Audi A8 4.2 TDI SE Executive review

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Audi A8 4.2 TDI quattro SE Executive Road Test

Test date 07 June 2010 Price as tested £68,470

For Fabulous engine/transmission combination, looks, handling ability

Against Road noise, marginal rear seat space, expensive options

You need very little time in Audi’s new A8 to confirm the scope of its ambition. Just as Audi itself is throwing model after model at the market in its drive to establish not just credibility amid its more established BMW and Mercedes rivals but something closer to superiority, so too can you detect a change of aspiration for its flagship.

If the original A8 can now be seen as an admirable first effort and the second a plausible alternative to its opponents, the third is the one whose looks, specification, technology and very demeanour no longer meekly suggest it might be as good as an S-class, but almost dare you to say it isn’t actually a damned sight better.

Sensibly, Audi has put forward for evaluation an A8 equipped with its epic 4.2-litre V8 diesel engine, but at £65,390 it’s not cheap, even taking into account its Executive trim level.

If this A8 is to achieve its aims, it’ll need to avoid the trap that snared its predecessors; these were cars whose strongest suit was their styling, meaning you’d savoured the best of it before you set off. For once, this A8 will have to be even better than it looks.