A High-Tech Fortress On Wheels - Audi A8l

The latest A8, codenamed “D5,” is Audi’s latest crack at the full-size, luxury sedan market largely dominated by Mercedes-Benz and BMW, and to a lesser extent, Porsche with its Panamera. To say that the A8 faces stiff competition would be an understatement.

- Kenny Yeo

Fortunately, there is very little that the new Audi A8L cannot do. It can’t drive itself; the doors don’t open on their own; it also doesn’t fly. Otherwise, the Audi A8L does just about everything else that you would expect from a four-door, full-size, luxury sedan from one of the world’s premier automakers.

Only the larger A8L variant will be available in Singapore - the “L” stands for long wheelbase. It’s a large car measuring just over 5.3 meters long and is 5.5cm shy of 2 meters wide. That makes it very nearly a meter longer than the A3 Sportback. As a result of its prodigious dimensions, the A8L is cavernous. The boot has a capacity of 505 liters and will swallow bags with ease. The rear seats are like business-class cabins with ample legroom and the seats themselves will even move forward and recline. It can’t quite lay flat, but it will get about halfway there.

Plentiful space aside, the A8L is also laden with gizmos. In the rear, the center armrest folds down to reveal a comprehensive console that adjusts the electric rear seats as well as a removable tablet that can control other parameters like the air-conditioning, rear window blinds, and even lighting. The lighting system is particularly clever and rear passengers can use the tablet to emanually adjust and direct the reading lights so that it only shines where they want them to. This is German over-engineering at its best.