The more looks count, the better the A8 looks
Written: Jun 23 '05 (Updated Dec 16 '06)
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Pros: Styling; interior materials, room, and comfort; great seats
Cons: Suspension lags the best in both ride and handling and should be easier to adjust
The Bottom Line: Others handle and ride better, but the A8 leads the class in styling and matches the best in interior room and comfort. Recommended as a luxury sedan.
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| mkaresh's Full Review: 2005 Audi A8 |
After my father was far more impressed with the Maserati Quattroporte than either of us expected him to be, I figured we'd best check out a couple of competitors right away. I picked the Jaguar XJR and Audi A8 because we had driven neither before and they offered a combination of style and performance that just might blunt his enthusiasm for the pricey, potentially troublesome Italian job.
I wrote up the other two cars some time ago. The Jag did nothing to disuade my father from the Maserati. Now for the Audi...
Styling
The A8 has a number of strengths, but foremost among these is its striking exterior. Few car designs manage to be at once unique and beautiful; this is one of them. Think TT writ large. Very large. Especially in long wheelbase "L" form the A8's long flowing yet sheer sheetmetal is supremely elegant. At least until they slap the new trademark grille on it.
Audis have led the rest of the industry in interior fit, finish, and style for the last few years. So it comes as no surprise that the brand's flagship has an especially nice interior. Nothing trendy or flashy, just classic lines finished in fine wood, leather, and vinyl. I especially like the wood-trimmed center console, which rises gently to meet the instrument panel. Very classy.
Audi has followed BMW by equipping the A8 with an iDrive-like knob. I didn't play with this much, but the general opinion within the automotive press is that Audi's "MMI" works better than BMW's iDrive. I guess everything's relative. I still find the more conventional controls in a Lexus easier to operate.
Accommodations
The A8 takes full advantage of its sizable exterior dimensions to provide a cavernous interior. In the L, people in the rear seat have more legroom than those up front.
The seats front and rear are extremely comfortable. Typical of Audi seats, they are firmer than the luxury sedan norm, but not overly so. It helps that the front seats are very well shaped and can be adjusted sixteen (8x2) different ways. Four-way lumbar is a given. My favorite adjustment: as with BMW's "comfort" seats, the top half of the A8's front seatbacks can be reclined independently of the bottom half. One nifty touch: unlike with BMW's "sport" seats, the adjustable thigh support does not require a gap between the front and main portions of the seat cushion. Instead, the seat trim unrolls around the front of the seat as it is extended forward. As I said, this is a very complex car.
If the standard A8 is not complex enough for you, though, you can add bits like like little motors that help pull the doors closed (pioneered by Mercedes in the early 1990s, now offered by many in this class) and rear seat power lumbar. The car we drove lacked these features, but did have the $1,500 ventilated and massaging seats. These worked better than the similar (yet $4,400) seats in the Maserati. In the Maserati the massaging function is accomplished by inflating and deflating bladders, which I found annoying. In the Audi rollers deep in the seat seem to do the work. I found this much more effective. The cooling function works well in both cars.
Trunk room is above the luxury sedan average. The rear seat cannot be folded, but then no direct competitor offers this feature.
It used to be that stylish sedans required functional sacrifices. The classic Jaguar XJ, Infiniti's J30, and Mazda's last 929 come to mind. For that matter, rear legroom in the Maserati is just passable and the Mercedes CLS is quite tight inside. In this context, the A8 is revolutionary. It combines a striking exterior with an interior second to none in room and comfort.
On the Road
Like the Jaguar, the A8 is constructed of aluminum. Audi brags that, while Jaguar uses adhesives and rivets to join panels, it welds them. Why does this matter? Beats me. Especially since the A8 is a couple hundred pounds heavier than the steel S-Class. Audi should be asking itself why the Jaguar is a quarter-ton lighter. I suppose for the same reason that the VW Phaeton, based on the same platform as the A8 but made of steel, tips the scales at a scandalous 5200 pounds. Standard all-wheel-drive deserves some of the blame, but "only" about a hundred kilos worth. Audi has some learning to do here.
Why am I discussing the A8's weight problem is such detail? Because weight has a huge impact on performance. In a straight line and through turns the A8 feels like the big, heavy car it is. The DOHC 4.2-liter V8, essentially the same as those in the S4 and A6, churns out 330 horsepower. This is certainly a respectable number, if 70 short of the 4.2 in the Maserati. More of an issue: Audi's eight lacks the exotic noises of the Italian. End result: good thrust, but few thrills. I suppose that's what the twelve is for. Better yet, a future S8 or RS8.
