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two days with new a8 in germany with audi


muppetboy12
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had great few days with audi testing new car on track and road

Looks like the same event I went to at the end of April. Stay in the Grand Hyatt, Berlin? Looks like the same ex-Soviet military base for the slaloms and track work.

Obviously the slaloms were set up to show the A8 off to it's best advantage, but it really did kick the a**e of the 5-Series and S-Class didn't it? The S-Class was by far the worst of the three cars IMHO, puddingy and untidy, and with stupid illogical control layouts. What's with that PRND stick on the steering column? :ffs:

Tracking the 3.0 TDI was quite good fun, but after driving the 4.2 TDI (and given what I've been driving the last few years!) it felt like it could have done with a bit more oomph! :roflmao:

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BTW, while there I asked about D4 S8, and was told it "might be" a 4.2 litre V8, and "blown" and on the track sessions, I asked one of the drivers and he said "roots-type charger, very fast, very easy power".

Now that's just rumour, but a supercharged V8 at about 500 PS would be nice in that chassis with the sport differential, no? +++

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chris yes it was same one, i got taken by my dad as he is looking at getting new 4.2 tdi so bit his hand off when he got the offer from audi.

treated us like kings great food/accom and so well organised.

i agree the s class was terrible but one guy that said in the bar before we left it left the audi standing with road holding as it was 4 matic. Glad you agree it was bad thought i did not know what i was taking about as he seem to know his cars (w12 on his third).

i guess they did ok as when i got back i went and got a a8 d3 intead of a6 or merc.

one of the audi drivers scared the hell out of me on way to airport demontrating the adaptive cruise, letting it brake at trafic lights.

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Lucky dad! The 4.2 TDI was my favourite by far - on the 'bahn we had an Audi staff car behind us "encouraging" us to go faster - hit 250 km/h easily with room to do more!

Merc 4-Matic leaving the new A8 for dead? No chance. The A8 takes off pretty well because of the low 1st and 2nd gearing, and once you get into a corner, that sport differential really throws the back end round if you've got enough revs to feed the power in.

I got told off in the BMW 540d - at the end of the run, coming out of the braking section, I went 30 feet down the concrete to turn round, and with the gearbox in "manual" I hoofed it in 1st gear and yanked the wheel trying to get the back end out! A very serious lady said "Mr Schumacher, you can drive quickly on the course, not out here..." :grin:

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Ooh - a D4 thread ! Last week, I test drove a demo 4.2tdi that's just arrived at my local Audi dealer. I've previously had 4.2 and 3.0 tdi D3's.

Things I loved:

- smoothness of the new box, couldn't believe how civilised the delivery of 800nm of torque was, as it worked up the gears;

- general lack of NVH: road noise and mechanical isolation of engine and suspension components significantly improved, now true to call it class leading rather than being marketing puff;

- much improved ride, especially the smoothing of smaller imperfections like potholes and cats eyes, without any loss of poise;

- quality of interior surfaces and switches.

Things I didn't love:

- variable ratio steering, too clever for its own good, would need lots of time and lots of empty back roads to work out what individual settings were best, maybe the choice here is a false benefit, I can't remember ever wishing I could change the ratio or weighting on a Mondeo or S-Max or Golf GTI or 530d or.... well you get the picture. Audi, just get it right before it leaves the bl**dy factory !

- the car is even longer and wider than before, with no meaningful increase in usable space;

- would need time to get the hang of the new gear selector, and why can't I push it across to the left to manually select gears ?

The big question is, in the UK, would you really pay the extra for the 4.2 over the 3.0 ? Audi is quoting 0-62 in 6.6s for the new 3.0 : ChrisB / muppetboy - did either of you feel the revised 3.0 ever lacked enough power for UK driving ?

Edited by nebw
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Only for those 10-in-1 overtaking runs that Lincolnshire has to be full of if you want to get anywhere, then the extra grunt of the 4.2 TDI really helps! :roflmao:

But the 3.0 TDI really is no slouch though, and I'm sure it would be perfectly usable for motorway and rural A-road work.

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Hi guys

Unfortunately I wasn't able to make the trip, but my local dealer did let me tack their demonstrator for 24 hrs at the weekend. I totally agree with earlier comments about the steering on the new car - it is a bit woolly - especially when in Dynamic mode.

Nevertheless, I'd decided to order a D4 back at the beginning of March after seeing it in February at a preview event in West London Audi. I believe they did a similar event in Birmingham too for a few customers.

I'm kind of counting the days at the moment. I say "kinda" because the car went into production 5 weeks ago and it's still stuck at checkpoint 7 - Final assembly for over 3 weeks. You've probably seen the youtube videos regarding quality checking and the like, but it does make you question whether there will be "glitches" in the final car. I must admit I found a couple in the demonstrator e.g occassionally when you start, the MMI screen gets stuck halfway.

Oh well, it was my choice to be a trailblazer after all!

We did go out the other night with my local Audi dealer group for their launch and I had a long chat with the UK A8 product specialist. He said I'd have it by the end of June (that's 2 months from start to finish!).

Jet

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