Yes, your first reaction will be why the rather high asking price and the second will be why is it priced higher than the just launched Mercedes Benz S560 e. Well, this Audi A8 is fully imported from Germany and so it is taxed higher by the Malaysians customs and to answer your second question, this Audi A8 has a little bit more equipment over the S560 e.
Let us explain further.
This new Audi A8 presents the future of the luxury class. In its fourth generation, the brand’s flagship model again provides the benchmark for Vorsprung durch Technik – with a new design language, an innovative touchscreen operating concept and a systematically electrified drive.
This new Audi A8 is built at the Neckarsulm site in Germany.
The exterior design
Sports appeal, lightweight construction and quattro – the design of the new A8 perfectly conveys Audi’s fundamental values. It embodies sporting elegance, sophistication and progressive status. The new flagship model takes the brand into a new design era.
The hexagonal Singleframe grille dominates the sedan’s upright front end. With its low position and width, it determines all adjoining lines and surfaces. The headlight shapes merge perfectly with the Singleframe. With the optional HD Matrix LED headlights, the daytime running lights are a visual extension of the grille’s top lamella. The segmented light signature divides the headlights horizontally, creating an elegant overall impression. Substantial chrome frames surround the air inlets, with a flat center inlet connecting them.
The side view with the coupé-like silhouette highlights the sporty character of the new A8. Its proportions accentuate both the front and rear wheels – prominent muscular shapes above the wheels are pointers to the brand’s quattro DNA. The low shoulder line starts right up at the headlights and runs across the door handles as far back as the rear lights. A fold below the window capping also emphasizes length. The sill rises to the rear in typical Audi style and lends the new A8 a dynamism worthy of a luxury-class car.
The rear end is inclined slightly in the direction of travel, appearing to push the sedan along even when stationary. The defining element of a lighting strip extends across the entire width. It radiates high intrinsic value thanks to the embedded chrome strip. The segmented OLEDs adjoin at its ends and combine to form a signature. Another chrome strip in the lower part of the bumper integrates the trapezoidal trims of the exhaust system.
There is a choice of twelve colors for the A8, including the new Audi colors Terra Gray, Vesuvius Gray and Seville Red. The colors Impala Beige and Navarra Blue are available for the A8 for the first time. Via the Audi exclusive program, customers can also have the luxury sedan supplied in a color of their personal choice. For those who want their car to create an even more striking visual impact, there is the option of a chrome exterior package.
The lighting
Audi leads the way in lighting technology and design. In the new A8, the technologies interact intelligently with the surroundings. For example, Audi laser lighting is used here for the first time with HD Matrix LED high beams. The laser spot is identified by an X-shape shutter and is also accentuated by blue ambient lighting. The daytime running lights with the vertical segments emphasize the technical elegance of the headlights. The laser spot is activated from a speed of 70 km/h (43.5 mph) and doubles the range of the high beam.
Each HD Matrix LED high-beam unit consists of 32 small, individually controlled light-emitting diodes that project the light in two lines. This new configuration ensures that the A8 provides even more dynamic and precise illumination together with the variable-control low-beam headlights. The light cone blanks out exclusively other road users, so as not to dazzle them. The high-precision control for the HD Matrix LED high beam is based on data supplied by the front camera.
Cornering light is produced by displacing the light’s focal point. It uses the navigation data to shine into a bend just before the steering is turned. The junction light equally comes on predictively just before a junction is reached. The segmented turning light also comes on dynamically in three stages up to a maximum angle of 90°. With all its functions complete with dynamic turn signals, each HD Matrix LED headlight incorporates 138 LEDs and one high-performance laser diode. The innovative automatic lighting prevents incorrect operation and is controlled from a new light switch module with proximity sensors and touchscreen surface.
Together with the high-end headlights, Audi supplies OLED rear lights that emit extremely smooth light. There are four ultra-flat OLEDs floating in each module, sub-divided into four individually controlled segments. Two on each side form the angular tail lights, and the other two act as the brake lights.
Below the OLEDs there is also an LED light strip that adapts to ambient brightness when the brakes are applied. The same goes for the dynamic turn signal lights positioned directly below them. There are 135 light-emitting diodes in operation in each rear light.
