KK22

I'm happy to report that after ten days on the road during the deep freeze that hit the midwest the week before Christmas, I was able to escape to the southern states barely escaping the rough traffic that plagued much of the freeways soon after.

I broke the trip up in Nashville, TN on the way down to Tallahassee, FL ( about midway) and then in Louisville, KY on the way back while spending NYE in Louisville, visiting bourbon distilleries and trying out the excellent Repeal steakhouse along the way.

The car is easily the most non-fatiguing vehicle on the freeway that I've driven. The stretch from FL to KY was completed in 9.5 hrs driving time ( beating the map estimate by an hour!) and after I parked it at the hotel, I had enough energy to take the wife and kids out to dinner. The ACC works waay better than the G12 maintaining a smaller distance in its lowest setting thereby disallowing eager entrants into the space between the A8 and the vehicle in front. The engine sipped on gas giving 500+miles between fill ups even though I used it to catapult us ahead of slower traffic when able and safe on many an occasion. Just felt it had effortless thrust at any time and I had to keep my enthusiasm under check, especially with kids in the back seat. Even the children barely complained as long as their iPads were charged and for the occasional food/bathroom break.

I was concerned about all the 48V commentary, but thankfully no ill event transpired. Oil consumption is now measured at about a quart per 5K miles in my estimate, I have not yet filled any since I purchased the car. The main reason I switched to the bigger luxury cars from the 5/A6 was mainly to use them for such inter state getaways during covid, and I'm happy to report the A8 surpasses all my expectations and then some.

Here are a couple more pics at my favorite vista in Chicago, the car now sits quietly in the garage while I'm overseas for business, and frankly I miss driving it already. Really a phenomenal freeway machine, first class air travel is not what it used to be, this is certainly a much more palatable alternative.

pcc125

Cool description! I have driven my 2017 A8L coast to coast three times and there is just nothing like it. No fatigue, massage seats are amazing, and the gas mileage is unbelievable for a large luxury awd sedan. I have not driven my 22 A8 any long distances yet, and yes, I am concerned about the unfortunate 48v issue.

aeggroup

Sorry to highjack this thread, but what is 48V issue ? I'm on the market for A8 with 8 cyl engine and would like to know what is the issue and if there is a way to identify it at the time of search for a car. Thanks.

KK22

Seeing from your past cars you're quite the A8 alum! I'm sure your D5 will prove to be the same or better than the D4. As far as the 48V issue goes, we can't live in fear of something that might happen. If reliability was a concern then every Ferrari owner would lock up their cars and never get out

KK22

See the thread with title "electrical error" on this page. If you really are concerned about this, then you should stay the hell away from Mercedes as well.

aeggroup

Thanks.
I'm not actually concerned. I just would like to know in advance about common issues that I can avoid.
I own Mercedes and Range Rover, both with this technology and have no issues with it.

KK22

Yet 😉

pcc125

Could not agree more. I just have not had the opportunity to drive the D5 on long trips. It is my daily driver though, and I have over 15k miles on it so far. Love the car!

KevinGary

Sounds like a great trip!

Pathfinder11

What hwy mileage did you end up with? Thnx