September launch for Audi’s flagship A8 luxury saloon

AFTER being entirely bowled over by the magical road-reading Audi AI active suspension system fitted to the brand fresh A8 we thought it might be a good idea to tell you about the rest of the fresh flagship Audi.

Audi exposed the fresh A8 with the promise that this is “where the future starts in the luxury class”. Bold words that we doubt were spoken in jest.

The fresh A8 saloon boasts a fresh design language, touchscreen operating concept and systematic drivetrain electrification. At least that’s how Audi described it. In plain English it means the Audi A8 has a fresh look, is packed with technology, and utilises mild hybrid technology to improve efficiency.

In terms of looks the Audi A8 is a luxury German saloon. It’s big and imposing – the standard version is over five metres long, there’s an extra 13cm on the long wheelbase A8 L – but the fresh A8 doesn’t feel the need to shout about it. Despite the size of the fresh A8 the lines are clean and elegant but retain the sense of power you would expect from a car of this class.

Clean lines and beautifully finished interior

The same clean look resumes in the cockpit with a series of horizontal lines running across the dashboard and down the length of the car. If reality is accurately reflected by the pictures then the A8 will be a beautiful place to sit.

A big part of the fresh A8 look is the decision to eliminate as many buttons and switches as possible. There’s a Ten.1-inch touchscreen in the dashboard that controls the infotainment system while a 2nd touchscreen on the centre console controls the climate control and convenience functions. The result is an uncluttered and elegant finish.

The touchscreen controls proceed in very first class, otherwise known as the back seat, where passengers can control temperature, ambient lighting, reading lights, and in the Audi A8 L the optional refreshment seat with various settings to rubdown and warm your sore figure.

Luxuriously appointed interior

Albeit Audi will suggest five engine options only two will be available to order when the A8 order books open in September. Both are Trio.0-litre V6 engines, a 340bhp TFSI petrol and a 286bhp TDI diesel. A 435bhp, eight-cylinder diesel will go after slightly later and there will also be a 6.0-litre W12 to look forward to.

All four of these engines utilise mild hybrid technology to improve efficiency. Essentially it’s an energy recovery system that generates electrical power to ease the fountain on the engine. It can permit the car to coast with the engine off and permits the engine to restart slickly. It’s not a true hybrid, there is no means of electrical propulsion in a mild hybrid, but the system in the Audi A8 will help to reduce fuel consumption.

Those of you looking for a total hybrid will have to wait a little longer to get your forearms on the fresh A8 with a plug-in e-Tron variant to go after at some point. It will be fitted with the Trio.0-litre TFSI petrol engine but the extra violet wand will boost power to around 450bhp and permit up to thirty one miles of electric-only range. Audi is also planning to suggest an optional inductive charging system that uses a pad in your garage floor for wireless charging of the battery.

We should also mention that from two thousand eighteen the Audi will little by little introduce piloted driving to the A8 too. The idea of the Traffic Jam Pilot is to control the car at up to 37mph on major roads so a traffic jam will soon become an chance to sit back and admire the slow-moving scenery, or as Audi suggest and if local laws permit, you could even see a bit of on-board TV.

Autonomous parking is not fresh, nor in many ways is the remote garage pilot that does essentially the same job but with walls rather than parked cars, but that hasn’t stopped Audi taking it further. This system doesn’t just permit you to park automatically, it permits you to control the process via a smartphone without even being in the car.

We could go on about the luxuries that Audi has squeezed into the fresh A8 but this is supposed to be a brief synopsis, not a doctoral thesis. So we’ll leave you with the one reason why you truly, truly need one.

Imagine a cold winter morning, frost encrusted lawn shimmering in the early light. You drive your car out of the garage and park it outside your front door, engine idling as the interior heats gently. Then you put your phone down, get out of bed and revel in the fact you drive an Audi A8.

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