angrypengu

I agree with you on the interior. I was shocked at how cheap they went. Part of their 15 billion euro cost cutting exercise I guess?

Nonetheless I had a chance to drive it yesterday. A friend is in the market for one so thought I'd check it out.

Notably for me what stood out is the wind noise. Even with double pane glass the windowless frame design just doesn't work as well. Ride is also firmer than the A8 but that's to be expected.

Like you said, different markets altogether!

Mike911A8

Derf, the Cayenne Coupe got my attention, also. Beautiful.

I own a 2014 Cayenne S, along with my S8, and last week I drove each on relatively long trips on the interstate. 150 miles to Baltimore airport in the S8, 300 miles to NYC in the Cayenne, and the Cayenne is as good as the S8 on the highway.

My S8 has the Audi Design interior, and I haven’t seen anything that matches that, but the Cayenne interior is very nice. Seating position and comfort excellent. My Cayenne has the base suspension, steel springs, and base 18” wheels, and I like it, but air suspension is available. It is as solid as the S8, and equal fit and finish to the S8.

My only problem with the Cayenne was that it looked like a SUV, but the Coupe design takes care of that. Mike

derfA8L

Mike, yeah it really is eye catching from just about every angle. Wish there was an engine upgrade somewhere between the base and turbo models. Perhaps in a GTS version, but that would be a couple of years away I’d guess. Wonder when dealers will get some demo vehicles here in the US?

Mike911A8

Derf, based upon prior Cayenne models, in addition to the base , there will undoubtedly soon be an “S” and probably a “GTS” , both with at least 400 HP. Mike

derfA8L

“S” variant announced this week: 434hp twin turbo V6. Am told U.S. dealers expect cars to arrive in October. Test drives will have to be in the “normal” Cayenne SUV models.

angrypengu

FWIW (and I am 100% respectful of people's decisions for their cars), I thought of you and your thought process re: another vehicle today. I had to drive through rush hour today on a Friday afternoon before a long weekend. I don't think I've ever driven that slow and just enjoyed the car, and I was in a state of bliss despite hell outside.

I seriously wonder how say a Porsche would impact your glee/happiness from 'stressful' environmental moments

derfA8L

Yeah, well the Cayenne Coupe probably wouldn’t deliver the same “alternate universe” stress reduction quotient as the A8. It does have a nice interior, but certainly not close to the D5 A8–and would also be a step or two below my current D4 A8. My wife doesn’t believe I’ll go for the Porsche and says to just do another A8–and she’s probably correct when all is said and done. The Porsche Cayenne S Coupe, as I’ve spec’d it, would retail for about $5K less then the estimated MSRP for the A8L TFSI 60 (4.0T) spec I’m thinking about, so dollars aren’t a relevant factor for me. I just don’t need that large of a car these days, but damn, it’s hard to ditch the A8 after having driven four of them for the last 13 years. Ahh, July 10th is fast approaching 🤔

angrypengu

Well @derfA8L , whatever car you choose you are choosing some of the world's most amazing production machines. While I'm sure this is probably a bit too amateur hour for you, I couldn't agree more with the substance of the reviews, and they do talk a bit about the new MMI systems versus those from Porsche.
(start at 1 minute to cut out the A7 stuff)

I thoroughly enjoyed the review and I could not agree more with what they have said. As a former user of the idrive and Comand systems from BMW/MB, I must say the Audi incarnation is fantastic. Don't get me wrong, the piano black stuff is annoying, but the actual MMI system is incredibly intuitive and a complete stress killer. As the reviewers say, everything just works, and I can focus on driving, and pushing my back into the massaging seats for a nice back/shoulder massage

Anyhow, just thought I'd link the video above as for whatever reason I thought of you when I first saw it!

"Alternate universe" - my gosh, no two words have better described what it's like to drive these beasts!

derfA8L

Thanks for posting the video. It’s good to see reviewers coming around to the new MMI touchscreen set-up. I’ve played around with it on an A8 and an A7, and it is initially a bit overwhelming for my 68 year old brain...But I’m sure it’s intuitiveness simplifies matters after you spend quality time sorting through it in your own garage.

MorganMay

Angrypengu, and anyone else for that matter, I am in the active phase of evaluating the A8L vs Mercedes S class and would be very grateful if you could explain how you came to your decision of A8L over Mercedes. What were the factors that you considered decisive and how did the two cars measure up? Based upon my reading of your posts, I would be foolish not to value your input.

Thank you!