However, we take issue with the smart-looking gear selector. It is not only too sensitive and capable of making the driver look idiotic during three-point turns, but it is also far too easy for tall drivers to inadvertently knock it into neutral because of the proximity of its activation button to your left leg. A pity for Audi, then, that Jaguar’s new XJ has moved the goalposts to the other side of the field. For all of its comfort and luxury, the A8 interior still feels like a place where you pass the time waiting to be somewhere you’d rather be, and you could say the same about the Mercedes S-class or BMW 7-series. The Jaguar’s interior is a destination in itself, a cabin you might actually not want to leave.
Audi has achieved many things with this broadly impressive A8. It is startlingly quick, conspicuously well built, handsome, clever and quiet. But so, too, is it flawed. Overall, though, it is a welcome addition to the class — flawed, sure, but hugely capable, innovative and, once you’ve figured out how it all works, easy to live with. It’s not going to bust the class apart, as Audi might have hoped, but anyone in line for the keys to an A8 will surely be delighted by the prospect.
Test conducted by Autocar UK