le_rosey
Precision Tuner
Good day ladies (hopefully at least one) and gentlemen,
since it is raining like hell today and I am bored to death I have decided to post a review of Audi A8.
A bit of background info: I drive a variety of cars daily. During winter months I was driving BMW X6 3.0d, when I want to have some fun I drive BMW 325i Coupe (2009) and for daily use I drive BMW 745i (2002). The 7er has recently undergone some changes in its suspension so it is now very comfortable.
A family member has bought a second hand Audi A8 4.2FSI quattro. It had a mileage of 23.000km, amazing option list and extended warranty. It cost us literally half price compared to a new one. Although the car is not mine, I drive it quite often and for extended periods of time. I've used it daily for 3 weeks now.
The choice was rather simple as well: BMW 7 F01 was not an option, since a facelift was due, MB S W221 is altogether outdated and Jaguar XJ Supercharged does not stand up to its promise quality wise (and that was told to us by a gentleman who is very high in the Jaguar/Land Rover management hierarchy)
So without further ado, let's begin:
Exterior:
(The one on the right, I took this picture outside my gym)
This car really does not stand out on the road. The color is also sort of dark grey making it even more invisible. When I park it next to my BMW E65 it looks very sleek. Rims are 20" and still there is plenty of tyre left. In a nutshell it is a perfect car for Lithuania where people aren't exactly big fans of the more well off. One needs to take a close look to even tell A8 apart from A6 and even A4.
Since it really is raining like hell today I concentrated on the interior and driving dynamics.
Interior:
The car feels very luxurious inside. Although I am very far from an Audi fan design wise, I honestly think that A8 has the best interior among its class. Obviously with the imminent arrival of S-class W222 the throne will have to be passed rather soon, but for now it still is the kind.
This particular car has extended interior leather/upholstery. I personally would have chosen a different interior trim, but beggars can't be choosers when the car is second hand.
The ergonomics are fantastic. Once you get used to the layout of buttons it becomes extremely easy to use the MMI system. More on that later.
The seats have all the bells and whistles: heating, cooling, massage, countless adjustment options:
Massage function is really useful on long rides. I drive to the seaside quite often and that is a 3 hours drive.
You sit down, put your hand on the gearbox lever and everything becomes perfectly placed and aligned, everything is within reach.
The car also offers this solid feeling. For instance door handles give you pleasure when pull on them. Yet on the other hand the buttons inside feel slightly cheap. Compared to X6 the buttons are more solid, but compared to the new BMW 6er (test-drove 640i the other week, B&O sound system alone is worth a separate review) the buttons don't have a pleasurable response.
The car also offers 4 zone climate control as well as rear seat heating
Interestingly there is a button in the front that allows the driver to set the temperature and other climate settings of all passengers to match those of the driver.
In addition to auxiliary heating the car also has a solar panel roof. There is no need to activate it, as long as the "closed circulation of air" button is engaged the car keeps the temperature in the car constant provided there is sufficient sunlight. (Although it is +11 at the moment, it was +30 last week and I had a great chance to experience the benefits).
Lastly, I love the ambient lighting. It makes the car even more cosy and luxurious.
Multimedia:
Where should I start...
Press the Media button, select Source and you are facing a plethora of choices: iPod (which conveniently can be placed in the middle compartment next to a phone that I don't think anyone would ever use), Bluetooth, whereby you can play music and control it using MMI from a phone that is connected by bluetooth, TV, Jukebox into which you can copy songs from USB, iPod, you name it, DVD and then some more.
And since this car has Bose sound system I really can appreciate my collection of music which ranges from classical tunes to progressive techno.
Navigation system is really great, even in this godforsaken country it shows certain buildings in 3D and certain roads which only came into existence very recently are already there.
Radio is well.. a radio. It works and that is all there is to it. I do like the fact that unless you need to enter letters, MMi Touchpad shows digits 1-6, which are stored radio stations and it feels great when you can just slide your finger and select the radio station.
Hand writing recognition works perfectly by the way and since I can access my phone's address book via Bluetooth I use it a lot. Further on it is also very useful when entering address into the Nav system.
Lastly, back in January I had a chance to be a passenger in Bentley Mulsanne. Dashboard, instrument cluster, screen graphics are all close to identical to A8, but Audi has a much better layout of buttons! I really do not understand why they did not put MMI controls the same way they did with Audi.
Driving experience:
To quote an Audi engineer I recently had a chat with "Audi is Audi, it is not as sharp and responsive as BMW and our clients love that".
In addition to the aforementioned cars I used to drive MB SL 350, my mother's MB CLK 240 and testdriven pretty much all of noteworthy MBs, CL63 (NA and BiTurbo). F01 750,730d, 760i.. Long story short I have experienced what german automakers have to offer.