The lights give the new A8 exceptional presence at the very first glance. This is substantially down to the animated dynamic lighting functions. They present the luxury sedan in a unique manner when it is unlocked with the remote control key. First a point of light in the headlights runs from the outside inwards, then the blue LED on the laser spot lights up, and finally the side lights come on from the inside outwards.
Two loops with the same dynamic aesthetics run in parallel in the OLED rear lights: The light runs in a circle, initially dimmed and then at full brightness. The light presentation continues inside when the door is opened. This is accompanied by a short audio jingle. When the driver locks and leaves the new A8, the light presentation in the headlights and rear lights runs in the opposite sequence.
The interior design
A new dialog between technology and aesthetics – the interior of the Audi A8 presents a comprehensive spatial experience. The architecture blends seamlessly with the new operating concept, which has virtually eliminated buttons and controls. The clean, expansive surfaces convey the relaxed atmosphere of a luxury lounge. Tranquility and reduction are fundamental aesthetic values in the brand’s new flagship model.
Inside the large sedan, the lines flow elegantly and create clear, horizontally oriented volumes. They accentuate the freedom that the new A8 offers its passengers. The applications in the sculptural instrument panel are available in a choice of wood veneer or piano finish and create the wrap-around – the large arc running across the door trims and into the rear. This zone accommodates the air vents, which are concealed by shutters when inactive. If the automatic air conditioning is set directly to the interior, the shutters are slid up and away electrically while the air vents extend out a few centimeters.
In the lower section of the instrument panel, the central 10.1-inch touchscreen display with black panel technology blends almost invisibly into the high-gloss black trim. Depending on the equipment, it is in slate gray with a technical structure or in dark, matt-brushed aluminum. On the center tunnel console, which continues the black-panel look, there is a second touchscreen display measuring 8.6 inches. The buttons on its bottom edge optionally blend in with the display look to present a continuous touchscreen surface. They provide the user with tactile and acoustic feedback as from a conventional switch. The same applies to the light switches and the controls on the air vents.
As an option, two LED light guides each on the center tunnel, instrument panel and in the doors create a fitting lighting atmosphere in the interior. They create contour and ambient lighting with separate brightness and color control as an elegant way of accentuating the design lines. On the A8 L, the backs of the comfort customized contour front seats also incorporate a contour light strip. The newly developed Matrix LED reading lights each with seven LEDs provide optimum illumination. The passenger can precisely control the brightness, size and focus of the light cone with the rear seat remote control.
With MHEV technology
Audi’s MHEV technology is based on a newly developed 48-volt primary electrical system – it supplies the 12-volt system that now becomes an electrical subsystem. The 48-volt system is fed by a belt alternator starter (BAS) connected to the engine’s crankshaft by the belt drive. A lithium-ion battery positioned safely beneath the luggage compartment floor serves as the storage unit.
The new drive combines efficiency with comfort in a very special way: Thanks to the higher voltage, the new A8 can coast along silently in a speed range from 55 through 160 km/h (34.2 through 99.4 mph). The automobile then proceeds with zero emissions for up to 40 seconds with the engine off altogether. As soon as the driver steps on the gas again, the belt alternator starter prompts a swift but soft restart. In addition, start/stop operation is actually active from 22 km/h (13.7 mph). When the brakes are applied, the BAS can recover up to 12 kW of power, again helping to reduce fuel consumption.
The suspension
Active suspension, dynamic all-wheel steering, electronic suspension platform (ESP) – Audi has rethought every aspect of the chassis of its new flagship. Revolutionary technologies and control systems make it even more comfortable, sporty and safe. It spans a whole new breadth of characteristics – from the silky-smooth progress that befits a luxury sedan to the dynamically firm handling of a sports car.
The very fundamentals of its design are state of the art. The front and rear axle, both of them mounted on subframes, take the form of high-precision five-link constructions made extensively from lightweight aluminum. Both the progressive steering, which becomes more direct the further it is turned, and the adaptive air suspension with controlled damping are standard features. The driver can define the air suspension settings using the three Audi drive select driving profiles comfort, auto and dynamic, and also in a separate lift mode. From a speed of 120 km/h (74.6 mph), the body is automatically lowered by 20 millimeters (0.8 in) for improved aerodynamics. For this to take place, the car must have been running in the auto or dynamic mode continuously for at least 30 seconds.
