Audi A8 2018 Review

This is my third encounter with the all-new A8 and the first with an A8 devoid of the ‘AI’ button for Audi’s Level 3 self-driving system.

Which is probably a good thing, as it prevents the car-is-in-control debate from overshadowing the rest of what Audi has delivered with the latest A8. And the Ingolstadt brand’s efforts haven’t been reticent as it seeks to bridge the canyon in sales to the S-Class (but the sales gap to the BMW 7 Series seems imminently ‘do-able’).

Not that you’d notice at a casual glance. A fleeting visual grab seems to stamp the all-new A8 as a moderate evolution of the old model, albeit with a grille so enormously wide it seems to occupy 95 per cent of the sedan’s face.

Of course it’s more complex than that, and this must have been a brutal challenge for Audi’s production engineers, even if the end result looks far simpler. Compared to the outgoing model, it’s only 6mm longer in the wheelbase and, at 5172mm, is 37mm longer overall… but, as always with German brands, the detail is monumental.

For example, the edges of the bonnet begin life flanked by horizontal shutlines before they twist midway along to become vertical shutlines, which then become the edged tornado line which stretches the full length of the car and ends inside the taillight.

And the bonnet creases themselves are so sharp they have their own shadows and could have been made by Gillette or Schick. Then there are the slight haunches over every wheel-arch, which plant the car to highlight its all-wheel drive chassis.

And all of that is before you arrive at the tail lights which provide a theatre-like show across the width of the car, and come complete with four OLED slivers per side, each with a lighting element only one two-hundredth as thick as a human hair.

LED lights are standard up front, or there is an optional Matrix LED setup and, topping the range, is a Laser system which takes lessons learned from the R8 Plus Supercar and ratchets the whole laser game up a notch or two.

Audi ditched Osram as its laser supplier (though it still does the OLEDs) and moved to Japan’s Nichia, so each light now has only one laser diode whereas the R8 had four. As a result, the light spread is more diffused and there’s now a massive bright area instead of a relatively small light tunnel (though Audi insists the critical area of light is 150 to 250 metres in front of the car).

But lights and crisp design aren’t going to sell a limousine in a miniscule segment of the new car market where, frankly, anything other than an S-Class is still seen as a brave choice.

To Audi’s credit, compared to the S-Class, the A8’s interior has always steered its own course, delivering a combination of dignified, highly technical luxury as opposed to the Mercedes’ more ostentatiously opulent cabin. That theme has been carried over to the all-new version, with higher tech levels than ever, airtight fit and finish, rich materials and liberal space.

The cabin’s entire atmosphere starts up front, where the experience is dominated by digital screens (three are significant).

Jettisoned are the previous generation’s scroller and touchpad. Those functions are now in the lowest of the three screens, the 8.6-inch unit which usually governs the climate-control system. It works well, too, and seems to be able to figure out most levels of illegible gibberish. You no longer need to write out a word, because it will understand if you just keep writing letters on top of each other.

The multimedia screen is 10.1 inches diagonally and could be the world’s most intuitive user-interface to-date. It absorbs some smartphone ideas which seem to have become broadly intuitive, like pinching to zoom out, pushing to zoom in or swiping left or right to move through options.

There is also the virtual cockpit digital screen right in front of the driver, and a high-resolution, full-colour head-up display.

As a result, numbers of buttons have been slashed with touchscreen functions largely taking over their jobs, leaving a cleaner, horizontal dash area.

Behind the wheel, the driving position is pretty much perfect…if not, the huge range of available adjustments will soon have it perfect for most bodies. The driver’s seat is also terrifically supportive and comfortable over long distances, though it doesn’t have the S-Class’s immediate, in-your-face softness. But you do score an array of different massage functions, so personal well-being goes well beyond heating and ventilation

While the long-wheelbase Audi A8 is ludicrously well endowed for legroom, the standard one is pretty good, too. Rear seat infotainment stretches to matt-screened tablets which click in behind the front head restraints. They can also be removed for use outside the car, while the centre console has another removable tablet to remotely control all of the rear seats’ functions.

