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  2. Audi
  3. A8
  4. 2015
  5. L W12 6.3 4dr All-wheel Drive quattro LWB Sedan

L W12 6.3 4dr All-wheel Drive quattro LWB Sedan
2015 Audi A8

These large-footprint premium sedans have very outspoken fan clubs, for at this scale a company's design logic is laid out big on the table for all to dissect. Speaking for myself, I am an Audi A8/Volkswagen Phaeton kind of person. I absolutely enjoy the new Mercedes-Benz S-Class and have a certain weakness for the BMW 7 Series, but it's the A8 in this class that yanks me by the ear lobe. The large Japanese models, Jaguar XJ and Hyundai Equus are great work, and the newer Cadillac XTS is good stuff, but I'll still take my A8. The 2015 model is a mid-life updo for the A8 (and S8), and it is essentially a nice gaggle of commendable tweaks that chisel the exterior some, plush up and personalize the interior, add onboard assistance systems and improve the powertrain's numbers and efficiency. Though this has certainly been a planned exercise, the timing of the work on this A8 will seem like a reaction to the new S-Class, a car that has frankly taken that Mercedes flagship onto an untouchable, higher plain. The main item that Audi stressed at this updated A8's presentation in northern Germany is something which currently cannot be brought over to North America: the optional Matrix LED headlights and the yellow sequential LED turn signals. A regulation from our distant past prevents this type of adaptive light mechanism from imperiling the lives of American drivers. Driving Notes About every gas and diesel engine available for the European market was present, but only the big muzzer 494-horsepower W12 came in long-wheelbase format. The LWB model is 25 percent of volume in Europe and 75 percent in the US. I zeroed in on a handsome "cuvée silver" 4.0-liter V8 TFSI with cylinder-on-demand, now amped to 429 hp (from the current 414 hp) and boasting improved fuel efficiency. In any of these big-shot cars, I just love to cruise. This latest A8-with-V8 is just the ticket, too. Whether at 150 miles per hour in full-on Dynamic mode of the Audi Drive Select interface or creeping along at 20 mph in the city in Efficiency, the cylinder-on-demand transitions, adaptive air suspension and shifts from the eight-speed Tiptronic transmission are just buttery. Audi has added greater isolation from exterior noise, and it sincerely is as quiet in here as I ever remember a premium car being. The new light brown Unicum leather option is exquisite, massaged and aged with olive extract to save the environment. There are also five additional exterior colors possible now, though what of these may end up in North America is undetermined. The exterior front and rear is more aggressive in its design, with more contour lines introduced, a chrome accent strip connecting the taillights and the massive grille missing a rib now to take it to seven and rein in that whole snout a bit. The front, lower air dam is presented in one continuous piece now, though the S8 retains the sportier sectioned look. New tech for …
Full Review

These large-footprint premium sedans have very outspoken fan clubs, for at this scale a company's design logic is laid out big on the table for all to dissect. Speaking for myself, I am an Audi A8/Volkswagen Phaeton kind of person. I absolutely enjoy the new Mercedes-Benz S-Class and have a certain weakness for the BMW 7 Series, but it's the A8 in this class that yanks me by the ear lobe. The large Japanese models, Jaguar XJ and Hyundai Equus are great work, and the newer Cadillac XTS is good stuff, but I'll still take my A8. The 2015 model is a mid-life updo for the A8 (and S8), and it is essentially a nice gaggle of commendable tweaks that chisel the exterior some, plush up and personalize the interior, add onboard assistance systems and improve the powertrain's numbers and efficiency. Though this has certainly been a planned exercise, the timing of the work on this A8 will seem like a reaction to the new S-Class, a car that has frankly taken that Mercedes flagship onto an untouchable, higher plain. The main item that Audi stressed at this updated A8's presentation in northern Germany is something which currently cannot be brought over to North America: the optional Matrix LED headlights and the yellow sequential LED turn signals. A regulation from our distant past prevents this type of adaptive light mechanism from imperiling the lives of American drivers. Driving Notes About every gas and diesel engine available for the European market was present, but only the big muzzer 494-horsepower W12 came in long-wheelbase format. The LWB model is 25 percent of volume in Europe and 75 percent in the US. I zeroed in on a handsome "cuvée silver" 4.0-liter V8 TFSI with cylinder-on-demand, now amped to 429 hp (from the current 414 hp) and boasting improved fuel efficiency. In any of these big-shot cars, I just love to cruise. This latest A8-with-V8 is just the ticket, too. Whether at 150 miles per hour in full-on Dynamic mode of the Audi Drive Select interface or creeping along at 20 mph in the city in Efficiency, the cylinder-on-demand transitions, adaptive air suspension and shifts from the eight-speed Tiptronic transmission are just buttery. Audi has added greater isolation from exterior noise, and it sincerely is as quiet in here as I ever remember a premium car being. The new light brown Unicum leather option is exquisite, massaged and aged with olive extract to save the environment. There are also five additional exterior colors possible now, though what of these may end up in North America is undetermined. The exterior front and rear is more aggressive in its design, with more contour lines introduced, a chrome accent strip connecting the taillights and the massive grille missing a rib now to take it to seven and rein in that whole snout a bit. The front, lower air dam is presented in one continuous piece now, though the S8 retains the sportier sectioned look. New tech for …
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Retail Price

$137,900 MSRP / Window Sticker Price

Engine 6.3L W-12
MPG 14 City / 22 Hwy
Seating 4 Passengers
Transmission 8-spd auto w/OD
Power 500 @ 6200 rpm
Drivetrain quattro all wheel

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