Audi A8

Car and Driver

Rank in Full-size Luxury Cars

Bursting with tech, including a foot massager!

The auto industry`s version of trickle-down economics says today`s six-figure almost-limos foreshadow tomorrow`s entry-level premium cars and next week`s middle-class sedans and family crossovers. So it`s no spread to say that, at least for this fleeting moment, the two thousand nineteen Audi A8 sits at the vanguard of the switching auto industry with its hybrid powertrain assist as standard equipment and a laundry list of production-vehicle firsts. The fourth-generation A8 will introduce drivers to a truly active suspension, a 48-volt primary electrical system, and–in select markets–Level three autonomy by which Audi becomes the very first automaker to sanction hands-free, Facebook-`til-your-face-melts driving. And yet all of that seems like peanuts when measured against the fact that this fresh A8 will joyfully grope even the funkiest feet after a grueling game of badminton, courtesy of a built-in rear-seat foot massager.

With the fresh A8, Audi`s Traffic Jam Assist evolves into Traffic Jam Pilot. A single camera, five radar units, ultrasonic sensors, and the very first laser scanner fitted to a production vehicle will permit for true hands-free driving in powerful traffic on divided highways at speeds up to thirty seven mph. While that makes for a fairly narrow use case outside of major metro areas, these stop-and-go commuting scripts are also where Mark Zuckerberg coos his sweetest seductions into a driver`s subconscious.

Of note, the piloted-driving algorithm won`t pester the driver with periodic reminders to grab the wheel, and the manufacturer says it will accept utter liability for crashes that occur while Traffic Jam Pilot is operating. That`s not to say you can crawl into the back seat for a foot rubdown during your two-hour slog down Interstate Five. Since the A8 will never switch lanes on its own, it will require the driver to assume directive to merge when a lane finishes or to steer around a disabled vehicle. When the sensors detect traffic ahead accelerating beyond thirty seven mph, the A8 alerts the driver to retake control. If the driver fails to react, the car will activate the hazard lights, slow to a stop in its lane, and place a call to Audi`s emergency service.

All of this is merely a dangling carrot for U.S. customers right now, tho’. Traffic Jam Pilot is unlikely to be suggested when the fresh A8 goes on sale here in the late spring of 2018. That`s because the technology resumes to run up against legislative boundaries in some states, such as Fresh York where a one thousand nine hundred seventy one law mandates that drivers keep at least one forearm on the steering wheel at all times. It`s conceivable that Traffic Jam Pilot could never be suggested in the United States, albeit we rank that as very unlikely. State and federal legislators have shown little opposition to the concept of self-driving cars, and most show up impatient to clear the hurdles under the unproven notion that fully autonomous cars will unlock an economic tsunami. (In fact, the opposite seems just as plausible.)

Truly Active Suspension, Electron Enabled

All A8s, regardless of market and engine, will feature some form of hybrid assist. In most versions, this manifests with a 48-volt alternator/starter connected to the engine via the accessory belt. This unit, which is paired with a turbocharged Trio.0-liter V-6 and an eight-speed automatic in the base A8 and is good for an estimated three hundred forty horsepower, can`t stir the car under electrical power alone. Instead, it boosts efficiency by widening the window to use automatic engine stop-start and enlargening the amount of energy recaptured while coasting. Auto stop-start can shut down the engine from speeds as high as fourteen mph and now uses the camera to read the car`s surroundings. For example, the A8`s engine will restart when the vehicle ahead commences moving, even if the driver`s foot remains on the brake. Inbetween thirty four and ninety nine mph, the A8 will coast for up to forty seconds when the driver lifts off the accelerator pedal.

This system differs from the electrical architectures in the Bentley Bentayga and the Audi SQ7. In those crossovers, a 12-volt alternator supplies energy to 48-volt subsystems. In the A8, energy is generated and stored via the belt-driven alternator/starter and a 48-volt lithium-ion battery that assumes responsibility for charging a 12-volt lead-acid battery that powers traditional accessories such as the electrically assisted steering, power windows, and heated seats.

The 48-volt circuit also feeds the A8`s active suspension, the very first production realization of a promise we`ve anxiously awaited since Bose built a bunny-hopping Lexus LS400 prototype in the early `00s. While the means are different here, the end result is the same. With the optional equipment, the A8 can lift a wheel over a bump or drive a force through the suspension to raise the figure relative to the wheel.