Which is all good, but the A8 forges ahead in other crucial considerations as well – in fact the engineering package delivers a host of new stuff for Audi. There’s an upgrade of the active anti-roll bar (from the SQ7), it’s the first Audi with inductive charging for its hybrid versions, electronically controlled active suspension which predicts and manages bump strikes and, just in case you forgot it was Audi, quattro all-wheel drive is standard across the board.

All this technology has come at a price, though, with the A8s weighing-in up to 95kg heavier than their predecessors, largely because of the mild-hybrid systems which admittedly effectively render the extra mass emissions-neutral.

The clever hybrid systems work seamlessly, allowing the car to regenerate 10Ah of energy via a belt- driven starter generator, so it can coast, even on cruise control, between 55km/h and 160km/h, with the engine switched off and the electricity doing whatever driving needs doing.

They’re impressive systems too. We tested the V6 petrol and V6 turbo-diesel (other petrol engines include a twin-turbocharged 4.0-litre V8 and a twin-turbocharged 6.3-litre W12).

Both powertrains we drove were impressive, with the petrol V6 adding a layer of sophistication and smoothness the diesel approaches, but can’t quite match.

One of the key steps forward has been the eradication of noise, vibration and harshness from the A8’s cabin, particularly in the back seat. Powertrain improvements and the mild hybrid system play roles here.

So how quiet is the all-new Audi A8? Well, at a constant 100km/h you start to be annoyed by the soft hiss of wind emerging from the dash vents. My smart phone’s decibel meter has never seen a lower number at cruising speeds.

Not that chassis and powertrain engineering can take all the credit for this hush. Audi has developed a noise-cancelling system, which taps into five speakers, four microphones, a boot-mounted amplifier and an engine control unit under the bonnet. It listens for unwanted sounds and vibrations and simply cancels them out.

There’s more: on the V8 and W12 models, plus the clunkier 3.0-litre TDI V6, there are active engine mounts which wipe away the top layer of the vibrations in the first place, as well as assisting the handling by minimising weight transfer in corners.

With 250kW of power between 5000 and 6400rpm, the petrol V6 relies heavily on its mild-hybrid system to deliver 500Nm of torque from only 1370rpm until 4500.
It’s strong enough to be swift, pushing seamlessly to 100km/h in 5.7 seconds (0.2sec ahead of the diesel), yet managing 7.8L/100km on the NEDC cycle (for 178g/km of CO2).

The diesel might have only 210kW of power, but it makes up for it in the real world with 600Nm of torque from 1250rpm, making it strong and seamless around town, with the standard eight-speed automatic sliding between gears like an invisible hand.

You only hear a muffled growl from either engine, even on hard acceleration, and then it’s the turn of the chassis to shine.

Its ride is clearly firmer than you’ll find in an S-Class, or even a 7 Series, and this is intentional with Audi trying to make the A8 both limousine and quasi grand tourer.

And this is a strategy which may work. The active suspension system and the rear-wheel steering combine to make the A8 feel ridiculously small on tight, winding roads, while absorbing bump strikes with arrogance.

While the ride quality never has the cosseting qualities of the S-Class, the body control is better, the Audi A8 sits flatter in corners and it carries significantly more cornering speed, with far more stability.

As per previous generations, questions still hang over the latest A8’s steering, but the reality is, for many buyers in this segment, the well-weighted blandness may be welcome.

Otherwise the rest of the handling package is flawless and unnervingly sparkling for a car with these dimensions.

The Audi A8 is a car which does so very many things well – in some instances better than anything else – but, compared with the S-Class, the standard suspension just falls short on ride comfort over vertical bumps. No such shortcomings, however, with the active suspension and it’s definitely the spec to have.

2018 Audi A8 pricing and specifications:
Price: TBC
On sale: Mid-2018
Engine: 3.0-litre turbo-petrol V6
Output: 250kW/500Nm
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic, all-wheel drive
Fuel: 7.8L/100km
CO2: 178g/km
Safety rating: TBC