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What's the difference?
Audi’s flagship is the A8, a long, luxurious sedan where being driven is often as important as doing the driving.
To put this ultra-premium machine in context, it competes with other German heavyweights like BMW’s 7 Series and, of course, the Mercedes-Benz S-Class as well as Porsche’s Panamera. Not to mention the Lexus LS or Maserati’s Quattroporte.
What’s life like at the top of the Audi pyramid? Stay with us to find out.
Big sedans are not in vogue at the moment and huge luxury sedans were on the way down before the humble Commodore and Falcon departed the upper end of the sales charts. The Germans, who have always done a spectacular job of these flagship sedans, cheerfully persist with these cars.
Absolutely loaded with fascinating technology that bleeds its way down to the more mainstream models, they represent the zenith of the brand's innovation and style. The A8 is certainly that.
What it isn't, is particularly sporty, but after two years since its launch, V8 power has reached the fourth-generation super-sedan to deliver the latest iteration of the iconic S8.
The Audi A8 swims in a luxury car shark tank where those paying the big dollars expect top-shelf everything. It delivers a serene driving experience whether you’re in the front or the back, in a superbly engineered and executed luxury sedan package. Not perfect, but very, very impressive.
The S8's existence is a source of joy for me because it's not a huge SUV. Yes, it's a huge sedan but it's a reminder that the technological flagship is alive and well, at least in Germany. And the important thing about these cars is the way the toys filter down through the rest of the range. That used to take years but we're seeing this cool stuff a lot more quickly, right down to the A1.
The S8 punches, and punches hard in this rarefied part of an already shrunken section of the market - the twin-turbo V8 matches its German rivals, it's lighter and it's as well-stacked as any of the three. What it doesn't do, however, is shout about itself the way the other two do. It's the incognito choice.
The A8 is close to 5.2 metres long, yet instantly recognisable as an Audi thanks mainly to its evenly weighted proportions, gently curved roofline and overall high-waisted design. Worth noting its drag coefficient (Cd) is an impressively slippery 0.25.
The characteristic look is accentuated by the brand’s signature, six-sided grille, in this instance highlighted by a matrix of high-relief chrome accents. And typically angular LED Matrix headlights sit either side.
Check out our video review for the carefully orchestrated animation they run through when the car is unlocked.
The car looks equally svelte and contemporary from the rear, with just the right amount of chrome lifting the tone and multi-spoke 20-inch rims filling the wheel arches nicely.
As you’d expect, the top-shelf look and feel continues inside with the seats trimmed in aniline leather, perforated on the front and outer rear positions, with genuine hide also covering the centre console, door rails and armrests, steering wheel and upper dashboard.
Fine grain ash wood inserts sit alongside brushed metal elements and a meticulous attention to detail is obvious… everywhere.
For example, the interior door handle design has been thoroughly thought through, requiring a simple underhand tap to open the door, rather than the more conventional, and ergonomically convoluted, ‘over the top’ movement.
Three sleek screens dial up the tech - a 10.1-inch multimedia interface at the top of the centre stack, an 8.6-inch display below it for heating and ventilation, and a 12.3-inch version of Audi’s ‘Virtual Cockpit’ in the instrument binnacle.
And the spacious rear is the epitome of cool, calm Teutonic form and function. You feel relaxed the moment you get in, and isn’t that the primary aim of a car like this?
The sheetmetal is obviously very restrained given it's an Audi first, and secondly, it's just not done to go wild in this part of the market.
It's an A6 that's joined a gym, but didn't join that weird gym with men that can't run after you when you insult them (don't ask how I know this). Rolling on 21-inch wheels as standard, you can go up to massive 22s if you so choose.
The A8 created a subtle redirection of Audi's passenger car look, with the updated A4 and A6 both picking up on the horizontal bar between the rear lights and the huge grille framed by family lights with signature DRL patterns. The S8 builds on that with subtle S cues but nothing even vaguely shouty.
The interior acreage - or 'cabin', if you will - is very comfortable, but you already knew that. The multi-screen layout was first seen in the A8 and has now found its way into A7, Q8 and Q7 and is, as ever, brilliant to look at and use.
The MMI updates that have found their way into other cars are present and correct. Like the exterior, it's very restrained but not to the point of sparse minimalism, despite the lack of switches and buttons.
I really don't like the steering wheel, though, and I can't put my finger on why. It certainly isn't especially sporty-looking but I wonder if the standard flat-bottomed S wheel just looked stupid.
The materials are beautiful and everything fits together perfectly.
Space is luxury, be it a large house, a first class seat or a spacious car, and at nearly 5.2 metres long with a close to 3.0m wheelbase the Audi A8 measures up.
