Category: Large Executive 
Price Range: £49,975 to £80,260
Quality interior, low emissions, stylish looks.
Multitronic CVT's occasional lack of low-speed refinement, no long wheelbase option, poor residuals.
A fine low-CO2 limo, let down by savage depreciation.
Familiarity means the A8 cabin feels a little dated after five year's in production, but make no mistake, the big Audi interior remains one of the finest luxury car cabins in the business.
The materials used are all well chosen for feel and quality, while minor controls work with the oily damped precision endlessly copied by others and shared with Bentley models well over twice the price.
On reliability grounds, owner satisfaction surveys rank Audi as the highest German brand, coming joint seventh with Mazda, hinting the brand may have turned the corner on its reliability woes.
In any case, the A8 doesn't premiere anything new that could develop nasty teething problems, using an existing engine and gearbox already used in other Audi models.
Latest Readers' Drives About the Audi A8
wrote on 05 05 2007