BMW overhauled the 7 Series from the ground up. Mercedes-Benz, meanwhile, performed a mid-cycle refresh on the W222 S-Class. As for Audi, well, the four-ringed automaker has had enough of the third-gen A8.
Introduced almost eight years ago, the A8 will get a successor in less than a month’s time at an event in Barcelona, Spain. In a bid to raise the hype on the full-size sedan, Audi released a second video teaser of the new A8.
Focused on showcasing the benefits of Audi traffic jam pilot, the teaser features a dad and his son trying not to be bored in a bottleneck. The system, according to Audi, allows the car to accelerate, brake, and steer on its own in slow-moving traffic on the highway at speeds of up to 60 km/h.
In U.S. and British currency, that works out to 37.2 miles per hour. Even though it’s common sense to be aware of what’s going on around the car in this type of situation, Audi suggests that “drivers can take their hands off the steering wheel and permanently devote themselves” to whatever they fancy. I’m afraid that’s a yes, ladies and gentlemen gearheads; cars keep on getting more tech-savvy to the detriment of driver involvement.
That’s not everything the 2018 Audi A8 has going for it. At the beginning of the month, the Ingolstadt-based automaker confirmed that 48V mild hybridization comes as standard. Thanks to a small lithium-ion battery and a watercooled 48V belt alternator starter (BAS), the fourth generation of the A8 can coast at speeds of up to 160 km/h (100 mph) with the ICE off.
On an ending note, play the second teaser a second time. That’s the second generation of the Audi virtual cockpit, a highly configurable digital instrument cluster that’s also expected to make an appearance on the 2018 Audi Q8 full-size luxury sport utility vehicle.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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