Category: Large Executive 
Price Range: £49,995 to £80,995
Refined engines, very good automatic gearbox, excellent seats, good quality interior, ease of use of major controls
Some tyre hum, higher-speed suspension control, functionality of MMI and minor controls, a little conservative on the inside
As the sporting answer to the luxury segment, the A8 doesn't come across as all that sporting, but it is competent and accomplished. As a follow-up to the previous A8, it's the car you could have predicted Audi would make, if not the car you'd hoped it might
Cars in this class are traditionally very safe, as they debut the highest-specification features which later cascade to lesser cars in the range. As active safety goes, the A8 naturally 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