Audi A8
Price: From £49,995
For: Refined; subtle; good auto gearbox; excellent seats.
Against: Conservative-looking; not a very sporting drive.
The immensely accomplished Audi A8 is the luxury car for those who don't want to look too flash - but who still want to be seen in something expensive. Like the modern-day Jaguar XJ, it's built around an aluminium spaceframe structure (Audi got there first by some margin) which helps to keep weight down, and it comes in standard or chauffeur-special long-wheelbase forms. All but entry-level versions have Quattro four-wheel-drive.
Engines now include FSI direct-injection petrols (2.8, 3.2, 4.2 V8) but the diesels are really where it's at: 3.0 V6 TDI is the everyday, working-car choice and just about slips into tax band F, avoiding the £25-a-day London congestion charge. The 4.2 V8 TDI is lovely, but not necessarily £51,000-lovely, and the 450bhp 6.0 W12 petrol (engine as in various Bentleys) is for the ludicrously wealthy only at a staggering £80,995.
