Test drive Audi A8 D3 2003 - 2005 sedan

The Lord of the stripes

How arrogant A8 looks with a new false radiator grille! Despot, tyrant. With such a chrome shield (on ordinary restyled versions, chrome is only around the perimeter) either a flashing light or xenon should turn on everything and so remove from the strip like silk. Definitely, such styling will be in demand in Moscow. Only you will have to pay for it more. The fully aluminum packaged A8 only does not reach a little to the price of concentrated embodiment of style and dynamics from Italy Maserati Quattroporte.


However, Audi is also beautiful. Black, with the correct amount of chromium, on the lungs (forged aluminum) of 19-inch wheels, with a mentioned shield, with spectacular pseudo-bands of the exhaust system mounted in the rear bumper ... You can increase the impression if you look at it in certain angles. For example, strictly Anfas, slightly crouching the gaze of a dozen LEDs (by the way, they highly highlight the curb in corners) and the general expression of the muzzle is hypnotized. You feel like a rabbit before the boal. Or like a marf in front of the bumper. The back is also well laconic rubies of lanterns, bells of the exhaust, the treasured numbers are six and zero. Schildik W12 here is not decorating a shield. It does not catch the eye, but emphasizes the status.


We take the dossier giant. From a place to a hundred, the car jumps (accelerates here does not fit very much in terms of meaning) in 5.1 seconds. A little slower than the crazy twice turbocharged S600 (4.8 seconds), but four tenths faster than a 12-cylinder atmospheric competitor from Bavaria 760i. Since we mentioned Maserati, we give its numbers: 5.2 seconds. With atmospheric V8. You can not help but add the Englishman Jaguar XJR to this slaughter list, albeit not a 12-cylinder, but with a compressor of 5.3 seconds. (For comparison: Porsche 911 Carrera 5 sec., BMW M5 4.7 sec.) Such a representative class, such a representative acceleration.


However, it is not easy to believe in these numbers while driving A8 (and even more so in the place of the passenger). Maybe the reason for this is an excellent sound insulation. Or large dimensions and excellent pneumatic suspension. Most likely, all together, multiplied by the active assistance of Quattro.


No voltage is required from the driver and even more special skills. Although read the newspaper out of the corner of your eye, crushing the accelerator with your foot, and holding the steering wheel with your hand. Only the removal tread of the speedometer arrow can surprise. Once a hundred, two and two hundred, three and ... no, not 250, as an electronic speed limiter promises, but 280! Easy and at ease!


However, almost any miracle can find a logical explanation. And the miracle of the Audi A8 W12 is no exception. Audi Space Frame aluminum body is familiar with the first A8 model. A light, very strong design is far from last to tell the machine excellent dynamics and handling. Number two is a resourceful and compact motor w12. An impressive hybrid of two V6 with a volume of 6 liters produces 450 hp. and 580 nm torque. At the same time, with the listener of the power unit is treated very correctly, only in marginal modes reporting on its extreme potential ringing notes and shooting of a tuned exhaust.


A pneumatic suspension can work in four modes. Dynamic is the minimum clearance and maximum rigidity, Comfort comfortable settings, Auto hardness and height are automatically installed depending on the driving manner, Lift for the attack of the borders on parking.

The use of pneumatic suspension gives a number of useful bonuses. In addition to the possibility of choosing the suspension from sports to the comfortable to the comfortable way, the driver can easily change the clearance and call on an impregnable border in appearance without harm to the body and bottom of the car.


At the speed of the chassis of the top version, A8 behaves flawlessly. On the smooth asphalt, any sensation of speed disappears, the car seems to fly over the road. Class! 200 km/h behind the wheel of this sedan are perceived as standard 140V150. But if the coating is not perfect, the machine is slightly scouring, the dynamic corridor expands, strikes are transmitted to the steering wheel, the sense of the rail disappears, there is a desire to slightly drop the speed.


In Comfort mode, the machine is slightly swaying on gentle waves, but in general, the behavior is predicted and understandable. Dynamic makes the car more collected, the profile of the track is more distinctly transmitted to the body, reaction more acutely. If at the same time, the sports regime of the 6-speed Tiptronic is involved, the trip turns into a fascinating attraction. The moment throws the car forward at any speed, and the brakes show themselves from the best side. In general, the A8 suspension is harsh, it could be expected from it a slightly higher level of comfort. But today sports is in fashion ...


