QUATTRO_PEARL

Original

Translated

The Audi A8 claimed the crown of the sportiest luxury saloon and shakes so confident on the throne of the BMW 7 Series. Whether the King of Bavaria, the future comes from Ingolstadt, clears the first comparison.

derfA8L

You know, having now seen the D4 and BMW 7-series rear ends side-by-side in the Auto Bild comparison, I now think the new A8 looks much better than I originally thought---certainly compared to the bimmer. Actually, the D4 looks much cleaner, and more sleek, from all angles (front, rear and side), IMO.

darkop

so u finally woke up!?
:P
cheers

derfA8L

Actually, I wasn't really one of the nay-sayers on the D4's styling, but I was unsure about how I actually felt about the car's rear and side-view profiles (I like the evolution of the front-end). Most of the images that have been shown of the new A8 haven't been that great---but there have been a couple of very good shots that I feel have done the car justice; a few taken by a fellow AW member who was at the car's Miami reveal, as well as the images in the Auto Bild article. And when viewed in direct comparison to its competitors' styling, well, I'd say the new A8 far exceeds BMW and MB.

So, I'm someone who is taking the advice of those who have seen the D4 in the flesh (so to speak), and holding final judgement until I see the car for myself this Fall.

Victoryroad

Happy to see the acceleration comparison and a bit surprised. I am all in for the D4, although my BMW sales rep has tried very hard for me to consider the 7 Series with AWD. To me there is no comparison on design, either exterior or interior and although I thought that the tt 7 Series would outgun the D4 from a stop, apparently the extra weight of the BMW keeps it behind. If AoA is aggressive on lease terms for the D4, it will undoubtedly gain market share on both the 7 Series and the S550. Not that buyers of such large, luxury cars are that interested in mpg, but the Audi at least tries with its smaller displacement engine. I'll bet Audi will introduce a sc or tt for the 4.2 at some point before the TDI comes here, as they have done in the A4 and A6 lines. I would think that a 4.2 that is supercharged or turbo charged would have better mileage than the normally aspirated version.
Regarding exterior design, I have not seen the D4 yet, but from the photos imagine that few except those of us who own Audis will notice much of a change from the D3 on the road. To me, however, the extra two inches of width with the other changes, especially the headlights, will be quite noticeable. I have no doubt that the dynamic characteristics of the D4 will be noticeable to a daily driver of an 08 D3 sport with its S8 suspension settings, muc h less the normal suspension setup of the D3.