I knew a few things about the Audi A8 much before driving it, and I guess it will be alright for me to share it before you go further with this report. To begin with, the A8 is good enough to outsell both the BMW 7 Series and the Mercedes-Benz S-Class in, this is the interesting part, fatherland Germany. You will agree that the guys with luxury car money in Germany know a thing or two about cars. Secondly, I knew that there is a hell of a lot of aluminium that has gone into making the A8. To me, aluminium meant cheap cooking vessels till I read about the virtues of this metal that is much lighter and stronger than conventional sheet metal.
And then, I knew that the guys at Ingolstadt were trend-setters in design. Now, looking at the A8, I do have my doubts. It is a fab car that looks bigger in flesh than in pics, but while the S-Class with that proud star makes a big statement of wealth and the 7 Series with its Bangled lines makes you stand out in the crowd, the A8 does nothing but sit there. Or so you and me think.
Audi calls the A8 buyer the I-type person. This is the kind who does not want an S-Class because he dislikes flaunting wealth. He doesn’t want a sporty car that stands out either, so he stays away from BMW. He buys the Audi because it combines the engineering brilliance of Mercedes and the sportiness of BMW, all into a package that, well, just sits there.You can call this lack of character or overt sophistication, but the fact remains that Audi has realised this issue and has changed with the new, smaller A4 and A6. Alas, they hired a chap called Walter De Silva who refuses to forget his Alfa 156 days and tries to drop the jaw (lowered front grille) of every car that he designs. He did that for a few Spanish Seats and now has done it again – the new cars sure look different but they wouldn’t get people to drop their jaws when they sight one. So, like it or not, maybe the A8 L as you see it in these pages is where the line has to be drawn as far as looks go. Mind you, if you opt for the W12-engined A8, then you get the ‘jaws’ again.
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