Audi A8 2.8 FSI (2008-) Review

Overview

• Next: Reliability and Quality

Audi has timed the arrival of its base 2.8-litre A8 limo to perfection.

The backlash against gas guzzlers is already in full swing and from October 2008 all cars emitting 226g/km or more of carbon dioxide face a £25 charge to drive within London's congestion zone.

If that's not bad enough, later on in April 2009, vehicles polluting more than 255g/km of CO2 will be liable for not only an initial £950 new car tax, but an annual £455 VED.

It's a bad time to be running a large executive car and, even if you can afford the added costs, things are only going to get more expensive for owners highly polluting cars.

Manufacturers are already responding to the changing times and cars such as the Audi A8 2.8 are the key to a less taxing future for the luxury sector.

Arriving with the mild 2008 model year facelift (rear LED lamps, LED mirrors, different coloured grille), the 2.8 averages a fine 34.0mpg and pollutes to the tune of just 199g/km of CO2, a best in the class result, with which only a Jaguar XJ diesel and Lexus LS 600h hybrid can compete.

Better yet, this fine result is achieved without the need of a complex hybrid drivetrain, distracting stop-start technology or even crude cookie-cutter energy saving tyres and ugly aerodynamic aids.

The secret to Audi's low emissions is weight, or lack of it.

Like other A8s the 2.8 benefits from an aluminium space-frame chassis and body panels that weigh half of what they do if they were made out of less exotic steel.

The 2.8-litre A8 further saves weight further by ditching the four-wheel drive hardware and employing both the firm's direct injection FSI technology and the efficient Multitronic continuously variable transmission (CVT).

The question is, in a highly competitive segment with most demanding buyers imaginable; can the economical A8 cut it with some of the quietest, most comfortable cars money can buy?