I have no real justification for buying this car, it’s simply an indulgence.
The sticker price is not what I paid.
The Volvo V90 was a great car and fulfilled all my needs and requirements, but perhaps not all my ‘wants’.
So why buy something different and still not a Mercedes?
Firstly, I was mightily impressed with the latest Bentley cars when I did a little work for them in January. The VW group platform sharing means much of the technology is available under a number of brand names. The latest ‘mild hybrid’ 48v electrical architecture is joint development with slightly different flavours among the VW prestige brands, and it can do some very clever things.
Secondly, I came into a little money just as the lockdown was starting. At that point many new and almost new cars were trapped in the dealer network with the showrooms closed.
Dealers were than anxious to turn these into cash, driving prices down.
The Audi A8 shares much of the same mechanical and virtual platform as Bentley, and I had test driven one in March and concurred with most of the S Class vs A8 comparisons that the Audi was the more refined car. The car’s quicker brother the S8 is being spoken about as one of the best cars in the world. Period.
I narrowed my search down to a less than one-year old S line spec car with comfort and sound pack at a sensible cost. This one is just 6 months old (but only 3 months use due to lockdown), on 3k miles, and still with 30 months manufactures warranty. I struck a cash deal of 50% of its RRP on a car at Hereford Audi. It just happened to be in my favourite blue colour and wasn’t suffering the ride penalty of 20” or 21” wheels.
Both my wife and I drove the car and agreed that even if it wasn’t an estate (or even an SUV!) the refinement was on a different level. Swift and silent…until 700 watts of B & O sound system is turned up!
It is crammed full of the latest tech including adaptive cruise, 360deg cameras, adaptive air suspension, acoustic glazing, Matrix LED lamps and….how long have you got?
I know that the more kit a car has, the more there is to go wrong (hence the warranty) but this is not the first A8 I have owned.
Beyond all that, whilst we were testing the Bentley Le Mans car drivetrain at Audi Sport Neckarsulm (where the A8 is built) I have a vivid memory of seeing an A8 Quattro on an outdoor dyno running a 24/7 accelerated durability schedule without any service what so ever from new. It even had a robot fuel filler so nobody went near it. As I left the facility it was closing in on 200k kms with absolutely no service intervention and was still sounding as healthy as ever.
Note to self: Don’t let humans near your car!
No, I don’t actually need an OLED tv, or OLED taillamps in my car, but I do enjoy the technology.
watch
Is a Bentley? No, it doesn’t try to be or have the same prestige as that, but at 25% of a new Bentley price I can access the same technology and a very similar refinement level.
That works for me as both a technophile and (I admit to both!) an audiophile.
On the 110 miles home from Hereford I checked that my ears had not been deceiving me and measured the cabin sound level at 70mph. It's 60.5 db Thats a whole 3.5db lower than anything I have ever measured before
I was kinda expecting that, but nice to know the numbers.
What I was not expecting was 56mpg.
That is ridiculous for an almost 2 tonne limo.
The sticker price is not what I paid.
The Volvo V90 was a great car and fulfilled all my needs and requirements, but perhaps not all my ‘wants’.
So why buy something different and still not a Mercedes?
Firstly, I was mightily impressed with the latest Bentley cars when I did a little work for them in January. The VW group platform sharing means much of the technology is available under a number of brand names. The latest ‘mild hybrid’ 48v electrical architecture is joint development with slightly different flavours among the VW prestige brands, and it can do some very clever things.
Secondly, I came into a little money just as the lockdown was starting. At that point many new and almost new cars were trapped in the dealer network with the showrooms closed.
Dealers were than anxious to turn these into cash, driving prices down.
The Audi A8 shares much of the same mechanical and virtual platform as Bentley, and I had test driven one in March and concurred with most of the S Class vs A8 comparisons that the Audi was the more refined car. The car’s quicker brother the S8 is being spoken about as one of the best cars in the world. Period.
I narrowed my search down to a less than one-year old S line spec car with comfort and sound pack at a sensible cost. This one is just 6 months old (but only 3 months use due to lockdown), on 3k miles, and still with 30 months manufactures warranty. I struck a cash deal of 50% of its RRP on a car at Hereford Audi. It just happened to be in my favourite blue colour and wasn’t suffering the ride penalty of 20” or 21” wheels.
Both my wife and I drove the car and agreed that even if it wasn’t an estate (or even an SUV!) the refinement was on a different level. Swift and silent…until 700 watts of B & O sound system is turned up!
It is crammed full of the latest tech including adaptive cruise, 360deg cameras, adaptive air suspension, acoustic glazing, Matrix LED lamps and….how long have you got?
I know that the more kit a car has, the more there is to go wrong (hence the warranty) but this is not the first A8 I have owned.
Beyond all that, whilst we were testing the Bentley Le Mans car drivetrain at Audi Sport Neckarsulm (where the A8 is built) I have a vivid memory of seeing an A8 Quattro on an outdoor dyno running a 24/7 accelerated durability schedule without any service what so ever from new. It even had a robot fuel filler so nobody went near it. As I left the facility it was closing in on 200k kms with absolutely no service intervention and was still sounding as healthy as ever.
Note to self: Don’t let humans near your car!
No, I don’t actually need an OLED tv, or OLED taillamps in my car, but I do enjoy the technology.
watch
Is a Bentley? No, it doesn’t try to be or have the same prestige as that, but at 25% of a new Bentley price I can access the same technology and a very similar refinement level.
That works for me as both a technophile and (I admit to both!) an audiophile.
On the 110 miles home from Hereford I checked that my ears had not been deceiving me and measured the cabin sound level at 70mph. It's 60.5 db Thats a whole 3.5db lower than anything I have ever measured before
I was kinda expecting that, but nice to know the numbers.
What I was not expecting was 56mpg.
That is ridiculous for an almost 2 tonne limo.
