 2011 Audi A8L. Click image to enlarge |
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2011 Audi A8
Munich, Germany – It’s not often, when I’m about to get into a vehicle, that I debate whether I’d rather slip behind the wheel or sit in the back seat. That’s the dilemma with the 2011 Audi A8L, where it’s just as much fun to be a passenger as it is to be the driver.
It’s based on the all-new A8, the company’s flagship sedan; the “L” refers to the fact that it’s the long-wheelbase model, the one most likely to end up as a chauffeured car. The extra length – 137 mm longer than the regular 2011 A8, and 76 mm longer than the 2010 A8L it replaces – goes directly to the benefit of the rear-seat passenger. Phone someone who’s sitting up front, and it may well be a long-distance call.
  2011 Audi A8L. Click image to enlarge |
It’s coming to Canada later this year, and so not all of the specifics for our models are available yet, including the price. Given that the 2010 model starts at $100,000, I expect it will be somewhere close to that round number. Worldwide, there are five engines available, two of them diesels. Our models in Canada will debut with a direct-injection 4.2-litre V8 gasoline engine, followed by a 6.3-litre W12, also gasoline. The 4.2-litre is an updated version of the same-displacement powerplant used in the 2010 model; the new one produces 372 horsepower and 328 lb-ft of torque, a step up from the 350/325 in the current model. There was no twelve-cylinder for 2010 in Canada, and the 6.3-litre W12 – named for its space-saving configuration of four rows of three cylinders – updates the 2009 A8L’s 6.0-litre W12. That model made 450 horsepower and 428 lb-ft of torque; the 6.3 churns out an even 500 horses, and 460 lb-ft of twist. All engines use a brand-new and creamy-smooth eight-speed automatic, replacing the six-speed autobox found in the 2010 edition.
The other engines are a 4.2-litre V8 diesel, or two 3.0-litre V6 engines, one diesel, the other a supercharged and direct-injection gasoline one that’s a less-powerful version of the engine used here in the Audi S4 and S5. The V8 diesel is as torquey and smooth as expected, but the 3.0-litre gasoline was the real surprise. I expected a six-cylinder to be overtaxed in a car this big, but I ended up checking the vehicle’s spec sheet just to be sure it wasn’t a V8, because it worked so well. Alas, given the A8L’s low volumes in Canada, these three won’t be coming here.
 2011 Audi A8L. Click image to enlarge |
No matter what engine, driving this car is like melting chocolate on your tongue: smooth, rich, and unctuous. It’s very agile, and you don’t feel its size or weight. (Speaking of weight, while hard numbers aren’t yet available, the A8L is relatively light on its feet, due to its aluminum “space frame” construction and substantial use of other lightweight materials; the company claims a savings of as much as 181 kg over a comparable long-wheelbase BMW 7 Series.) An automatic adaptive air suspension keeps it level on all road surfaces, and can be set to Comfort or Dynamic mode, which raises or lowers it. Under normal conditions, the Quattro all-wheel drive provides a 60 per cent rear bias, but will send more to the front axle if required. On the 4.2-litre diesel, which I drove for a couple of hours, a standard-equipment sport differential varies torque distribution between the rear wheels, “pushing” the car into curves for flatter cornering. There’s no word yet on whether it will be available on Canadian models.
    2011 Audi A8L. Click image to enlarge |
Still, for all of the A8L’s prowess on the road, it’s the comfort in the cabin that’s this über-Acht’s reason for being. Audi has always been at or near the top of the class for its interiors, and it has outdone itself with this one. How opulent it becomes will depend on how much you want to spend: you can take the front seats up to 22-way adjustment, ventilation that extracts warm air from the cushions, massage functions, and sporty perforation patterns in the leather.
The rear seats are the show-stoppers, though, should you want to go beyond a three-person bench seat, or three individual chairs. The top-of-the-line choices include a two-passenger with centre console, and the ultimate “relaxation seat.” It requires the front seat to be all the way forward, so it’s only available on the passenger side. The rear seat reclines, while a footrest drops down out of the back of the front seat: all the comfort of home while on the road. Lexus offers a similar idea on its LS460L sedan, but that one, dubbed an “ottoman seat,” has a footrest that swings up and out, like a La-Z-Boy chair; with only a limited amount of room in a vehicle, most passengers must sit sideways for their legs to fit. The Audi seat, by comparison, allows even six-footers to stretch out.
Other standard or optional features that sweeten the ride include a 19-speaker Bang & Olufsen stereo (it’s worth it just to see the tweeters slowly rise up out of the dash when the system is turned on), rear-seat DVD system, and several advanced driving technologies including night vision, lane departure and blind spot warnings, and a frontal collision warning system. The MMI, Audi’s name for its multimedia and vehicle control program, has been simplified and is much easier to use; it also includes a small touch-pad which lets you “write” letters or numbers with your finger, which it then translates to the telephone or navigation system. Speaking of maps, the navigation system now incorporates Google Earth, a neat if somewhat distracting feature that let me have a bird’s-eye view of my actual surroundings as I drove by them. However, apparently due to limitations of the broadcast systems here, it won’t be available in Canada, at least not in the near future. The car’s cameras can also “read” speed limit signs and display the limit in the navigation system. Audi said that the software has been designed to recognize a wide number of international signs, although it wasn’t clear if Canadian highway markers are among them.
   2011 Audi A8L. Click image to enlarge |
The only thing I didn’t like about the interior was the gearshift lever, an unattractive and awkward chunk of pebbly leather with the pattern printed on a metal tab on the side. Not only is it too convenient for resting a hand that should be on the wheel, but it takes only the smallest movement to shift into a gear, providing you’ve remembered to first push the button on the side. I suppose owners will get used to it after a while, but I found I was constantly looking down to check that I hadn’t gone beyond the gear I was seeking.
The A8L’s styling is all-new, and for the good: it turns this car from stodgy to sweet. Most noticeable are the front LED running lights, which frame a new, single-piece grille, while the squared-off rear echoes them with a pair of LED taillights. The designers have also managed to incorporate the tall back doors, necessary in a limo-intended vehicle, into a roofline that tapers back to the trunk without impeding entry or exit.
That’s all-important here, because this is a car with a calling: if the A8 is the driver’s car, the A8L is the passenger’s car. And that said, Audi has still done a great job of making the A8L a sweet ride from behind the wheel.
My time with Audi was not finished, though, as I was whisked off to an art museum in the city’s core for the world premiere of an all-new Audi. The A7 Sportback, as it’s known, is the production version of the Sportback Concept shown at the Detroit Auto Show in 2009, and is expected to come into Canada in 2011 as a 2012 model.
  2012 Audi A7 Sportback. Click image to enlarge |
It’s based on the A8 platform, and has a hatchback instead of a trunk; unlike BMW’s dual-opening 5 Series Gran Turismo hatch, it’s a single unit that’s hinged above the rear window. With the rear seats down, it’ll offer up to 1,390 litres (49 cubic feet) of cargo space.
The A7 Sportback will come only with V6 engines, at least initially: a 2.8-litre or supercharged 3.0-litre in direct-injection gasoline, and two 3.0-litre diesels, one making 204 horsepower, the other 245. The smaller diesel will be front-wheel drive and use Audi’s continuous multitronic, its version of a CVT, while all others will use a seven-speed automatic and feature Quattro all-wheel drive. All engines also contain a start-stop system which shuts them off at idle, similar to a hybrid’s function, for improved fuel economy.
It’s also the first Audi to offer a head-up display in the windshield, and electromechanical steering. While plans for Canada have not yet been announced, the most likely engine, at least for introduction, will be the supercharged 3.0-litre gasoline version.
