Audi is trying to put its best foot forward with the all-new A8, and that foot is named "55 TFSI." As part of the new naming strategy, every car will get a number that reflects what's under the hood.
No, the 55 TFSI doesn't feature a 5.5-liter V8, nor does it produce 550 horsepower. We were a little confused too and thus looked up the numbers.
Under the hood is a de-tuned version of the single-turbo 3.0-liter V6. You may already know it from the base 2018 Porsche Panamera/Cayenne or the S4/S5 family.
340 horsepower and 500 Nm of torque are sent out through a permanent all-wheel-drive system and an 8-speed automatic gearbox. The A8 55 TFSI is supposed to reach 100 km/h in 5.6 seconds. However, the real-world test shows that it does it in 5.5s. These numbers are influenced by how well the tachometer works, but at least we know Audi didn't exaggerate its claims - this big sedan is as fast as a sports car.
And it is big. From bumper to bumper, the A8 can measure 5.3 meters and tips the scales at just shy of two tons. Prices start at €90,600. There's also a long wheelbase version that's slightly heavier and more expensive at €94,100.
Fuel consumption is rated at over ten l/100km around town. And it's for that reason that we suspect most customers are going to have the frugal A8 50 TDI, featuring a 286 HP diesel V6.
We're not going to bore you with the engine range, because we need to talk about the interior. It's the fanciest we've seen and sets the A8 apart from the S-Class and 7 Series.
As you might have noticed, it has lots of screens. There's one at the top, for your standard radio and navigation functions and another one below it for auxiliary controls. The Range Rover Velar has that too, but Audi implemented haptic feedback.
Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida. Full profile
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