Even before you get in, the doors have an amazing sense of solidity and quality. It’s like opening and closing a bank vault… if that huge circular door had a power-assisted soft-close function.
There’s copious amounts of space for the driver and front passenger with lots of storage including a lidded box between the front seats, complete with a two-piece longitudinally split top design, so you can sneak your half’s open without displacing your neighbour’s elbow.
The door bins are decent but there isn’t a specific cut-out for bottles, so it’s more a case of laying them down than standing them up. There’s also a handy covered cubby at the end of the door armrests.
The glove box is a good size and there are two cupholders under a pop-up cover in the centre console.
Of course, the back is where space really counts, and there’s as much room as you’d find in, well… a limo.
Sitting behind the driver’s seat, set for my 183cm position, I enjoyed copious amounts of head, shoulder and legroom.
There are electric sunblinds for the rear and rear side windows, controlled by buttons in the door as well as the rear seat remote, a 5.7 inch OLED display housed in the beautifully trimmed fold-down centre armrest (which also has a soft close function!). The remote also allows adjustment of the lighting and climate control. Classy.
There’s a shallow storage box and twin cupholders in the armrest, medium size door bins and hard shell pockets on the front seat backs. The rear armrests also feature a small lidded cubby.
In terms of connectivity and power options there’s wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, a USB-A and USB-C in the front, and an identical pair in the rear, as well as a 12-volt socket in the front and two in the back.
Boot volume is a useful 505 litres (VDA) and the lid is electric, with gesture control. It’s able to easily swallow our three-piece luggage set or the bulky CarsGuide pram. And while the rear seats don’t fold there’s a ski port door to accommodate long items. Just make sure you use the tie-down anchors in the boot to ensure they’re properly secured. There’s a handy netted section behind the left wheel well and a cargo net is included.
Maximum towing capacity, for a braked trailer, is 2.3 tonnes (750kg unbraked) and in more good news, the spare is a space-saver rather than the increasingly prevalent inflator/repair kit.
The cabin is clearly built with rear seat passengers in mind, with rear leg and headroom configured for those continent-crossing drives.
The S8 has plenty of comfort for two rear seat passengers and a few amusing options to while away the hours in traffic or on the autobahn.
That doesn't mean the front seat passengers are in purgatory, with huge but supportive seats adjustable in all conceivable directions.
Front and rear rows score a pair of cupholders and bottle holders while the boot is a handy, if not awe-inspiring, 505 litres.
With an entry price of $202,700, before on-road costs, the A8 is in the thick of it amongst its full-size primo sedan competitors from Europe and Japan. Specifically, BMW’s 740i MHEV ($272,900), the Lexus LS500h ($195,920), Maserati Quattroporte GT ($210,990), Mercedes-Benz S450 ($244,700) and Porsche’s Panamera ($207,800).
By definition, a luxury car should be loaded to the gunwales with features that make life on the road that little bit easier. And aside from the performance and safety tech we’ll cover shortly, the highlights from a very lengthy standard equipment list are - 20-inch alloy rims, metallic paint, adaptive cruise control, digital matrix LED headlights, digital OLED tail-lights, full keyless entry and start, power-assisted door closing, power boot lid (with gesture control), a panoramic sunroof, heated, ventilated and massaging electrically adjustable front seats, heated front armrests and extended leather trim (centre console, door rails and armrests, steering wheel and upper dashboard).
Also included are ambient interior lighting (with 30 colours and six colour profiles), four-zone climate control, electric sunblinds for the rear and rear side windows, ‘Audi Connect’ navigation and multimedia (with voice and handwriting recognition), wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, 17-speaker 730-watt Bang & Olufsen audio (with digital radio) and a colour head-up display.
There’s a lot more, and the A8 can hold its head high in terms of pricing and features relative to its $200K price tag and the competition.
For $260,000 there is a lot to get through, as there is on the less sporty A8. Start with huge 21-inch alloys, 17-speaker Bang & Olufsen stereo, panoramic sunroof, matrix LED headlights with laser lights, soft-close doors, acoustic glazing, leather trim, S front seats, extra leather over the A8, Alcantara headlining, carbon inlays, four-zone climate control, heated and cooled front seats, 'Virtual Cockpit' with S mode, and a tyre repair kit.
You also get active suspension, a sport version of the 'quattro' all-wheel drive system (with a sport differential), and a walloping great twin-turbo V8 to get you moving.
A massive touchscreen on the centre stack (familiar in Q8, A7 and Q7) hosts Audi's 'MMI plus' system, which is very good and does away with the console-mounted rotary controller. It also has wireless Apple CarPlay to go with the console-bin wireless charging pad. Android Auto is still USB. 'Audi Connect plus', now in full-featured glory, is also along for the ride.
