Audi A8

How does Ingolstadt’s latest tech explosion drive?

 

- Antony Ingram

TECHNOLOGY HAS become the main battleground in the luxury saloon market, and Audi has made sure its new A8 is well armed indeed. Beyond the bits you can see – like the new, if still subdued design language, with its matrix LED headlights, OLED rear light strip and subtle blisters over each wheel arch, and the fresh new cabin with a high-quality and ultra tasteful feel, the A8’s aluminium skin is virtually stretching to accommodate the new autonomous functions, active suspension, mild hybrid tech and a new touchscreen-based cockpit.

Even so, the bar in this class has been set very high by the recently- refreshed Mercedes-Benz S-Class. How does Ingolstadt’s saloon compare?

Engine and transmission

Indian buyers will have a choice of two engines initially. Both are 3-litre V6s, one powered by diesel and the other by petrol. Under Audi’s recently announced naming convention the diesel is known as the A8 50 TDI and the petrol the A8 55 TFSI.

The 50 TDI (we’ll have to get used to this eventually…) develops 282bhp and 600Nm of torque, while the 55 TFSI makes 335bhp but can’t quite match the diesel’s twist with a 500Nm maximum.

Both are relatively brisk though, with the 50 TDI reaching 100kmph in 5.9sec from rest and the petrol taking three tenths off that, while both hit a 250kmph top speed. Long wheelbase variants that will come to India barely differ – the diesel is just as quick, while the petrol loses only a tenth, covering 0-100kmph in 5.7sec. Both are frugal too, this time unchanged regardless of wheelbase – 17.8kmpl on the European driving cycle for the TDI, 13.3kmpl for the TFSI. Worth noting, however, that equivalent BMW 7 Series and Mercedes-Benz S-Class models are even more parsimonious – you get up to 20kmpl from a BMW 730d.