Test drive Audi A8 D3 2003 - 2005 Sedan
Audi on the Hamburg account
The flagship A8L entered the Higher Light
Twelve cylinders. This phrase in the automobile world means about the same as the name Brioni on a men's suit or an inscription Family Reserve on a bottle of cognac. That is, belonging to the Higher Light. The microcosm, where they live according to their own rules, where there is a well -known Rockefeller phrase that I am not so rich as to buy cheap things, where they judge everything by the Hamburg account, without discounts and concessions, with marginal exactingness. It is here that the flagship modification of the Audi A8L, equipped with a powerful 12-cylinder engine, should take root. For this to happen, it seems to have done everything in Ingolstadt.
Fly with other aircraft
The presentation of the A8L W12 was preserved in my memory as a bright spot of pleasure against the background of dull reality. I was going on this business trip longer than usual: along with standard jeans and a couple of sweaters, I took an evening suit, a couple of ties with shirts, weekend shoes, good perfume. Because I decided to myself: I must correspond. Such machines appear infrequently, and their image obliges. And everything would be fine, but we flew by Austrian Airlines aircraft. The flight from Moscow set off an hour later, for the junction to Salzburg, where the presentation was held, did not have time. On the way back, departure was detained for 40 minutes (although the weather was excellent), and the plane was canceled in Moscow, settling to topple the hotel at the hotel with such smells in the corridor that it was possible to move along them only by covering the face with a damp cloth. As a result, I have 18 colleagues destroyed plans. And in this situation, Audi behaved as befits a concern that produces elite cars. The issue of a delay in the presentation was resolved and quickly - specially for us, two luxurious business jets, which delivered us to Salzburg. No economy is all according to the Hamburg account. As in the car itself, however. Our pilot turned out to be a sweetest person. Talking with him, I found out that he is the happy owner of the previous generation A8L. True, with eight cylinders under the hood. Why not 12? I asked. Oh, it is very expensive, ”he answered,“ just for my customers. ”
At the plane of the plane, we were met by a line of long -drawn eights with drivers. Guests were seated strictly in two, on the rear seats. As comfortable as the chic fed -right aircraft on which we flew half an hour ago. Everything is correct, the life of a person’s life should proceed
Luxury through technology
In the hangar, where the evening event was held - the flagship A8L with the W12 engine, disassembled into the smallest parts. Here is a separate aluminum body, which workers weld almost manually at the factory in Zindelfingen. Cooping from winged metal is there: the car is almost 200 kg lighter than their competitors with a similar level of internal equipment. Here are the chairs separately, from which I did not want to get out after a long flight. Adjustments in them cannot be counted. Naturally, for yourself you can configure the length of the pillow, back tilt, lumbar back, the height of the headrest. In addition, they built the heating, ventilation and massage systems. The latter works as if you put an elastic roller on your lower back and slowly ride it up and down. At the next disassembly - for which I flew here: a twelve -cylinder engine. Pistons, divided into groups into three, move along the lines of the Latin letter W. Their mutual arrangement has significantly reduced the size of the motor, which in terms of dimensions is quite comparable to the usual V8. The new engine develops 450 hp. (30 forces more than W12 of the previous generation) at 6200 rpm. The maximum torque is now 580 nm, 95% of which have become available in a fairly wide range of revolutions - from 2300 to 5300. What does this mean in practice - we will check tomorrow, and today I have another task. I go to the only whole car in the hangar, the one that advertises the interior decoration and the options that the Audi Exclusive specialists offer customers, who, in their own words, are engaged in car personification. That is, the fulfillment of any desires of the buyer - from the decoration of the cabin of a special color with embroidered personal emblems, to the completion of it with all kinds of communication systems, audio and video equipment. The copy that was put on public display flaunted with light cream chairs with dark seams, finish with nut veneer and aluminum, wooden tables mounted in the front seats, a refrigerator in the trunk.
What else is in the interesting salon? Say, the hatch in which the elements of solar panels are built in. The energy that they produce is consumed on the power of the climatic installation in the parking lot, with the motor off. Or, for example, a new steering wheel, which is installed only on the W12 modification. The four -spoke trumpet in the central part is crowned with a trapezoid in the style of the Auto Union emblem. The same form on the new car and the grille of the radiator, which gave the appearance as much as possible, in my opinion, an aggressive and monumental appearance. The branded colonnade of Rolls-Royce compared to it looks like a liquid fence from the picket fence. There is one more difference in front, noticeable through the transparent caps of headlights. These are the overall lights of five LEDs, inscribed by an asterisk into a round diffuser. Audi was the first manufacturer to use LED technology in anterior lighting. It is noteworthy that, forming a bright light spot, the dimensions consume no more energy than the usual 30-watt light bulb.
However, we will return to life in the Hamburg account. The presentation was followed by an exquisite dinner in the style of Fuzhn, followed by a tasting of cognacs and cigars. Then - a personal taxi, again, A8L W12 with a driver who delivered me to a luxurious hotel. That is, everything went, according to the plan in advance by the organizers, to dip us into the world, where the main consumers of cars with twelve cylinders under the hood live.