Another technical highlight is the active noise cancelling which is meant to reduce the noise in the cabin the same way noise cancelling headphones do.
There's a clever rear seat remote control, which is a little detachable tablet to allow those who are being chauffered to faff around with various settings.
Our car had the $13,900 'Sensory Package', which adds a 1820-watt B&O 3D sound system with 23 speakers, electrically adjustable outer rear seats along with heating, cooling and massage function, and full leather.
The Audi A8 50TDI is powered by a 3.0-litre turbo-diesel V6 engine sending 210kW (from 3500-4000rpm) and 600Nm (from 1750-3250rpm) to all four wheels via an eight-speed automatic transmission (with ‘Tiptronic’ sequential manual shift function) and Audi’s quattro constant all-wheel drive system using a self-locking centre differential.
It also features a 48-volt electrical set-up for mild hybrid functionality built around a belt connected starter/generator, AC to DC converter and a 48-volt lithium-ion battery.
With energy recovery of up to 12kW from regenerative braking, it enables the A8 to regularly coast with the engine switched off and helps the extended stop-start system to operate smoothly.
Under that long bonnet is a 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 pumping out 420kW and a diesel-like 800Nm of torque.
That's a lot, even for this big bruiser. Obviously, being an Audi S-car, it has quattro all-wheel drive, which is fed by an eight-speed ZF automatic. Which is in everything now. Well, just about.
That huge torque figure is available between 2000rpm and 4500rpm while peak power arrives at 6000rpm. The 0-100km/h sprint is despatched in - gulp - 3.8 seconds.
As it's riding on the MLB platform, the mild hybrid system is a 48-volt set-up. A lithium-ion battery in the boot takes charge from the belt alternator/starter, which means the S8 can coast at higher speeds with the engine off and also cut out at 22km/h and under in traffic.
The system can also add up to 60Nm of torque in the right conditions for up to six seconds, and if it happened for me, I didn't notice it.
Audi’s official fuel economy number for the combined (ADR 81/02 - urban, extra-urban) cycle is 6.6L/100km, the 3.0-litre turbo-diesel V6 emitting 175g/km of CO2 in the process.
Over a week of city, suburban, and some freeway running we averaged 11.1L/100km, which is acceptable for a 2.1-tonne luxury sedan.
Also worth noting the standard stop-start system works beautifully thanks to the 48-volt starter/generator.
You’ll need 82 litres of diesel to fill the tank and using the official number, that translates to a range of just over 1240km, which drops to around 740km using our real-world figure.
The 10.5L/100km official figure is, shall we say, optimistic. The launch drive was mostly highway so there's no real information to be gleaned from that, so we'll have to wait for real world fuel figures.
I'd say 12-13L/100km is achievable if you don't like having fun, in which case, the lesser A8 is probably for you.
Audi says the MHEV system saves 0.8L/100km with an early cut-out for the stop-start and the ability to coast on the highway for over half a minute at a time.
Despite extensive use of aluminium in the ‘ASF’ platform and body panels, the A8 tips the scales at a sturdy 2095kg, yet Audi says the A8 will accelerate from 0-100km/h in just 5.9 seconds. And with 600Nm of peak torque available across a flat plateau from 1750-3250rpm this big four-door gets up and goes hard when asked to.
At more sedate speeds you’re occasionally reminded there’s a diesel engine under the bonnet, with that characteristic engine and exhaust noise only making their presence felt under pressure.
In fact, under normal circumstances, noise, be it the engine, tyres or wind is minimal, thanks to a combination of the car’s aero-efficient shape, thick acoustic glass and other sound-deadening measures throughout the car.
The eight-speed auto transmission is suitably smooth, with the central shifter or wheel-mounted paddles able to make snappy sequential ‘manual’ shifts.
There are four drive modes in the ‘Drive Select’ system - ‘Comfort’, ‘Auto’, ‘Dynamic’ and ‘Individual’ - enabling tweaks to the steering, transmission, throttle and suspension. Comfort felt most appropriate most of the time, although dialling up the throttle and transmission to more aggressive modes in Individual adds an enjoyable edge.
The suspension is five-link front and rear with an adaptive air system smoothing even high-frequency bumps and ruts amazingly well.
Push into a corner and the A8 feels nicely balanced, its wide track, sophisticated suspension, plus the quattro AWD system seamlessly distributing drive between the front and rear axles, keeping the big body under control. In fact, you feel the ‘big car shrinking around you’ syndrome from the get-go.
