Category: Large Executive 
Price Range: £49,975 to £80,260
Refined engines, very good automatic gearbox, quality interior.
Some tyre hum, a little conservative on the inside.
Doesn't come across as all that sporting, but it is competent and accomplished.
The A8 comes with ABS and stability control, as well as standard quattro four-wheel drive, which makes it more stable under power and improves traction in horrid conditions. It also has adaptive corner lights, which shine sideways when turning to improve the view, and they also light up when you're reversing in the dark to improve peripheral vision (though surely they only shine on things you've already missed?).
Run-flat tyres are optional, with tyre pressure monitoring, while passive safety should also prove very good.
There are no NCAP results as yet, but with a stack-load of dual-stage airbags, plus the traditional benefits of being in a large car (particularly if you hit a small one), we expect it to get top marks.
Latest Readers' Drives About the Audi A8
wrote on 05 05 2007