1997 Audi A8 Reviews, Pricing & Specs

This car is perfect. Awesome performance with still great fuel economy unlike the S8 (lower gearing). Most people have no clue of the performance of this large luxury car. It is a car made mostly of aluminum, with a 4.2l V8 and Quattro. Heated seats and steering wheel make this a blast in the winter for traveling and sporty driving while in pure luxury. A far better built car than the C5 A6 if you compare quality side by side.Jun 01, 2010

Huge amount of car for the money but not without huge running costs (13mpg of super unleaded to name but one). Since it is all aluminium, it weighs around 1800kg despite its massive size. It is a really, really big car. The 4.2 V8 gives an effortless 300bhp and with well over 300lb/ft of torque it is extremely quick (limited to 155mph). It pulls up to the legal limit as hard as V6 cars I have owned before would pull up to about 40mph. This just doesn't stop pulling at all. Ever. Its like a train. Coming off road islands and giving it a bootful is something you have to learn to tame because with the 4wd and 300bhp it has the wierd rubbery feeling - like it has been shot out of a catapult or something. The auto gearbox has tiptronic so it can be used as though sequential. The cruise control and auto box are uncannily smooth - you can't feel it change gear or maintain speed. In fact most of the time you can't even tell the cruise control is on. I like the way its a quiet easy to drive motorised sofa for when you are wanting to waft about, but can instantly become a mentalist when you poke it. The quattro 4wd is superb and it simply doesn't need traction control - and yes, on a gravel car park, it really will swing about like a giant rally car which considering its size is quite hilarious. On dry roads the stability is such a massive improvement over a fwd or rwd car. Stores road in Derby has weird surfacing and any car or van I have driven down there wanders about all over the place - the A8 is dead straight. In the wet it never feels anything other than fully gripped. It understeers a bit at speed, but is very predictable, and hasn't once given any dramatics. The only real downside is the amount of fuel it drinks. On the way to work everyday, in traffic, it averages just under 14mpg, which would be bad except it needs to drink super-unleaded which is more expensive. To be honest though, anything with a 4 litre engine is going to be a bit thirsty, and even if I had got £20k to spend on a car right now this minute, I still don't think I could sell it - well, maybe for the newer 4.0TDI diesel version. I was after a BMW M5 (e39) before this, and even after going out in one, I think I would keep the Audi.Aug 29, 2008