The next morning slightly confused the cards to everyone who wanted to remove the car on their own. The snow fell at night, which in the morning covered the roads with snow-water porridge, and even with pieces of ice. In such conditions, there was no point in talking about a photo shoot. Therefore, my colleague and I went just to study the surroundings. Strange, but Austrian roads reminded me of Moscow. In the sense that they are not cleaned either. True, for another reason - due to constant temperatures in the mountainous areas, everything is melting itself. Indeed, why in vain drive equipment? So we rode an autobahn with a persistent feeling that we accidentally chopped it in a shower cabin, where sprayers were installed everywhere, even in the walls. The wipers equipped with a rain sensor rushed from one edge of the glass to another at such a speed that it began to rush in their eyes. By the way, poor road conditions helped to find one drawback in this car. It seemed to me that the knock of small ice on the wheeled arches could be a little less annoying. But this is really a trifle against the background of many virtues. For example, a pleasant and incomparable baritone of twelve cylinders, breaking into the salon at revolutions above the average. Moreover, it is interesting that from the rear seat of the motor is not heard, but the driver eats this exquisite dish constantly. In addition, Audi is the only manufacturer that offers a four -wheel drive for the flagship engine. Without going into the technical details of the QUATTRO proprietary system, I will say that on any coating, the model retains the adhesion to the road and is most insured by errors in turns. Yes, and on a straight car accelerates and moves as if there is no hole, no rut, or lateral wind.
Despite the long base and a heavy engine, A8L remained quite pleasant and predicted from the point of view of behavior in turning by a car. It was not difficult for me to put a large sedan a little sideways for a beautiful colleague’s frame (I still had to shoot) and to turn to the asphalt field of parking. The car will definitely obey all the driver’s actions. For example, I go into a turn at high speed, instinctively dropping the gas - a slight demolition of the rear axle begins. Its adjustment is as simple as possible - you need to press the accelerator pedal again. Then, quite a bit shifted out of the turn, A8L again acquires contact with the road. I will make a reservation that I performed these exercises with a disabled stabilization system, which I do not recommend doing on public roads. 
For A8L W12, only one transmission is offered - a six -band Tiptronic machine gun. It was equipped with all possible additional functions that are possible today - manual switching with buttons on the steering wheel, sports regime. I can’t say anything definite about the first - I could not get used to it in half a day of acquaintance with the car. But the second option seemed very convenient to me. When the automatic transmission selector is moved to position S, the box switches higher only after the tachometer arrow overcome 6000 rpm, that is, it allows the maximum to use all the capabilities of the engine. And they, I must say, are very impressive. Having reached the border with Germany, where there are no speed restrictions on autobahns (in Austria - 130 km/h), I felt it fully. Say, the maximum 250 km/h is gained only half a minute after the start, and the car exchanges the second hundred on the speedometer in 5.2 seconds. While driving A8L W12, you can not really worry about whether the time is enough to complete the overtaking, because from 200 km/h the machine accelerates almost as vigorously as when accelerating from the place. Just pour the gas pedal to the floor and enjoy the engine traction of the motor, noting that the chair tightens the body deeper into its arms. Good brakes. Their drive is quite informative, and I personally wanted only that the effort on the pedals was slightly smaller. But in any case, the rate of slowdown does not fade against the background of acceleration. These two criteria are absolutely harmonious.
Do not laugh in the morning
Finally, I left myself another toy, which is included in the standard equipment of the A8L W12 - pneumatic suspension adjustable in stiffness and height. It has several modes - sports (the chassis becomes more rigid, and the body rolls disappear altogether), comfortable (the wheels seem to be separated from the body - at least not a single blow or vibration is transmitted from them), automatic (to be honest, I never figured out when and what happens in this case) and high (the body can be additionally raised over the road, for example, in front of a lying policeman). Funny little thing. For myself, I preferred the toughest mode in pairs with sports in the gearbox. Well, I just had to tell that the A8L W12 will appear in the dealers salons at the end of March this year. Orders for the car are accepted now. In the basic version, the car will cost $ 163 642. The version with a standard wheelbase (13 cm shorter) will be available closer to summer. The delivery time is 2.5-3 months. Competitors, I think, should not be called - their names are heard.
Already approaching back to Salzburg, I stopped at a traffic light. In parallel, one of my colleagues stood up. As soon as the green light caught fire, we synchronously pressed the gas pedal. Three kilometers tried to overtake each other until a simple thought came to my mind: am I actually a normal person? How is it possible if we have exactly the same cars, except that they differ in color? Disrupted, laughing at myself, I slowed down and calmly drove to the hotel. But not in vain they say that the morning laughter does not bode well in the evening. It turns out that I jinxed the Austrian airlines Brief technical characteristics of the Audi A8L W12
Engine volume, cubic meter. See: 5998
The number of valves for the cylinder: 4
Power, l. With. at about./min.: 450/6200
Max. Torque, Nm/at about. min.: 580/4000-4700
Acceleration to 100 km/h, p.: 5.2
Maximum speed, km/h: 250
Average fuel consumption l./100 km.: 13.8
Fuel tank volume, l.: 90
Dimensions, mm.: 5192x1894x1455
Sergey Ilyinsky
