Audi A8L 3.0TDI Quattro- Road Test Review

When it comes to luxury, the term refers to the highest standards of quality, refinement and elegance while being extremely expensive. So the question is---Is the new face lifted Audi A8L the best in its segment?

Well for starters, compared to its direct competitors, it’s the most expensive of the lot. Priced at Rs1.14 crore, it ticks the “being really expensive” box quite well. But does it live up to the price tag?

The styling of the A8L is quite brilliantly conspicuous. It’s big in size and it looks just like any other Audi. Only someone with a keen eye can figure out which is which from Audis’ other models, to the A8. But the A8L just has a little more elegance to it and it doesn’t stand out too much which is exactly what some buyers would like. The Matrix LED head lamps are brilliant, when the car senses that another car is approaching, it turns the beams away from it so that it doesn’t blind the oncoming driver while still giving a full beam of light. The J shaped Day Time Running lights look gorgeous as well. At the front you will also notice the big Audi grille with the Audi logo on it with the tiny Quattro badge. A slim strip of chrome that runs along the chin at the front of the car adds a feel of slight elegance to the A8L. The door mirrors are shaped quite nicely with a thin strip of LEDs for indicators but they don’t provide a good field of view which one will eventually get used to. The side profile of the car is simple and elegant and gives the car a really long look. The back of the car is also shaped brilliantly with signature Audi styling but what is interesting is that the indicators glow pointing towards the way you indicate which is quite interesting with more chrome strips at the back, dual exhausts and a black roof. The car stands sleek and low on 10-twin spoke, 18 inch alloy rims with 235/55 Goodyear tyres. 

The elegance continues in the interior which is lined with lush smooth leather evenly stitched perfectly and a wooden panel that runs along the dash at the front. But the one thing that catches the eye is the gear selector which is probably designed by a genius. You just want to touch it and poke it every time you see it and it fits in your hand brilliantly. The A8 also offers an MMI system which is more advanced than  the other models but it does have some tiny features missing from the A8s that sit higher in the price range. It has four seats, two screens at the back and one retractable one in the front with quad zone climate control. What also catches the eye, apart from the cleverly designed layout of the knobs, buttons and dials, is the Bang & Olufsen Stereo system, as the tweeters rise out from the top of the dash which gives the car quite a few bragging rights. One can also fiddle with the settings and concentrate the balance of volume in the cabin to a specific place or seat. With lots of storage in and around the cabin, and sunglass holders in the four doors, the A8 also comes with a refrigerator in the middle of the back seat. Charging points are cleverly laid out even in the rear, near the legs in the centre at the back, which can pop out from both sides when desired. The seat massagers though are not something one should brag about as they don’t really do much apart from faintly tickling your back even at the highest intensity. The four electronically adjustable seats make the cabin a wonderland to spend time in as you can either use the DVD player to watch movies, with dedicated Audi head phones, on the screens for the rear passengers, or stare up at the sky through the panoramic sunroof. The heads up display though could offer a bit more information. But it’s clearly visible to the driver.

Performance-wise somehow, it doesn’t really fare too well. The problem is, the A8L is extremely long and heavy. The 3.0L TDI engine feels so refined and power delivery is instant, which it would be with 550Nm of torque. The power is where it just feels sluggish, it just seems like an asthmatic, it gives all it’s got at the beginning, but when it gets to high RPMs it starts wheezing. It just can’t get to the finish line. The savage power at the beginning is enough to keep you happy. What I’m not happy about is the automatic gearbox. I love it, but it’s sort of bittersweet. You just don’t get 100pc manual control of it. Just at the red line, it shifts on its own. Even in manual sports mode, just when you think “I am gonna wait until the last moment to shift” and it shifts on its own, then a millisecond later, you click the paddle and you double shift up, so you have to down shift again to bring the RPMs up and you lose out. At high speeds, there is a tiny bit of body roll in comfort mode, but in dynamic mode it’s stiff but still quite comfortable. The steering is light and brilliant, but I personally would like a little more feedback. The Quattro drive is brilliant. It’s just finds insane amount of grip from somewhere and sticks to the ground, but then it would since it weight is just a bit more than the moon, yet the traction control does give a little bit of slip to slide the back out just, to give out a loud tyre squeal. Turning off the traction control would probably let it slip and slide more. You can change the setup of the car from ride, steering and performance between Comfort and Dynamic or Auto, but in all of them, the A8L struggles to cope with the bumps. But lowering the ride height does soften the blows a bit.

So does it have the highest standards of quality? Yes, the cabin and the panels all feel expensive and of German grade quality. Is it refined? There is a fair bit of cabin noise, the ride is a bit bumpy, and the engine could use a bit more power. But what it does best is be elegant. It just looks perfect for a long expensive saloon and yet is discreet about it. Other cars in the segment are either too loud and blingy, or just too plain and boring. Which is like a delicious vanilla ice-cream, its plain and white, but you will never get enough of licking it!