(QQ, Fall 2002) — It does not seem so long ago (1997) when the A8 was introduced to our shores. Time sure goes fast. It was however 1993 when the A8 was first unveiled to the public in Germany. What a sight it was to behold, aluminum spaceframe construction and all. So its replacement is a little overdue. Audi's parent company Volkswagen is primarily to blame for its late arrival, as it wanted its own new Phaeton W12 Sedan to be released first and receive the press accolades unchallenged by its daughter Audi and the new A8. Well, as you read this, the Paris Auto Salon has opened and the new A8 is one of the two bright new stars on the Audi stand.

From the first day I drove an A8 in 1996, I felt that this car had been forged from a single piece of aluminum. Tight, squeak and rattle free, excellent handling, beautiful interior appointments, and a glorious drivetrain heralded its arrival into our collective consciousness. I was so pleased to see Audi market this car here, especially as I was a V8 owner at the time and looked forward to buying the next generation D Series. This D2 culminated in the USA with the exquisite S8, quite a heart fibrillation in its own right. In Europe the A8 swan song was the W12 powered version.

Just imagine how the market has moved from the time the A8 was initially released in Europe in the fall of 1994. BMW, Mercedes and Jaguar have released their latest entries/replacements into the luxury sedan market way ahead of Audi. It has also presented an opportunity for Audi to be ahead of the competitive field by knowing their competition before their entry gets out of the gate. Even before the new A8 is on the market, Mercedes just announced that the face-lifted MY 2003-S500 will be available with 4matic all wheel drive. Hmmm….preemptive strike?

Our friends in Ingolstadt have something very special in store for us; a substantially advanced vehicle bristling with technical innovations, with a captivating new chassis and drivetrain, all housed in a luscious body with a scintillating interior.

As you can tell by the pictures, the new A8 styling takes many cues from the current A6 and the new A4. It is a pleasant evolution from the existing D2 body while keeping a conservative yet classic line. It seems to flow very well and helps to make elegant the size and weight of this full size car. The overall roofline is more like a coupe than a sedan, lending a form of grace to the profile. A remarkable Cw of .27 was achieved without requiring a jelly-mold shape. It is also no styling experiment like the new BMW 745i. One thing is for certain; Audi styling has proven repeatedly that it will wear well with time. Under that beautiful and svelte body, the award winning space frame has undergone quite an improvement in design, reducing the sheer number of parts required. All of this new design effort paid off with torsional rigidity increased by a whopping 60%. Weight was kept near to the D2, within about 25 Kg to 1775 Kg. Compare this to the porcine VW Phaeton at almost 2500 Kg., and it makes the new A8 seem like a featherweight contender.

While keeping the overall size within 10mm of the current A8, the wheelbase was lengthened by 63mm. By using the new and very short "Ketten" motor from the Allroad 4.2 and the new S4, Audi engineers were able to lessen the front overhang and add length to where it counts, the wheelbase. Subsequently, the interior room was increased dramatically with the rear seating area benefiting the most. Rear interior headroom and legroom are more like the current A8L, and concurrent with the offerings from the Mercedes S Class and the BMW 7 Series. Here in California, the ride comfort will be noticeably improved as we suffer from the worst highway concrete joints as well as rain grooves on our roads. I have been in many short to medium wheelbase cars that pitch like rocking horses at certain highway speeds. When Audi releases the new A8L a year later with an additional 130mm wheelbase, I think the interior room will be in almost a true limousine class. I certainly hope the liveries around the US will discard the Lincoln Towncar and use the A8L instead (I can dream, can I not?).

Along with a better chassis comes a great advance with the new "Adaptive Air Suspension" system. Each wheel has a microprocessor controlled continuously variable damping air suspension strut. Unlike the Mercedes system, which uses hydraulic fluid, the VW/Audi system is capable of responding in less than 1 millisecond to real-world road input. The rate of compression and rebound damping can be changed on the fly. Four different suspension modes can be selected from the cockpit with a choice of lift, comfort, automatic, or dynamic mode, and the settings are displayed on the MMI interface. The Body can change ride height within a 20mm range. In the automatic mode, when speeds around 45 Mph are detected, the car will lower itself for better high- speed stability and less wind resistance (improved mpg as well). In the Dynamic mode, sport fans will not be disappointed with the settings. Comfort mode is self-explanatory, and looks like the "sofa" setting. Lift allows manual control as in the Allroad's ride height. For folks in pothole or snow country, this feature will be greatly appreciated. This new active suspension may truly be the best of all worlds, and it made its preliminary debut in the new VW Phaeton. I hope for long-term D3 owners that the system is reliable and not too costly to maintain.

Current wheel styling seems to be driven by the "bigger is better" mode, and the new A8 will be available with 18" wheels as standard equipment. Nineteen inch wheels will be optional, shod with the new Michelin PAX Run-Flat system. New strides in this design now allow up to a 120 mile range for this fabulous advance in tire safety. Integrated with the PAX system is the tire pressure and temperature monitoring feature. I for one would love to have a real time read-out of my tires. Better to know in advance when one is ready to blow and have a chance to slow down and pull over. An informed driver can be a safer driver. Styling of the wheels looks great and quite contemporary.

