When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
I do like the matt brown wood. We have a similar finish in our C7, I personally can't stand the aluminium style they used to do. I'm not even a fan of the carbon fibre in the S8, although I do like it in the S4 Avant's we have floating around here in the UK.
I've also done some digging into the boot/trunk with regards to the depth compared to the D4.
D4 Original depth = 90.6cm
D4 usable depth (I measured to the shortest depth according to the curve of the back of the car) = 81cm
D4 Facelift deth = 100.9cm
D5 depth = 115.9cm
So for me, we'd be going from 90cm -> 116cm (10 inches). It's a good improvement considering the SWB is only 3.5cm longer than the old car.
Until we know the width, that doesn't mean much. I did take luggage from my old car to try and fit it into the facelift D4 and it didn't fit, it was narrower, so of less use to us. We just about got everything into a Q5 with the back seats pushed all the way forward.
I did take a look at the 7 series a few weeks ago and the boot is aweful in terms of usable volume, even compared to the D4, similarly with the S class (although I've not see the back of a MY2017 unit). So I'm not sure why people said the D4 was terrible (compared to my old D3 it was).
The steering wheel I admit, is terrible. Yuck. Let's see what comes out on the options list in the coming months.
btw this pic from Barcelona looks rather tasty (different wheels of course).
I think the new gen A8 has the fake exhausts...like the new Q5/SQ5...am I wrong?
If they are fake...what does everyone think?
Not sure what you mean by "fake exhausts." They are real exhausts, but with a highly stylized exhaust tip surround design. Same for Q5 and SQ5. If exhaust gases are emitted from those exhaust tips, then they're hardly a fake, unless if found on an EV. At any rate, they're not bad, but I wish all the chrome trim on the car was a touch more delicate (read: thinner profile).
Not sure what you mean by "fake exhausts." They are real exhausts, but with a highly stylized exhaust tip surround design. Same for Q5 and SQ5. If exhaust gases are emitted from those exhaust tips, then they're hardly a fake, unless if found on an EV. At any rate, they're not bad, but I wish all the chrome trim on the car was a touch more delicate (read: thinner profile).
Not sure about the new A8 but the A5 and SQ5 have indeed fake exhaust tips. The real exhaust can be seen under the car.
Hope they didn't do the fake tip baloney a la latest Q5. Reminds me of the last go at this in 98-2001 era with C5 when Audi got Green (Party) fears--just like Merc. did--and started concealing all the exhausts. Lots of posts back in the day about cutting the valance to refit visible tips. A variant of when Belchfire Motors (aka GM) used to dump the early V8 diesel nightmare smoke plumes right behind the back tires so people supposedly wouldn't notice.
The C5 era one (and maybe D2 for a while too) went for a brief window before one of the German road iron manufacturers when to both sides for most any model, instead of twinned like before they concealed them. They then immediately jumped back to full dual look. Ever since then it seems to have gone down the "mine's bigger" path with this stuff. More pipes, bigger tips, etc. This fake exhaust routine is another one of the laughable sort like where you can see the rear exhaust underneath like an Acura or Honda where it is clearly a single pipe that only Y's out as the last minute to try to create a fake dual look. As usual, all show, little go.
Not sure what you mean by "fake exhausts." They are real exhausts, but with a highly stylized exhaust tip surround design. Same for Q5 and SQ5. If exhaust gases are emitted from those exhaust tips, then they're hardly a fake, unless if found on an EV. At any rate, they're not bad, but I wish all the chrome trim on the car was a touch more delicate (read: thinner profile).
Yes, the Q5 & SQ5s have exhausts but it's underneath the car.
The exhuast tips you see on the Q5/SQ5 that on the rear bumper are "fake"...no holes to emit the gases.
From the pics of the next gen A8...I think they are also "fake"...I don't see real holes, the exhaust vent underneath the car probably like the Q5/SQ5.
But I could be dead wrong. Only time can tell...when the full review video of the car are up.
Last edited by chucky0731; 07-14-2017 at 05:29 PM.
Well, on the red one, the diesel, definitely fake exhaust. On this second one, looks like they may be real but it's harder to tell. It may be down to the trim level as to whether or not they are real.
I knew there was something missing from all the interior photos (the dash looked too plain), and it occurred to me that none of the interior photos show the dash vents open. It looks like the D5 A8 uses VW Phaeton-style motorized A/C vents which are concealed when not in use. Seems like engineering overkill and another thing that can break down over time. I have always liked the backlit A/C vent wheel thumbs that recent VW/Audi cars have had.
Has anyone seen photos of the dash with the vents open?
07-14-2017, 04:03 AM
