Fresh from its world début in Paris, Audi’s A8 has made an appearance at Auto Africa. The car is packed with high-tech features, but are its looks generally appealing?
Fresh from its world début at the recent Paris Motor Show, Audi’s A8 flagship has made an appearance at Auto Africa. The car is packed with high-tech features, but but are its looks generally appealing?
Audi AG claims the new A8’s strongest points are its lightweight design, handling dynamism and array of state-of-the-art electronic equipment.
The large saloon has expansive, arched surfaces that are bordered by plotted lines. The design appears to be an evolution of the previous A8, but with flat front and short body overhangs and a highly-contoured rear end.
Have the designers in Ingolstadt incorporated enough of the design cues seen in last year’s Avantissimo concept – the car described as embodying the “new, avant-garde look of Audi” – in the A8? Or has the manufacturer been too conservative in its design?
Irrespective of whether the exterior design of the A8 is ultimately a success, the aluminium body, based on a further developed version of the Audi space frame (ASF), is credited with providing a high-strength basis for the performance and handling characteristics. According to the manufacturer, the A8’s static torsional rigidity has been increased by 60 per cent while the body shell weighs 50 per cent less than a similar size steel car.
The A8, equipped with quattro permanent four-wheel drive, is available in Germany in 4,2 and 3,7-litre V8 derivates producing 246 kW and 206 kW respectively. A new feature in the A8 is the six-speed automatic transmission with tiptronic function. Shift-paddle gear selection is available as an option.
The new Audi A8 has an aluminium chassis with four-link front axle and a self-stabilising trapezoidal-link rear axle. The brakes and steering system with variable ratio and servotronic are a new design.
The car has adaptive air suspension consisting of a four-corner air springing system with continuous damper control. The data from four sensors on the axles and three acceleration sensors on the body is evaluated in the adaptive air suspension’s central control unit. This computer prompts the adjustment of the individual shock absorbers, based on the driving situation identified.
The driver can also choose between four predefined suspesnion settings, from overtly sporty to ultra-comfortable.
The brake system is supported by the electronic stabilisation program (ESP 5.7) with ABS, ASR traction control, electronic brake-force distribution (EBD), electronic differential lock (EDL) and hydraulic brake assist.
The A8 is also the first Audi to have an electromechanical parking brake. The system, operated via a pull/push control on the centre console, automatically ensures the necessary parking brake application force.
According to Audi, the system calculates the moment and rate at which the parking brake is to be released, on the basis of data such as the transmission speed selected, the accelerator pedal position, the engine speed and the angle of incline. As soon as there is sufficient torque to move the vehicle forwards, the electronics automatically release the parking brake.
The new A8 is equipped with the tyre mobility system as standard, comprising an electric compressor and sealant. If the car has a puncture, this system enables the driver to reach the nearest service station without needing to change the wheel. The A8 can also be fitted with a full-size spare wheel, a permanent tyre pressure monitoring system, or cast aluminium wheels with run-flat properties, the so-called PAX system.
The PAX system allows the driver to continue for up to 200 km at a maximum speed of 80 km/h even if a tyre is fully deflated.
In terms of electronic componentry, the A8 is equipped with advanced key access and authorisation system, one-touch memory personalisation and the radar-assisted distance control system known as adaptive cruise control.
And with the integrated user interface MMI, Audi provides what it describes “as an infotainment platform that is simple to operate”. MMI comprises the control panel (MMI terminal) in the centre console with a control button that can be turned and pressed, and four control keys grouped around it.
On either side of the terminal – apart from the Return key for quitting the menu level – there are eight function keys with which the user can call up the principal main menus directly. The second central component of the MMI, a colour monitor, is above the centre console in the dashboard.
Accoring to an Audi SA spokesman, the A8 is being displayed at Auto Africa so that the manufacturer can guage whether there is enough interest on the local market to warrant the introduction of the model in South Africa.
What do you think?