Several major advances in lighting technology will be unveiled in this new model. In the 40's, Tucker and into the 60's, Citroen pioneered a headlight system that would turn along with your steering. Well, here we are decades later and Audi has a new twist to an old idea. New Bi-Xenon Headlights that have a separate cornering light with the parameters of speed, steering angle, and your turn signal choice processed by a computer and applied to the angle of the cornering lamp. Pretty darn cool. Hope this one makes it stateside! I cannot imagine running at night in mountain road settings with a light pointed in the direction I am turning at all times. Give me lights!

High Intensity LED Cluster rear taillights improve rear visibility and look to shorten the braking reaction time for the driver behind by faster responding brake lights. Incandescent bulbs have a shorter lifespan than solid-state LED technology, as well as taking more time to light up. Audi research has shown that at 80 Mph, because of the lag time of incandescent versus LED illumination time, the difference in reaction time of the driver following can result in as much as 50 feet shorter stopping distance. Utilizing Bi-Color LEDs, Audi engineers have a microprocessor controlled lighting system, and can change from red to yellow, with most of the LEDs being individually addressable. By means of the Bi-Color LED, the turn signal is a yellow arrow that appears from a red LED taillight assembly. Pulse-width-modulation is used as a control mechanism of the intensity of the brake, running, and turn signal functions.

Audi engine boffins have not been still, and Powertrain developments have advanced as well. Horsepower with the new beltless "Ketten" motor has been bumped up to 335 Hp (DIN) from the former 310 Hp. As a guide to power, please keep in mind the original S8 was 340 Hp, and this increase in power brings the new A8 close to the original S8 performance envelope. A shorter final drive ratio will be fitted for USA models, enhancing the acceleration figures for our market. Preliminary information on maintenance suggests that it has been substantially reduced. Filters and fluids are changed at 15K and 30K intervals, while plugs and oxygen sensors need to be changed at 60K intervals. For more information on this new motor, please see the summer 2002 issue of the quarterly. The new 4.2 is a ULEV motor and can meet USA emissions standards through 2007. A brand new ZF 6 Speed Automatic transmission with Tiptronic control will allow for a perfect match for the broad torque curve available with the 4.2L V8. Later next year, Audi will release in Europe a 420 Hp W12 powered version as well as a new 4.0L TDI V8 with 250 Hp and 450 Ft. Lbs. of Torque (oh my goodness yes!). The new S8 specification is unknown at this point. We should know something within a year or so. It is expected to make its arrival in September of 2003 at the Frankfurt IAA. We do know that the twin-turbo W12 that is being developed for Bentley will fit in this car, and we can only imagine what 550-600 Hp could feel like in this chassis. Stay tuned!

New for the D3 is a smart key-one touch memory system for the seats, air conditioner, radio, steering column, mirrors, seats, and navigation. Sensors built into the B pillars receive the digitally encoded RF signals (supposedly cannot be cloned) and unlock the doors and make all systems ready for the driver including the ignition system in the ready-mode. Located on the central console is a start and stop button. Once the driver enters the vehicle, he pushes the start button, the engine fires up, and he is ready for his journey. Of course there is a conventional key, better for the parking lot valets. The emergency or parking brake engages and releases by means of an electro-magnetic solenoid activated by a Park Brake Button on the center console.

Immediately one notices the clean and uncluttered interior, with the large clear speedometer and tachometer, and two smaller gauges-fuel and water temperature. Climate controls for driver and passenger, including seat heating controls are in the normal position in the center console. This is the first time that I am aware of that Audi has a humidity sensor for the interior built into an excellent air conditioning system. Tiptronic gear selector, park brake button, start and stop buttons for the motor, and the MMI interface controls fall easily to your hands in a natural position in the console.

Using the central MMI mouse-like knob along with several function assignable buttons, one can move through the various menus of communication-telephone, navigation, entertainment, and control systems for the suspension. In Europe TV is offered as an option. The LCD display is on a separate panel that swings into place just up from the center console, near the top of the dash, with easy visibility for the driver and passenger. Voice activation of the myriad of functions is built in as well. By separating the climate controls from the MMI, it is less complicated to use than the BMW 7 series system and far more intuitive. My hat is off to the team at Audi and Harman/Becker for the D3 MMI system. DVD media powers the navigation data, resulting in much more useful information to have immediately available to the driver.

Another feature that is new for the D3 as an option is Adaptive Cruise Control (like the Mercedes Distronic). This is a sophisticated cruise control with radar and distance intervention. It constantly searches in front of the car for objects/other cars, with parameters like temperature, vehicle speed, throttle angle, RPM, gear selected, etc. calculated into the real time equation of how close one should be to the car in front. This is a major advance in cruise control technology.

The interior seats are absolutely superb. With heating and cooling as well as a seemingly infinite number of positions of recline, height, bolster angle, lumbar support, etc., there is a position for everybody. Rear seat legroom and headroom, have been improved. As Audi research has shown, A8 owners tend to have families and take long trips, so this improvement will be appreciated.

All in all, this gem of a car is headed our way in the spring. With so much great technology and improvements, it is amazing to me that the weight has not been increased as well as the physical size. I call this miracle of engineering, Lightfoot.