There’s something evocative about V8 engines. Sure, there’s the contingent that will argue that a turbocharged ‘six’ will do much better on the performance and economy fronts, and there’s the other contingent that will point out the Gallardo, Viper and M5 with their V10s, numerous supercars with their V12s, and the holy grail for the followers of the I-have-more-cylinders-than-you school of thought: the sixteen-cylinder Bugatti Veyron. That doesn’t bother me, though. I love V8s, whether I’m being deafened by the scream that’s emanating from the rear of Ferrari or rubbernecking to pinpoint the menacing rumble from a muscle car that’s cruising by.
The Audi A8 4.2 FSI also has a V8 – one with quite a reputation. Think ‘RS4’ and ‘R8’ and you’ll be getting close. More in the course of this test.

The A8 is like a stealth fighter – it will fly under everyone’s radar, the only clue to what it is being the immense length of the long-wheelbase version that is sold in India – an addition of 1500mm that goes between the wheels to further the comfort of the occupants at the rear. There’s none of the loud LED daytime running lamps that festoon the nose of the current Q7, or underscore the headlamps of its smaller sedan siblings. The bluff nose with Walter da Silva’s trademark Audi grille leads back to a long bonnet and a high waistline. There are no unnecessary cuts and creases; no power humps to hint to the world what lies under the bonnet – just a traditional silhouette that will seem slightly longer than usual to the observant, and larger-than-expected 18-inch wheels with gorgeous yet simple detailing on each of the ten spokes. The tail-lamps have the only visible LEDs on the car, and a twin-tail exhaust with discreet badging is all you will notice on the rear.
The A8L is available in a range of fourteen colours, including what appears to be a nearly-British-racing-green and an aqua blue – our Impala Beige test car, like most of the paint shades, was a sober colour with very high quality. The A8’s shutlines are small and consistent, as can be expected from a car that costs nearly a crore.

This is where the A8’s occupants will spend their time, and no expense has been spared to make them feel like a ruler of a kingdom. The interior is kitted out with tasteful beige leather with wood and chrome and quality plastics that feel good to the touch. The design is logical and thoughtfully laid out, with all buttons within easy reach of the driver. The instrument gauge is dominated by the analog tachometer and speedometer, which also display the date and time in red LED numerals. Between the two big dials is a MMI screen that will show you all sorts of information, from the track that is being played on the stereo to the ride height of the air-damped suspension. The two big dials are flanked by analog temperature and fuel gauges. The dashboard houses the parking sensor On/Off and ESP off buttons. When the MMI screen is required, it appears magically from behind the small retractable wooden panel and locks upright. The MMI functions can be accessed with the wheel and buttons behind the gearlever – they control functions such as the sat-nav display, audio system, and the settings for the air-damped suspension.
There are innumerable places to keep things while you spend time in the A8. For example, a very useful coin holder sits hidden in the dashboard to the right of the glovebox, next to the button that raises and lowers the rear sunblind. The glovebox houses the CD changer and USB ports, below which is the space one can use as an ordinary glovebox. The armrests between the front seats house small spaces under each of them, under which lies a shallow tray. Lift up the tray, and an enormous space is available – it’s almost a Babushka doll of cubbyholes! The door pockets are usefully large and are closed; this applies to the ashtrays in the rear doors as well. The huge 500 litre boot will take the four occupants’ luggage without breaking into a sweat. A cargo net is standard. A sunroof is present, but to our surprise, it didn’t double as a moonroof as well. The air-conditioning works well in our heat with a little help from the treated glass that reflects heat even with no sun film, and if any of the occupants is uncomfortable, they can adjust their own temperature, blower speed and seat heater if required thanks to the electronic four-zone climate control.
This is a low car, so getting in and out will be a slight issue for people with knee or back problems. However, once inside, you can be sure that they wouldn’t want to come back out for a long time, the first impression being made by the doors that don’t have to be yanked shut. All you have to do is pull the door to, and the last few millimetres are taken care of by silent electric motors that will pull the door the rest of the way until the locks click, followed by the kind of silence that only a lot of research in an anechoic chamber will achieve. We really like the fact that merely sitting in the driver’s seat gives the feeling of the car shrinking around you. Everything falls easily to hand, and if it doesn’t, you can start off with adjusting your seat to suit you. The A8’s seats have more flexibility than an underage Chinese gymnast: in addition to the usual front-back-up-down, they will bend only the top half of the backrest, and extend the seat base to provide long legs the necessary under-thigh support. Even the top of the major seat-adjustment buttons are chromed! When you’ve finished adjusting the seats, you can adjust the steering wheel which tilts and telescopes. The front passenger is as pampered as the driver, and even the rear seat back inclination can be adjusted by a reasonable amount. The A8 is available as the A8L, the long-wheelbase version, in India, so there is enough legroom for Yao Ming and three clones. The rear will accommodate two occupants only, there isn’t a provision for a third with the captain’s chairs. The mirrors are almost big enough for our crowded cities, but a pair of blind-spot mirrors wouldn’t go amiss on the A8.
The audio system in the A8 is a custom-built Bang & Olufsen system that has as much visual impact as it does aural: turn the system on and tweeters housed in clear glass rise out of the corners of the dashboard. Each door houses at least two components, which contribute towards an experience which is hard to describe – you can turn the volume up all the way to deafening volumes, but there is no loss of clarity, and only muffled thumps will make their way out of the car, hinting at the storm of sound that is raging inside. The audio system will also interface with a phone via Bluetooth, and the phone’s contacts can be loaded onto the car’s memory for quick dialing – all accessed from the ‘Phone’ button in the MMI system. The front seat’s headrests have LCD screens recessed in them, and movies can be watched on them while the front occupants listen to their favourite tracks. The DVD changer for the LCD screens is placed in the boot. Headphones have also been thoughtfully provided for the rear seat occupants, jacks for which are placed under the rear A/C vents.

