Car Details: 2018-2019 Audi A8 Details

2018 Audi A8

The new Audi A8 presents the future of the luxury class. In its fourth generation, the brand's flagship model again provides the benchmark for Vorsprung durch Technik - with a new design language, an innovative touchscreen operating concept and a systematically electrified drive. The Audi A8 is also the first production automobile in the world to have been developed for highly automated driving. From 2018, Audi will gradually be taking piloted driving functions such as parking pilot, garage pilot and traffic jam pilot into production.

The new Audi A8 and A8 L are being built at the Neckarsulm site and will appear on the German market in late fall 2017. The starting price for the A8 is EUR 90,600, with the A8 L starting at EUR 94,100.

Even more performance is on tap with the two four-liter, eight-cylinder engines that are to follow in 2018 - the 4.0 TDI with 320 kW (435 hp) and the 4.0 TFSI with 338 kW (460 hp). They share fundamental technical principles, such as biturbo technology and the Audi valvelift system (AVS). When the gasoline engine is being driven with restraint, the AVS deactivates cylinders 2 3, 5 and 8 by closing their intake and exhaust valves. This reduces fuel consumption and promotes efficiency. On the diesel, AVS operates one exhaust valve in each cylinder. It therefore manages the two turbochargers, which - unlike on the TFSI - are switched sequentially. For better filling of the combustion chambers, there is likewise an intake AVS on the TDI.

Under load, the 4.0 TFSI develops a characteristically sporty sound that is completely free from interfering frequencies. On the V8 gasoline engine, the e-tron and the W12, Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) eradicates these. The system sends specific anti-noise to the sound system's loudspeakers. In addition, the V8, W12 and 3.0 TDI are fitted with active engine mounts that inhibit the transmission of vibrations to the vehicle body. They, too, generate out-of-phase counterimpulses - their effect is particularly marked when idling.

The W12 will follow in 2018 in the new Audi A8 L as the supreme, highly refined top engine version. With its two twin scroll turbochargers, it develops 430 kW (585 hp) from a displacement of 5,950 cm3. Its 800 Nm (590.0 lb-ft) of torque is available constantly between 1,300 and 5,000 rpm. Like the 4.0 TFSI, the twelve-cylinder engine features COD (cylinder on demand) technology. At low loads and engine speeds, it shuts down the left-hand cylinder bank to trim fuel consumption.

Its 3.0 TFSI and the electric motor, which is integrated into the eight-speed tiptronic together with the separating clutch, generates 330 kW (449 hp) of system power and 700 Nm (516.3 lb-ft) of system torque. The sprint from zero to 100 km/h (62.1 mph) takes 4.9 seconds, and the top speed is electronically limited to 250 km/h (155.3 mph).

The lithium-ion battery beneath the luggage compartment floor stores 14.1 kWh of energy. It consists of a flat block of 104 cells and barely reduces the space available for luggage. In all-electric mode the A8 L e-tron quattro can cover about 50 kilometers (31.1 mi).