The steering is precise without being overly sharp and road feel is good. Again, with that 2.1-tonne kerb weight in mind, braking is appropriately powerful with big ventilated discs front (350mm) and rear (330mm).
It pays to remember the turning circle is 12.5m, and it’s worth picking your spot for a U- or three-point turn.
Although there’s a lot going on for the driver in terms of screens, buttons and switches it all makes sense ergonomically. The head-up display is helpful and there’s a common sense mix of digital and physical controls, the latter including an audio volume knob. Yes.
Driving any of the cars in this segment is a rare treat, whether it's the 'entry level' diesel or this top of the heap sports sedan. My day with the S8 was filled with the usual surprise and delight that only these tech-packed cars can deliver.
Heading out of the Sydney CBD in 'Comfort' mode, the car scans the road ahead and adjusts the active suspension accordingly. You already know it has active suspension because when you pull the door handle, the car lifts by 50mm to make it a bit easier to get in.
The suspension's party trick is flat-topped speed bumps - drive at one, brake a little and sense the way the body feels like it stays exactly where it is in the air but the suspension almost completely flattens the speed hump.
It's uncanny and almost unnatural, with just the tiniest change in altitude and no noise from the suspension.
It also manages the terrible narrow lanes of CBD thoroughfares with ease, the lane keep system letting you know if you're straying.
On to the motorway and you get a feel for its crushing performance. You won't hear much, though - the stereo's noise-cancelling system shuts out almost all tyre noise and consistent wind noise is largely banished, too.
I'm going to admit I gasped when I found some corners. Active suspension bodes well for the tricky stuff, as does the all-wheel steering. Both are exceptionally clever systems for making the car feel a lot smaller in town and in car parks but they're also really good if you want some fun.
But the way the rear-wheel steer adds agility to such a big car is hilarious and clever. While you can't quite chuck it around - and really, you're not buying an A8-sized car for that kind of nonsense - brisk progress is far from intimidating.
Now, obviously, a Ford Fiesta would drive away from the S8 in the really tight stuff but it would take some time to properly shake it. The colossal torque from the V8 hurls even this two-tonne-plus limo out of the corners in a most satisfactory manner.
It's surprisingly agile for a machine more than five metres long and two metres wide. If your passengers are corner enthusiasts, you'll all be having fun in near silence. It's oddly engaging to be moving at pace in such a hushed cabin.
Even though the A8 hasn't been assessed by ANCAP, as you might expect, it goes to town when it comes to active safety tech, the car’s standard crash-avoidance features including auto emergency braking (AEB) (pedestrians/cyclists - 5.0-85km/h, vehicles - to 250km/h), ‘Active Lane Assist’, blind-spot monitoring, a reversing camera and 360-degree view (including kerb view function), front and rear parking sensors, ‘Collision Avoidance Assist’ (steering assistance in critical situations), ‘Turn Assist’ (monitors incoming traffic when turning right), and rear cross-traffic alert.
There’s also ‘Intersection Crossing Assist’, ‘Attention Assist’, tyre-pressure monitoring and an ‘Exit Warning System’ (detects cars and cyclists when opening doors).
If all that isn’t enough to avoid a crash the airbag count runs to nine, including front and side bags for the driver and front passenger, side airbags covering the outer rear passengers, full length curtains and a front centre airbag to minimise head clash injuries in a side impact. A first aid kit, warning triangle and high visibility vests are also on-board.
There are three top tethers for baby capsules/child seats across the back seat with ISOFIX anchors on the outer positions.
The S8's considerable safety equipment list includes nine airbags, ABS, stability and traction controls, forward AEB (up to 250km/h), reverse cross-traffic alert, lane departure warning, various collision mitigation and protection systems, exit warning, lane keep assist, active cruise control and on, and on, and on.
The rear seat's centre airbag is terribly clever, popping up between passengers to stop you knocking heads. Another clever trick is the way the car detects a side impact is about to happen, boosting the height of the side about to cop it to try and get the sills to take more of the impact, rather than the door.
Given the relatively niche status of the A8, let alone the S8, there is no ANCAP crash test or safety rating. One imagines given the ton of safety gear a five star rating is all but assured. Even the US IIHS gave the A8 a miss.
The A8 is covered by Audi Australia’s five-year/unlimited km warranty, which is now par for the luxury market course, and 24-hour roadside assistance is included for the duration.
Paint defects are also covered for five years, with rust (to the point of perforation) covered for 12. Nice.
Service is required every 12 months or 15,000km with a five-year capped-price plan for the A8 coming in at $3830, or $766 per year. That’s a fair wedge but not outrageous for the category.