But the A8's non-sporting character isn't entirely or even mostly the fault of the engine. Rather, the steering and suspension deserve the lion's share of the blame. As I've said, the A8 feels big and heavy. In hard turns it plows much like other Audis, just more so. Despite the standard all-wheel-drive system, the outside front tire cries uncle early, and loudly. Thank both the car's mass and the disproportionate amount of said mass located in the car's nose. As with other Audis, the A8 has higher limits than the front tire's protests suggest--you just have to be willing to ignore the screaming and keep pushing. Practical in a track setting, maybe, but not on public roads. And, let's face it, this isn't a track car.
Compared to the Maserati and Jaguar, the A8 leans excessively in turns. Its steering is overly light, especially under 40 MPH. Finally, the car's vast interior also works against it here; with so much space around your shoulders, the car necessarily feels distant. If my father and I had to sum up the car in one word, it might well be "boat."
In the A8's defense, after this test drive I learned that the automatically adjusting air suspension can be set to "Sport Dynamic" mode. Supposedly this reduces body lean and chassis slop considerably. Which would have been nice, even if the car's tendency to plow and light steering would remain. Why didn't I notice this adjustment? Because it's buried somewhere in the MMI menus. Yes, I should have done more homework before driving the car. But such an essential adjustment should be far easier to make. Mercedes and others provide a convenient button for this task.
Despite the generally soft suspension settings ride quality is far from stellar. In fact, the A8 in the default "Auto" mode did not ride as well as the Sport Package 330i we drove the same day on the same roads. The A8's optional 18-inch tires react with considerable noise and a touch of harshness to tar strips and small road imperfections, yet the car wallows over larger dips and rises. I suppose the suspension's "Comfort" mode, also accessed through the MMI, would eliminate the harshness at the expense of even more body lean and wallowing. On the other hand, the optional 19-inch performance tires (not on the car we drove) should slightly benefit handling but could significantly harm the ride. They might also increase tire noise, already a minor intrusion into an otherwise dead quiet cabin.
I don't want to imply that the A8 rides and handles terribly. It performs acceptably for a large car on both counts. The problem is that many competitors, most notably the 7-Series and (to a lesser extent) LS 430 with sport suspension, manage an almost miraculous balance between ride and handling. In this lofty context the A8's performance falls short.
Last Words
After learning of the suspension adjustments I considered taking the car for a second spin. But my father was so disappointed that he didn't see the point. In the end, the A8 is a luxury sedan, not a sport sedan, and despite often thinking he might want a Lexus LS 430 next time around he wants a sport sedan. The regular wheelbase A8 might feel a bit more agile. But because it is nearly as heavy and just as beamy I do not expect a dramatic dynamic improvement, perhaps not even a large enough improvement to warrant the dramatic decrease in rear legroom to A6 proportions.
To be fair to the A8, despite the sleek sheetmetal it's not intended to be a sport sedan. Viewed as a luxury sedan it fares better, especially if your top priorities are style, interior room, and seat comfort. Performance in this less challenging mission is easily adequate, with the partial exception of ride quality. Of course, a Lexus LS 430 also fares as well or better in this mission--with the exception of styling. But looks count. And (as the title says) the more they count, the better the A8 looks.
A note on Audi A8 Reliability
When I think Audi I think trouble. After all, if VW cannot make a reasonably trouble-free compact (my sister's Jetta was a nightmare), then what chance have they with an ultra-complex car like the A8?
But I really don't know how reliable the A8 should be. The data just aren't out there. I'd really like to know what difference it will make if my father bought an Audi A8 rather than, say, a Lexus.
My website, truedelta.com, will be providing this information in the form of "times in the shop" and "days in the shop" stats. You will be able to specify the number of years, annual miles, and types of repairs to include in Audi A8 reliability comparisons.
Before I can report results, I need data on all cars--not just the A8--from people like you. To encourage participation, those who help provide the data will receive free access to the site's reliability information. Non-participants will have to pay an access fee.
For the details, and to sign up, visit www.truedelta.com.
A link to this website and alphabetized links to my other vehicle reviews can be found on my profile page.
Some of my reviews of related vehicles:
BMW 7-Series review
Infiniti Q45 review
Jaguar XJ8 review
Jaguar XJR review
Lexus LS 430 review
Lexus LS 460 review
Maserati Quattroporte review
2001 Mercedes S-Class review
2007 Mercedes S550 review
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 77000
Model Year: 2005
Model and Options: A8 L with 18-inch wheels, Convenience and Cold Weather Packages
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