MP4.2+6.0

Two juxtaposed links as food for thought:

1. From the D4 board in recent weeks, suggesting to me maybe my prior high thoughts specific to the 4.0T A8 or further pumped up S8 motor really need an extended test drive--days, not minutes. Worth a read for any with D4 interest, including the replies where a bunch of first person extended drive experience gets shared without any apparent agendas or axes to grind: '12 4.2 vs ?'13 3.0T vs '14 3.0TDI - AudiWorld Forums

2. Tesla's AWD announcement today: Tesla Announces ?Auto-Pilot,? AWD Updates for Model S | TheDetroitBureau.com Being here literally at ground zero in the heart of Silicon Valley, honestly I tire of the disposable high end car mentality and the seemingly quasi dime-a-dozen Tesla fashion fad that I hardly see in the wild once I leave the Bay Area. And, the Tesla is not known for all that quiet at speed, maybe not the smoothest ride, and perhaps has some build issues that I both see and hear of; nor am I one to be wowed by gluing a ginormous sub thousand dollar touch screen in a dash and worshipping it like a oversized iPad cousin. But still, read the performance numbers and the pretty decent range all in (albeit w/ the lingering real world true cold issues) . And they are torque right now of course, overlapping the W12 grin on face. They are starting to indirectly acknowledge/deal with stuff like the not-that-quiet knock with their "enhancements," and playing some catch up on some of the gadgets. I have a suspicion a whole bunch of Atherton and Palo Alto and Cupertino and... Tesla 2WD "Pontiac's" from the rich set may be turning over before long, but I may actually need to take a spin to check out the actual merits of it more. Loaded up, these price like an S8 or even W12, so they are not remotely the car for the masses our gazillions of tax dollars were supposed to enable--now rolled back to the Model III and gigafactory spin. Hope to see the better auto journalist test drive reports soon in any case.

Probably not a great high end Audi day...nor Merc. S ...or (sucking wind) 7 series from here in Silicon Valley land. But they likely don't even see it over in the Vaterland. Meanwhile all in, aside from a few test spins, it looks like I may be just tooling along smiling in the currently 100% nit free D3 W12 for another re-enlist.

Panelhead

The Audi is the closest to being replaced at my home. The other cars are get in and drive.
A powerful diesel would be fun. But something as solid as a Toyota, Honda, Lexus, or Acura.
A neighbor is trying to sell his 2006 Maserati 4 door. I do not feel so bad about fixing things on the Audi. That Italian is high maintenance.

Mike911A8

MP4, my thoughts are similar. Four years ago I test drove, rather extensively, the D4 and the Porsche 997. I really liked the na V8 D4, but decided to put it on the back burner on the assumption that the V8 would always be available, and instead bought the 997 because I was concerned that the next 911 version was "moving on" from what I wanted. As it turns out, the 997 was a good move (I also had a 1985 911 which I had owned since new, and it couldn't bring myself to part with it), and my D3 rounds things out nicely.

But when the D4 engines changed, and in particular when the reports of the chronic throttle hesitation on the 4.0 surfaced, my ardor diminished. During that time period I was looking for a replacement for my wife's X5, and I looked at the Cayenne S which had a na V8 which was great, and it bought it right before Porsche dropped the V8 for subsequent model years. So I'm set there.

So here I am with a 2007 Night Blue NWB sport option A8 which I ordered the way I wanted and has been properly maintained, and has about 73,000 miles on it, and is now only driven about 6000 miles per year, and I am starting to think that in many respects it is near the high water mark of A8s---great engine, better standard leather than the D4, full size spare tire, enough electronics, and paid for. And every time I look at it or drive it I really feel good. I'm content with what I have. Mike

ceroberts75

@mike911a8

pics....mike....pics.

your a8 sounds great!

ltooz_a6_a8_q7

I and my wife, both agree Tesla is for rich millionaires who want to look politically correct in Silicon Valley . As people say and us, the interior of Tesla is horrid compared to Audi.
To us, every car is made for a purpose, and some are just pretend to be something else.
Luxury cars are not just leathered seats, some power gadgets...
If we can't afford the gas, I'll buy a fusion or the eyesore leaf, nothing in between because it defeat the luxury purpose.