So, back to the Audi. First point: all wheel drive system seems to be miles ahead from MB and BMW. Turn radius is better as well.
Audi Drive select is a very useful feature. When you drive in comfort mode you barely feel any road bumps, you can turn the wheel with one finger and the pedals are quite lazy. Switch to Dynamic and the car simply morphs into a very different beast... The wheel becomes stiff, suspension very reactive, throttle very sensitive.
And then of course there is the individual setting, probably designed for freaks like me. With my setting the throttle is very dynamic whereas steering is very comfortable. As a result you can still drive with one finger and you can do it FAST.
Generally I really do prefer the BMW feel. It is very difficult to articulate the difference, but in Audi you just feel completely detached from the road, you are not sure what exactly the wheels are doing. In a BMW though you are in a similar level of comfort but you can enjoy every minute there. I do fully understand that it is a matter of taste, but I personally prefer BMW.
Fuel economy is really great. In town I often used the Cruise Control with automatic stop & go. It lowers fuel consumption even further. Of course if I decide to plug my iPod in and select Individual drive setting all bets are off...
The car has all the driving assists: Nightvision with pedestrian recognition, lane departure warning, blind spot assist, cameras, pre-safe systems, etc.
Camera has a great feature when you are in reverse gear, it shows a blue rectangle on the screen and if the rectangle fits into a parallel parking spot - you will fit in as well.
Nightvision becomes useful in countryside road. It recognizes pedestrians from a great distance.
I have also experienced the brake assist system. Basically if the car sees that there is an emergency situation it tightens the seatbelt and as soon as you touch the break it applies the breaks at full force (I assume). I probably would have crashed into a car driven by a 70+ year old lady who decided that it is not worthwhile to look around when entering a large road.
The gearbox is super smooth. Which is why I need to keep my eyes on the speedometer, as the acceleration is so seamless that it is impossible to tell how fast you are going (thankfully the digital speedometer is large, as one wouldn't be able to keep up with the speed dial).
Since it has stopped raining I will go cruise around town, certainly find friends in one of Vilnius' not so many good restaurants and reward myself with a good meal and a pint of Hoegaarden for writing this review.
I hope the weather is treating you all nicely!
If you have any questions or want additional pictures of something, I will be happy to help.
since it is raining like hell today and I am bored to death I have decided to post a review of Audi A8.
A bit of background info: I drive a variety of cars daily. During winter months I was driving BMW X6 3.0d, when I want to have some fun I drive BMW 325i Coupe (2009) and for daily use I drive BMW 745i (2002). The 7er has recently undergone some changes in its suspension so it is now very comfortable.
A family member has bought a second hand Audi A8 4.2FSI quattro. It had a mileage of 23.000km, amazing option list and extended warranty. It cost us literally half price compared to a new one. Although the car is not mine, I drive it quite often and for extended periods of time. I've used it daily for 3 weeks now.
The choice was rather simple as well: BMW 7 F01 was not an option, since a facelift was due, MB S W221 is altogether outdated and Jaguar XJ Supercharged does not stand up to its promise quality wise (and that was told to us by a gentleman who is very high in the Jaguar/Land Rover management hierarchy)
So without further ado, let's begin:
Exterior:
(The one on the right, I took this picture outside my gym)
This car really does not stand out on the road. The color is also sort of dark grey making it even more invisible. When I park it next to my BMW E65 it looks very sleek. Rims are 20" and still there is plenty of tyre left. In a nutshell it is a perfect car for Lithuania where people aren't exactly big fans of the more well off. One needs to take a close look to even tell A8 apart from A6 and even A4.
Since it really is raining like hell today I concentrated on the interior and driving dynamics.
Interior:
The car feels very luxurious inside. Although I am very far from an Audi fan design wise, I honestly think that A8 has the best interior among its class. Obviously with the imminent arrival of S-class W222 the throne will have to be passed rather soon, but for now it still is the kind.
This particular car has extended interior leather/upholstery. I personally would have chosen a different interior trim, but beggars can't be choosers when the car is second hand.
The ergonomics are fantastic. Once you get used to the layout of buttons it becomes extremely easy to use the MMI system. More on that later.
The seats have all the bells and whistles: heating, cooling, massage, countless adjustment options:
Massage function is really useful on long rides. I drive to the seaside quite often and that is a 3 hours drive.
You sit down, put your hand on the gearbox lever and everything becomes perfectly placed and aligned, everything is within reach.
