jetinder

My dealer received their D5 on Friday. They've asked if I want to borrow it before it gets booked up - it's the only car in their group (6 dealerships). I've booked it provisionally for this coming Saturday until Monday. I've not asked for any details on the specification as I want it all to be a surprise, but I can guess it'll be a 3.0 TDI and a wild and wacky launch spec!

Needless to say, I'll be giving it a thorough usability and practicality test. The family are just as keen to see what it's like.

I'll post pics/vids , detailed specs etc when I can. If you have any questions, post them here and I'll take a look.

Jet

Bada Bing

My brother and cousin have already gone to the LA Auto Show (I'm going later this week) and I asked them their impressions of the D5 2019 A8 L. They both gave it thumbs down. They both found the styling very bland and plain. The car is sitting on a spinning platform, so I don't think they are giving people a chance to check out the interior. The LAAS display car is a metallic gray colored (A8 L with nice looking twisted rotor 5-spoke wheels.

If Audi of America launches this car in the U.S. with only the TDI and 3.0 diesel and gasoline V6 engines, they'd be making a big mistake. They should try to have the 460-hp 4.0T model ready to go since that version is a proper competitor to the 750 Li and MB S560.

derfA8L

Audi's A8 styling tends to be an "acquired taste" thing. Comments re: "bland" and "plain" are not uncommon when it comes to the A8, but it usually just grows on people over time and evolves into "understated," "below the radar," and "sophisticated." . We'll see how this latest iteration translates.

jetinder

True. It is an acquired taste. I think a lot of the external styling is a bit plain.

Here' s a video of the car the dealer sent over. I like the feature at about 13 mins 30 seconds where the lady puts the car keys outside of the floor and it ... well .. you can see for yourself. I'll advise them next time to use a better camera than an ipad!

https://video.citnow.com/vt6kpmkhFK0

navin in KC

I'd like to see what this 3D view would do with a person standing next to the car. If the person is facing the car, it wouldn't know what their back looks like so how would it show that if someone stood a few feet from the car, facing it?

jetinder

First impressions are very very good, I'll have a better look at things tomorrow when I have more time at home with it. We've driven it about 120 miles today and apart from a few niggles:

• Engine wouldn't catch when the dealer fired her up to go get some fuel
• Right rear door wouldn't soft close
• Proximity key wouldn't unlock the back doors (it might be a setting , I haven't delved into that one).

Things that annoy family/me:

• No hooks in the boot/trunk for hanging shopping (massive fail as far as our family is concerned).
• Fingerprint city on the screens - you can see that for yourself in the attached pics. Even when the screen is illuminated you can see them. Ouch.
• I haven't been able to work out how to switch off the HUD (I personally don't like it, but it's a lot better on the D5 than other cars I've had it on in the Audi range).
• The seating position for my wife aggravates her knee - this also happens in our A6 C7, but didn't previously with our A8 D4.
• Changing the seats settings with you could previously do with the wheelie thing on the side of the seat on the D4 was much more simple, I have to find somewhere in the menus on the main screen how to do that.
• Build quality is slightly iffy, pre-rollout cars tend to have that from what I've seen.
• The front centre armrest is too small , you can barely fit in your phone (S8+) and have it connected to the charger.

The positive things:

• The 3.0 TDI is a peach. It's actually enough power for the car and driven sensibly, you'll get 600+ miles to a tank (82 litres)
• The matrix headlights (this car doesn't have the laser lights or the rear OLED light show when you startup and park for £4,500 - dealer said they are a waste or money as the laser lights only work above a certain speed) are unbelievable. I didn't have the facelifted D4, so this was my first dealings with them and I drove down some very very dark twist roads and they are not to be missed. Leave the car on full beam and it makes driving in the dark so much more comfortable.
• Space generally inside is really good. You don't feel the dash enclosing on you.
• The seats (this car has heated and cooled at the front) are much more comfortable than the D4's. I have driven an S class a couple of years ago and I think those were still a bit more comfortable.
• Being able to lock the rear console settings from the front i.e to stop the kids messing around with the little centre armrest tablet is finally there.
• The boot in general is better (deeper) because they've moved the electronics to the right hand side.