The only claim to automatic transmission is the inability to jump down a couple of steps at a time. A hitch is observed. However, do you often need such jumps by car with a 12-cylinder engine? The manual control mode in the top version is carried out through convenient steering wheel switches, but this option seemed slightly far-fetched here, because the machine always decides what to do, and it is worth a couple of seconds to hesitate or notice how it sticks the desired, in his opinion, transmission. When the maximum speed is reached, when braking down. (In general, the manual regime here is completely useless, it is for weaker versions.) In the Sport mode, there are small delays in the work of the box, but they remain in the shadows of the magnificent work of the aluminum heart of the machine, which is capable of very, very much. In general, when the suspension and the box work in sports, the sedan goes into class GT, showing excellent (but not gambling) controllability and outstanding dynamics. The maximum speed at a minimum of voltage and a high level of comfort is this sports in the interpretation of the A8 W12.


As for ergonomics and interior in general, W12 is not much different from versions with less powerful motors. By and large, only the steering wheel is different, with a miniature shield and four rings inside. Everything else is familiar. An interactive MMI control system with a retractable seven -inch display attracts the gaze. Its main difference from the analogue of the IDRive is that for each function the corresponding button is provided, and its pressing displays all the necessary information to wander the options. The computer on the BMW becomes convenient does not immediately need some time to get used to it. In A8, everything is clear the first time, the MMI interface is clearly more friendly.


Materials of the interior decoration are impeccable, the assembly quality too. Unless the monitor is slightly rattling when passing the irregularities is strange. The combination of matte metal inserts and wood finishes raised the questions.


Machine owner recognition system: Keyless Entry. If the key lies in the pocket, the door will take it away. There are two ways to start the motor: classic (key) or button on the central console. The button can be replaced with a touch device that reads the fingerprint, and not only launches the engine, but also makes the machine settings in accordance with previously specified installations (options for four people).


That's all, the weekend ended, the highways again shut up a dense flow of transport, and the owner of the Audi is the time to transfer the steering wheel to the driver, and himself fenced off from the outside world, settling in the rear chair. The spaces here, of course, have plenty, there are heating, curtains, climate control. But the electrical regulations of the rear seats can only be offered by a long -drawn (plus 130 mm) version. If the car is bought for use as a limousine, then in addition to the W12 you can recommend a LIBLOK L. Besides, the stretched option looks more solid. But even a short A8 along with W12 is a great couple.


There are no complaints about the Audi A8 W12. He perfectly combines the qualities of a representative sedan and a sports car. The price is large, but justified. It indicates not only the technical level, but also the status. The status car is necessarily expensive, and there are always few of them. By the way, during the test, I often met eight -cylinder modifications and all of them quickly disappeared in the rear view mirror.


Naturally, Maserati or Jaguar is even more rare, but not everyone is ready to spend a lot of money on shocking cars. And on Audi you can stand out from the crowd if it is equipped with a W12 motor.


Audi A8 prices and equipment
Audi representative office recommends the following retail prices for A8 sedans. The cheapest front-in-wheel drive model will be equipped with a three-liter V-shaped six with a capacity of 218 hp. and a five -speed automatic gearbox. Such a car costs from $ 90.800. An elongated version with the same Multitronic will cost $ 94.148. There is a diesel option, with the Uattro, equipped with a six -speed Tiptronic for $ 99.611. A more powerful eight -cylinder 3.7 Tiptronic Quattro costs from $ 102.903. The same machine, but with a 4.2 liter engine is already estimated at $ 123,000. And the elongated option is $ 133.749. For a top version in a short-filled performance, $ 162,000 is asked, and an increase of 13 cm to the base will pull out another $ 13,000 from the client’s pocket.


Note that a long list of options available for this car is able to raise the cost of even the simplest model to the price peaks of versions with W12.
 
 
 
   
 
 
Leonty Tyutelev
 

Source: Motor magazine [May-June 2005]