Engine
The 4.2-litre engine in the A8L is placed longitudinally, possesses eight cylinders in two banks of four, and produces 350bhp and 440Nm of torque. Its first avatar was under the hood of the RS4, Audi’s super-saloon that wowed even detractors of the brand. The engine’s next home was under the hood (boot?) of the mid-engined R8 supercar. It produces almost 420bhp for the RS4 and the R8, but 350bhp isn’t inadequate for our road conditions. The torque that this engine generates hauls this car to its limited top speed of 250kph without much ado. It is completely silent during normal use, and if it wasn’t for the tacho needle, you wouldn’t know if the engine was off or on. Step on the gas, and a subdued crossplane growl will enter the cabin when the engine nears the redline. FSI tech, which is Audi’s trademark for direct injection, ensures that throttle response is exact and fuel is metered extremely precisely for maximum power with minimum fuel consumption. On a day when the heavens were emptying themselves of whatever water content they had in as short a time as possible, the A8 posted a 0-100kph time of 8.5 seconds, and covered the quarter mile in 16.1 seconds at 145.2kph. We are positive these times can be improved upon in the dry and with better fuel - our test was carried out with regular unleaded fuel, whereas the optimum can be had from the engine with fuel rated 98RON. The manufacturer recommends 95RON, but says the car will run fine on 91RON but with a slight drop in performance. If you're an owner, you'd best buy a case of octane booster.

Drivetrain
Audi’s S-Tronic dual-clutch gearbox does duty in the A8. It performs as well as we’ve come to expect from the VW group’s DSG ‘box: shifts are seamless when cruising, and instant when in a hurry. The instant kickdown is prominent during overtaking manouevers, as proved by the 30-50kph time of 2.0 seconds and 50-70kph time of 2.2 seconds. Power is sent to all four wheels via the quattro all-wheel drive system, which helped contribute to that impressive 0-100kph time in pouring rain.

Fuel efficiency
This is something an owner of a car with a 4.2-litre V8 won't be very worried about, but for the record, between 6 and 8kpl is what you can expect from the A8.

Audi was criticised for the harsh ride that the last-generation A8 had. Things have improved enormously with this iteration of the car; set the air-damped suspension to ‘Comfort’ and the car soaks up all but the biggest potholes. This is due in part to the all-aluminum construction of the monocoque chassis, which has significantly reduced weight while increasing rigidity. The A8 will still hunker down and firm up its dampers if you drive fast enough, no matter what suspension mode you select. This is done in order to improve control at speed. Select ‘Handling’ and the ride height drops, the steering assist reduces, and the damping gets stiffer.
Most owners will leave the suspension in ‘Auto’ mode, and it works well, cushioning the occupants through all but the worst roads. City drivers will appreciate the fact that the car doesn’t appear to be wide or long from the cockpit, which helps with driver confidence – an essential part of progress when one is piloting a crore’s worth of metal. The stiff damping at speed helps with handling – this is a long car, so it doesn’t dart through bends like a sports car, but it will stick faithfully to your chosen line like a terrier to a rat, the electronics helping out should you overshoot the car’s limits.
The accurate steering is surprisingly heavy at low speeds – we’d like more assistance, especially while parking. At speed, feel from the wheel is damped, but accuracy is very good.
Ground clearance is an issue with the A8L – the ground clearance is variable, thanks to the air suspension, from 35-145mm, but the long wheelbase means that the chances of grounding the belly against large speed breakers are high. Things are made easier by the variable ride height – a half minute at the most will offer you more clearance and a little less nervousness.

Braking
A host of electronics works continuously behind the scenes to make the A8 a safe car, and nothing demonstrates this as well as the car’s braking prowess. ABS with EBD and brake assist helped haul this car from 80-0kph in 29.9 metres in pouring rain without a hint of a slide or deviation from the direction the front wheels were pointed in. Brake fade is also taken care of by electronics, which means that hard driving will yield the same braking performance repeatedly. However, we’d definitely like more bite from the A8’s brakes – this car is capable of attaining silly speeds in the blink of an eye; it needs to have the ability to shed them in the same amount of time without conscious thought on the driver’s part.

Tyres
Dunlop SP Sport 9000s connect the A8 to the road. They are of the size 255/45ZR18 and are high-performance tyres with a directional tread pattern. With the car’s windows up, they are whisper quiet but tend to clomp over expansion joints. They offer superlative grip in both the dry and wet.

Safety

As befits the flagship of the range, the A8 has a multitude of safety features, like ABS with EBD and Brake Assist. There are a number of airbags including side airbags to protect the occupants' heads, and knee airbags for the front row occupants. Automatic headlamps, automatic wipers and the quattro all-wheel drive system also contribute towards safety.

The A8 isn’t for all who can afford to spend a crore on a car. What it has going for it is sound engineering with a lot of additional features that the competition doesn’t offer at the price, which makes it a value-for-money proposition, even if we are talking about crores of rupees. However, in our market, a car worth a crore has to appear like it’s worth a billion dollars, which is not the A8’s cup of tea. It offers you sound handling, a gem of an engine and loads of equipment but not enough flash with the dash. If you love V8 engines, don’t think twice before putting your hard-earned greenbacks down on an A8L 4.2 FSI, but if you’re looking to fly under the radar, we can’t help but think of the A8 4.2’s sister that possesses that monster of a W12 engine under its hood…