Krisko

The Phaeton is a lot more nimble than it looks, almost matching the A8L as far as handling. It's plenty powerful, but the V8 is a little slower than the A8L.

But the Phaeton is notably smoother on the road, almost Lexus like. As nice as the A8L interior is, the Phaeton interior is nicer. They started with the elegant simplicity of the Touareg interior and upgraded everything. The "draftless" a/c is a nice touch, the air comes out of the top of the dash most of the time. When more air is needed, the wood panels slide back to reveal forward facing vents. It's extremely elegant, I predict all luxury cars will have this in the future.

When I first heard about the Phaeton, my first thought is why does VAG need another A8? It's now clear to me that the Phaeton is a better S Class or Lexus LS430 while the A8L leans on the sporty side. My preference might just be a Phaeton because of it's over abundance of luxo stuff (for instance, all seats have air cond. and massage). The A8L is great with it's sporty stance and all, but wouldn't you rather have a 911 or Z4 for the weekend?

If I had to choose right now, I'd probably take the A8L because you certainly still get plenty of luxo goodies. Also, I think it looks better than the Phaeton and will certainly have better support and resale value. But VW is on the right track as long as they get the message out.

HDClown

Probably switch brands again in another few years, I've got no loyalty.

Mr. Head

it looks too much like an old ford hot rod grille

tori645 (Vikki)

Lease the thing.. . from what i've seen... audis suck at holding their value

Evol

we've noticed..... ;-)