The car also offers this solid feeling. For instance door handles give you pleasure when pull on them. Yet on the other hand the buttons inside feel slightly cheap. Compared to X6 the buttons are more solid, but compared to the new BMW 6er (test-drove 640i the other week, B&O sound system alone is worth a separate review) the buttons don't have a pleasurable response.
The car also offers 4 zone climate control as well as rear seat heating
Interestingly there is a button in the front that allows the driver to set the temperature and other climate settings of all passengers to match those of the driver.
In addition to auxiliary heating the car also has a solar panel roof. There is no need to activate it, as long as the "closed circulation of air" button is engaged the car keeps the temperature in the car constant provided there is sufficient sunlight. (Although it is +11 at the moment, it was +30 last week and I had a great chance to experience the benefits).
Lastly, I love the ambient lighting. It makes the car even more cosy and luxurious.
Multimedia:
Where should I start...
Press the Media button, select Source and you are facing a plethora of choices: iPod (which conveniently can be placed in the middle compartment next to a phone that I don't think anyone would ever use), Bluetooth, whereby you can play music and control it using MMI from a phone that is connected by bluetooth, TV, Jukebox into which you can copy songs from USB, iPod, you name it, DVD and then some more.
And since this car has Bose sound system I really can appreciate my collection of music which ranges from classical tunes to progressive techno.
Navigation system is really great, even in this godforsaken country it shows certain buildings in 3D and certain roads which only came into existence very recently are already there.
Radio is well.. a radio. It works and that is all there is to it. I do like the fact that unless you need to enter letters, MMi Touchpad shows digits 1-6, which are stored radio stations and it feels great when you can just slide your finger and select the radio station.
Hand writing recognition works perfectly by the way and since I can access my phone's address book via Bluetooth I use it a lot. Further on it is also very useful when entering address into the Nav system.
Lastly, back in January I had a chance to be a passenger in Bentley Mulsanne. Dashboard, instrument cluster, screen graphics are all close to identical to A8, but Audi has a much better layout of buttons! I really do not understand why they did not put MMI controls the same way they did with Audi.
Driving experience:
To quote an Audi engineer I recently had a chat with "Audi is Audi, it is not as sharp and responsive as BMW and our clients love that".
In addition to the aforementioned cars I used to drive MB SL 350, my mother's MB CLK 240 and testdriven pretty much all of noteworthy MBs, CL63 (NA and BiTurbo). F01 750,730d, 760i.. Long story short I have experienced what german automakers have to offer.
So, back to the Audi. First point: all wheel drive system seems to be miles ahead from MB and BMW. Turn radius is better as well.
Audi Drive select is a very useful feature. When you drive in comfort mode you barely feel any road bumps, you can turn the wheel with one finger and the pedals are quite lazy. Switch to Dynamic and the car simply morphs into a very different beast... The wheel becomes stiff, suspension very reactive, throttle very sensitive.
And then of course there is the individual setting, probably designed for freaks like me. With my setting the throttle is very dynamic whereas steering is very comfortable. As a result you can still drive with one finger and you can do it FAST.
Generally I really do prefer the BMW feel. It is very difficult to articulate the difference, but in Audi you just feel completely detached from the road, you are not sure what exactly the wheels are doing. In a BMW though you are in a similar level of comfort but you can enjoy every minute there. I do fully understand that it is a matter of taste, but I personally prefer BMW.
Fuel economy is really great. In town I often used the Cruise Control with automatic stop & go. It lowers fuel consumption even further. Of course if I decide to plug my iPod in and select Individual drive setting all bets are off...
The car has all the driving assists: Nightvision with pedestrian recognition, lane departure warning, blind spot assist, cameras, pre-safe systems, etc.
Camera has a great feature when you are in reverse gear, it shows a blue rectangle on the screen and if the rectangle fits into a parallel parking spot - you will fit in as well.
Nightvision becomes useful in countryside road. It recognizes pedestrians from a great distance.
I have also experienced the brake assist system. Basically if the car sees that there is an emergency situation it tightens the seatbelt and as soon as you touch the break it applies the breaks at full force (I assume). I probably would have crashed into a car driven by a 70+ year old lady who decided that it is not worthwhile to look around when entering a large road.
The gearbox is super smooth. Which is why I need to keep my eyes on the speedometer, as the acceleration is so seamless that it is impossible to tell how fast you are going (thankfully the digital speedometer is large, as one wouldn't be able to keep up with the speed dial).
Since it has stopped raining I will go cruise around town, certainly find friends in one of Vilnius' not so many good restaurants and reward myself with a good meal and a pint of Hoegaarden for writing this review.
I hope the weather is treating you all nicely!
If you have any questions or want additional pictures of something, I will be happy to help.