A fist-sized electrified motor at each corner acts through a strain-wave gear with a reduction ratio of toughly 200:1, a torsion bar, a titanium torsion tube, and a lever arm to impart up to eight hundred eleven lb-ft of torque to compress or extend the suspension. When tasked with improving rail quality, the motors can reduce the force conveyed into the cabin and lift the assets slightly prior to influence to increase the suspension travel over a bump. Working to improve treating, the system counteracts assets roll. Under normal conditions, the active suspension takes inputs from the camera mounted behind the windshield, wheel-position sensors at each corner, and body-mounted accelerometers.

Speaking of technological leaps, if the corner-mounted radars detect an imminent side influence, the suspension motors lift the near side of the bod by Three.1 inches to better direct the coerces through the cross-car planks in the vehicle`s floor. The active suspension system substitutes the traditional anti-roll bar and results in a net weight build up of harshly one hundred ten pounds. It works in concert with adaptive dampers and air springs that further expand the A8`s rail and treating bandwidth. Optional four-wheel steering will be paired with an actively variable ratio in the front steering column.

Motivation and Design Mojo

A turbocharged Four.0-liter V-8, good for harshly four hundred sixty horsepower, will join the lineup sometime after launch. Both the six- and eight-cylinder diesels are off the table for the United States, and it seems unlikely that we`ll get the 577-hp W-12 engine that Europeans will love. Audi of America hasn`t yet determined whether it will import the A8L e-tron Quattro. That plug-in-hybrid model sandwiches an electrical motor/generator inbetween its gas Trio.0-liter V-6 and gearbox for a total output of four hundred forty three horsepower. Its lithium-ion battery can be recharged via inductive wireless charging and should supply up to thirty one miles of electrical range as measured by the forgiving European certification methodology.

We`re told that the A8 heralds a fresh design era for the Audi brand as the very first blank-sheet design since Marc Lichte assumed control of the design team three and a half years ago. Mostly tho’, the A8 looks like just another iteration of what we`ve already seen in the fresh A5 and Q7, with its large single-frame grille, creased fetish mask, and a body-side character line developing from the rubber hood shutline.

The brand makes no apologies for its militant adherence to minimalism, but there is technical beauty if you peer into the lighting elements. The full-width taillamp glows with two hundred seventeen LEDs while the matrix-beam LED headlights (they can tailor the plank around an oncoming car) also feature a laser element that is turned down in force to meet U.S. regulations.

Audi`s flagship resumes to be built around an aluminum-intensive spaceframe, albeit you will find steel in the A- and B-pillars, a magnesium strut-tower brace under the spandex hood, and a large carbon-fiber panel serving as the parcel shelf and bulkhead inbetween the trunk and the rear seats. The U.S. market only will receive the long-wheelbase A8L, which opens up 208.7 inches bumper to bumper, an increase of 1.Five inches on the outgoing car.

The largest design switch emerges inwards the cabin, where Audi`s MMI infotainment system trades its large control knob and best-in-the-business interface for a 2nd touchscreen at the front of the center console. The lower screen primarily serves the climate controls, but it doubles as the address and point-of-interest input for the navigation system. In this capacity, it can display either a keyboard or a vast blank slate for drawing letters and numerals with a finger. While previous iterations required you to pause after each scribbled character, the fresh version permits you to write fluidly, either moving left to right across the screen or simply drawing each fresh letter on top of the last one.

Despite haptic and audible feedback to confirm each «button» press, our taps on both screens repeatedly went unacknowledged as we pecked at MMI in a parked car. Swipe and pinch gestures were frequently met with slow, staggering responses as the map was redrawn. The formerly intuitive, beautiful, and powerful MMI shows up to have lost its edge with this latest generation. We are grateful that the company at least retained the volume knob and the capability to nudge it left or right to switch the audio track or radio station.

As for that foot massager? It packages in the seatback of the front passenger seat, so a chauffeured rear-seat passenger can take a fountain off. Unluckily, it wasn`t on any of the cars Audi displayed at the A8`s unveiling, so we can`t tell you if the rubdown is spa-worthy or just a Sharper Pic–grade gimmick. All the more reason to keep your eyes peeled for the very first drive coming this fall.

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