Sports Cars
2011 Audi A8 – First Drive Review – Auto Reviews – Car and Driver
November 26, 2011 | 
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The full-size luxury-car segment is a ship constantly steered by a new captain. Indeed, whenever one of the usual suspects—Mercedes, BMW, Jaguar, or Audi—releases a new model, it seems the current favorite then drops to second place. The BMW 7-series recently pulled off this feat, topping the previous gold standard, the Mercedes-Benz S550, in a comparison test. The
then swooped in to knock off the Bimmer. (Granted, the Panamera is a bit of an outlier, given that its five-door body doesn’t fit the traditions of the segment.) Now the 2011 Audi A8 looks like a strong contender to be the next to sit in the captain’s chair.
One Engine Now, Others Coming
The 2011 A8 goes on sale this fall at a starting price of about $90,000. The A8 will be available here with just one engine when it launches: the long-lived direct-injection, 4.2-liter DOHC V-8. As installed in this third-generation A8, the V-8 gains 22 hp and 4 lb-ft of torque over its previous iteration, with output now totaling 372 hp and 328 lb-ft. The horsepower figure is just enough to make it the least powerful in the segment, ceding eight ponies to the Lexus LS460 and 10 to the S550. Audi says the A8 returns 13-percent-better fuel economy than does its predecessor, which translates roughly to 18 mpg in the city and 25 mpg on the highway for the new car.
Have no fear, power brokers: There will be other engines available in the coming years. Audi has confirmed there will be a W-12 model as well as a new S8, although the Lamborghini-derived V-10 that powers the last S8 will be replaced by a smaller and lighter engine equipped with forced induction. It’s rumored that a new 4.0-liter twin-turbo V-8 will get the job.
Another possible engine in the A8’s future is the 3.0-liter V-6 turbo-diesel that’s available at launch in Europe. We had a chance to sample it in southern Spain, and if you don’t think the diesel’s 250 hp is enough to power the 4400-pound luxury sedan, allow us to point out its 406 lb-ft of torque. If that’s not enough to keep you from scoffing, perhaps highway mileage in the 30-mpg range will help. The diesel feels peppy thanks, to the smooth-shifting eight-speed automatic transmission, which is perfectly calibrated to keep the engine in the juicy part of the torque plateau. It isn’t as quick as the gasoline V-8, but the smaller diesel would be more than enough for most drivers.
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