This small redesign greatly improved the appearance of the top of the range Audi. The front now features a squarer grille, a new hood, a redesigned bumper, and the innovative Matrix LED headlight technology that was heavily promoted over the past weeks. At the back, Audi changed the bumper that now includes two rhomboid tailpipes (except S8), and the LED tail lights have become flatter.
Under this new skin, the A8 and S8 remain pretty much the same. It still weighs around 1830 kilograms (4035lbs) and the length (5140mm or 16.86ft), wheelbase (2990mm or 9.81ft), width (1950mm or 6.40ft) and height (1460mm or 4.79 ft) also remain unchanged. The A8 L is 13 centimeters (5.12 in) in both length and wheelbase.
In the mechanical part, we learn that the majority of the engines had an increase in power. The German market will have available two gasoline and two diesel engines. Starting with the petrol units, we see that the supercharged 3.0-liter TFSI has 310PS (225kW or 306bhp), and the V8 twin-turbo 4.0-liter TFSI develops 435PS (320kW or 429bhp) and can accelerate from 0 to 100km/h (62mph) in 4.5 seconds.
Moving on to the diesel power-plants, the 4.2-liter TDI clean diesel produces 385PS (283kW or 380bhp) and 850Nm (627lb/ft) of torque. The "weaker" 3.0-liter TDI generates 258PS (190kW or 255bhp) and consumes just 5.9 liters of diesel per 100 kilometers (47.88 UK mpg or 39.87 US mpg).
There's also three more variants. The A8 L W12 quattro with a 6.3-liter petrol engine that puts out 500PS (368kW or 494bhp), and has a fuel consumption of 11.7l/100km (24.14 UK mpg or 20.1 USA mpg) and emits 270 grams CO2 per kilometer. Like the 4.0~liter TFSI, this engine also has a cylinder on demand (COD) system that deactivates half of the cylinders when it doesn't need all the power.
The second variant is the A8 hybrid that combines a 2.0-liter TFSI engine and an electric motor to generate 245PS (180kW or 241bhp) and 480Nm (354lb/ft) of torque. The lithium-ion battery helps power the rear wheels, while the front wheels are connected to petrol engine through a 8-speed tiptronic transmission (the same available with all the other models). When driving solely with electric power, the A8 has a range of just 3 kilometers (1.86 miles) and can reach 100km/h (62mph). fuel consumption averages at 6.3l/100km (44.84 UK mpg or 37.34 USA mpg).
The last one is the S8. It packs a 4.0-liter TFSI petrol engine that develops almost 320PS (380kW or 310bhp). This is more than enough to accelerate the S8 from 0 to 100km/h (62mph) in 4.2 seconds. Of course, the quattro all-wheel drive also helps. The fuel consumption sits at a respectable 10.1l/100km (27.97 UK mpg or 23.29 USA mpg).
Inside, we find a very luxurious space. A lot of leather and wood can be found on all the A8 variants, while the S8 has a more sporty look thanks to the black/vermont brown with Carbon twill copper inlays. Audi's MMI system is also found in the A8/S8.
The price wasn't revealed, but it should be the same over the previous model.
Source: Audi