Cheers

Louis

ceroberts75

had a roadster for a short while, fun to drive, but not too practical for what i wanted. couldnt even take it to sac and back without waiting for hours to charge. (i know...charging stations...blah blah)

got in the tesla s and from the outside, design, looks....very nice. but i swear it is a pre-*** on the inside, no matter how much you pay for upgrades...just no comparison for the interior of even the 1985 audi 5000 cs Turbo's i had, let alone the 01 D2, or my current 05 D3 A8L.

looks only get you so far, in the long run, it is what is on the inside that counts.

take that however you want! :P

jakematic

Why bother when you can have a 4.2 ?


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dvs_dave

Interesting that all the comments here seem to only care about the quality of the Tesla's interior compared to our Audi's. Did you actually take one for a drive? I had a go in a P85+ the other day and was blown away by it. Quite simply a game changer. This new 700hp AWD version will have simply insane performance.

Getting back into my A8 felt like taking a steam train home...

MP4.2+6.0

for me the D4 input about the weird nature of the throttle in the 4.0T was some news; on top of the hesitation/delay that I've heard about before. But, new to new, the RS7 runs the same real world 0-60 times as the most pumped up Tesla AWD variant spec on paper. The RS7 time is independent testing, while no outside data so far on the Tesla. Of course in turn, the S8 and RS7 are pretty close on what is going on underneath, and per various dyno test data around the web, both the standard 4.0T and the pumped up S8/RS7 one are being spec'ed meaningfully under their actual output by the manufacturer, before any chip/tuning type tricks. And look at the pumped up S AWD price wise, and it is all the way up there with a well loaded D4 S8 or RS7. The RWD only flavor of P85 is already a $95K base price, while a SWB 4.0T D4 starts at about $86K; the not-going to last-forever-tax incentive is needed to bridge that delta but you still need the home charging infrastructure set up.

There are issues on the Tesla exterior too--some by design, some not. And on the interior, that is very much a key to what has been moving Audi ahead and getting folks attention for 10+ years now, let alone well above average ones for their time back 20 years. Obviously the Tesla ride is low comparatively; presumably for both looks and less drag. That isn't real world winter (and road object...) though other than on constantly plowed roads. Don't know how far the air ride option on a Tesla could get it up, but the A8 system has done it for me in pretty good storms, other than the way tall driveway berms. Batteries and high consumption loads (like motors and heat) are counter to cold weather use too--think wipers, heater, warming it up on a zero degree day outside, etc. Look carefully sometime at the lines in the back of a Tesla near the rear shock towers (or whatever is under there) and how they fit the relative to the hatch. Maybe its an optical illusion on the Tesla rear end, but I've seen enough to remind me it looks more like old style American not so great tooling at one specific area at the fender near the shock tower to the rear hatch area. Seen it at many a stop light now from straight behind. There seems to be a bit of a problem with the curving above the rear wheel well area too, on some where it almost has looked to me like the shock tower mount is pushing up the body in that area ever so slightly. A very nice exterior look in general for the coupe style 4+ door, but that is not the kind of fit issue (or illusion) Audi would ever let out, nor an exotic with which they are pitching the marketing spin comparo's.

It would need extended test drives to sort out both the D4 and the Tesla in the respective performance flavors w/ AWD--how it really drives in daily use, putting aside I know which interior is the class one after getting over the oversized screen novelty. Hoping the better car mags get some tests out, or even better some comparo's. Along the way in this thread, I'll add in my revised thinking on the draft D4 motor choices that might work for me (if I ever go there), but I would need some more drives to validate. I previously drove a low mileage 4.2 D4 dealer loaner for several hundred miles over 4 days. While nice it was really not compelling over my D3 W12, even if I could straight trade it, let alone big bucks incrementally for a new/almost new one when I already have a continuing "big smile factor" w/ the current D3. The 4.0T upped the performance ante on paper from the 4.2 D4 I had extended seat time with. But given the 4.0T thread comments on the D4 board and that I already had concluded the D3 W12 6 speed drivetrain was smoother and more responsive over a broad range of driving than the D4 4.2 8 speed drivetrain, I don't expect that part to change dramatically (independent of max. power) with the D4 4.0T flavors.

dvs_dave

Yes but have you actually driven a Tesla?

And why would you even consider a Tesla if you regularly need to get through deep snow 200 miles from home at below zero degrees? Right tool for the job etc...