jetinder

After some more time with the car today I learnt the following:

• The UK is rubbish when it snows ;-) We haven't a clue what we are doing.
• There is a button in the lower screen to switch on/off the HUD
• I still don't know whether this car has advanced key as it's so hit/miss opening/locking the doors, it's frustrating.
• There are a bazillion assistance systems. Phew
• I can't seem to get this car to go into coasting mode with the mild electric technology (resorted to even opening the dreaded user manual).
• If you stand a child next to you and use the 360 camera, it just shows their legs (I assume it's using the under the side mirror cameras to build the virtual picture).
• It's fun in the snow. With the traction control off you realise very quickly that it doesn't switch it off that much compared to the D4, it's still brings a smile to your face.
• When you get in and out of the car, the seats/mirrors keep defaulting to what I'm assuming is the profile on the key, it's terrible. It doesn't stay where you expect it to. The memory option works on the door at least.
• The volume **** can be nudged to either side to skip/rewind tracks.
• Headroom is much better in this car than the S8 I drove previously which had the sunroof (I had to tilt my head to one side in that S8.
• No sunglass holder :-(
• The cup holders aren't very deep at the front.
• There are no built in USB charging slots in the back :-(
• When it snows and it melts on top of the car, whenever you open the boot, a load of it falls in and makes a mess of the car. In addition, it gets stuck in the mechanism so if you try and close the boot, it gets stuck. You end up having to keep clearing the rear screen before you can shut it. This annoyed the pants off me.
• I like that you can zoom in and out on the virtual cockpit with the thumbwheel on the left side of the steering wheel.
• Don't get a car in the cold without the heated steering wheel option, we're spoilt in this household and missed it a lot.
• The steering wheel is a bit "thick", a bit like the standard 4 spoke wheel on the D4, not a big fan of that, I prefer the sportier wheel. Not sure if it's available on the D5.
• The weather radar weather map from the old car (and A6's and 7's) isn't available on the move - annoying!
• The 4G wifi hotspot is okayish, not brilliant for the kids wanting to stream stuff, and the dealer told me it's "unlimited" data for 3 years. Would be interesting to find out more about this.
• I tried playing some mkv's natively and they appeared to work, some codecs wouldn't work properly or the sound wouldn't work. I guess it's trial and error really.
• Other drivers who realise what you are driving give it a nice nod of respect :-)

If I get time in the morning I'll try and load up the boot with luggage and see how useful the space is, otherwise, it's been nice having it and to be honest, once the 2019 model will be the one to get, the 3.0TDI is more than enough in Europe and the 3.0 TFSI the same in the ROTW.

• No ambient light pack in this car, but think it would be awesome after seeing some dealer pics of some exclusive cars in Germany which had it (and one car with white leather and black piping - awesome spec).
• You get used to the new MMI stuff and it's actually very smart and soon becomes intuitive.
• Brakes, suspension and general handling are more than a match for the old car.

dwboston

Thanks for the detailed thoughts! Too bad we won't get the NWB A8 in the US.

jetinder

Last few observations today:

• The boot space is much much better. It was able to easily swallow 4 x ~70 litre stuicases with room behind and in front for squishy bags.
• When it rains and you open the rear doors, rain pours down into the car. It does it with the front doors also, but not so much water flows into the car.
• The assistance system that helps you change lane is sweet!
• I learned that you can have up to 6 user profiles in the car, each with up to 400 configurable settings.
• I popped into the BMW dealer before I took the car back (they had a nice 750i with decent spec) , it just looked dated inside. Although I would say it looked great but a "classic" great. The boot in that car was much much narrower.

All in all, a worthy successor to the D4. Once they sort the niggles out, it'll be a great car (inside at least).

BASARAB

Thanks for the review! I hope s8 looks better, cause I am not feeling it yet