L 4.0T 4dr All-Wheel Drive quattro LWB Sedan
2014 Audi A8
We're going to skip the joke – because this isn't one – and get straight to the punchline: If the forthcoming 2014 Mercedes-Benz S-Class looks like it will lead the segment in interiors, the 3.0-liter turbodiesel in the 2014 Audi A8 L TDI takes the head of the table when it comes to engines. After joining Audi for the 12 Hours of Sebring, we stood in the parking lot of The Inn On The Lakes on Sunday morning, our thousand-yard stare interrupted by the Citgo gas station across the street. We had one key, three bags, one white A8 L TDI, something like 17 gallons of diesel in the tank and one week to burn through it. For the purposes of a Quick Spin, we could have simply traipsed around the central Florida outback, all citrus, dusty scrubland and diners lifted from Cronenberg films, made short work of measuring the refinement and potential rarefaction of the oil burner under the hood and made our way back to the Orlando airport. But dear readers, where would the adventure be in that? After all, the wherefore of a diesel engine in a large luxury sedan we take to be only ostensibly about the CAFE numbers. Yet we think a side effect is that it demonstrates to US audiences what European businessmen and bureaucrats already know: Put a frugal diesel in a large car and you get the ant's pants and the bee's knees: room to move with interior space and room to roam with decent gas mileage. So this A8 L TDI was our Bactrian beast, the camel we were going to ride until it ran out of fuel, at which time we'd fill it up and continue on. Our final route ran: Sebring, Miami, Ocala, Daytona Beach, New Brunswick (Georgia), Atlanta, Birmingham (Alabama), Atlanta. It was 1,682 miles of driving in ten days, it was two fill-ups, a lot of strange food, Spring Breakers, graffiti, Dairy Queen, sand and motorcycles – and one Ferrari – along the way. But first we'll give you the short story via our Driving Notes: The cipher to translate the diesel A8, thrown up in the sky like the bat signal, was "24-36-28-857." The first three numbers are the EPA fuel economy ratings for the sedan – 24 city, 36 highway, 28 combined. Take that highway number and multiply it by the 23.8-gallon tank and you get a hypothetical range of 856.8 miles, enough to drive almost the entire coast of California – on the scenic route – from San Diego to the heart of the Redwood National Park near the Oregon border. Or you could go from New York City to Atlanta with ten miles worth of hydrocarbons left in the tank. That's what you call "range." The instrument striking the note is a 3.0-liter diesel V6 with a single turbo helping it put out 240 horsepower and 406 pound-feet of torque. That power number could read a little low for a long-wheelbase sedan …
Full Review
We're going to skip the joke – because this isn't one – and get straight to the punchline: If the forthcoming 2014 Mercedes-Benz S-Class looks like it will lead the segment in interiors, the 3.0-liter turbodiesel in the 2014 Audi A8 L TDI takes the head of the table when it comes to engines. After joining Audi for the 12 Hours of Sebring, we stood in the parking lot of The Inn On The Lakes on Sunday morning, our thousand-yard stare interrupted by the Citgo gas station across the street. We had one key, three bags, one white A8 L TDI, something like 17 gallons of diesel in the tank and one week to burn through it. For the purposes of a Quick Spin, we could have simply traipsed around the central Florida outback, all citrus, dusty scrubland and diners lifted from Cronenberg films, made short work of measuring the refinement and potential rarefaction of the oil burner under the hood and made our way back to the Orlando airport. But dear readers, where would the adventure be in that? After all, the wherefore of a diesel engine in a large luxury sedan we take to be only ostensibly about the CAFE numbers. Yet we think a side effect is that it demonstrates to US audiences what European businessmen and bureaucrats already know: Put a frugal diesel in a large car and you get the ant's pants and the bee's knees: room to move with interior space and room to roam with decent gas mileage. So this A8 L TDI was our Bactrian beast, the camel we were going to ride until it ran out of fuel, at which time we'd fill it up and continue on. Our final route ran: Sebring, Miami, Ocala, Daytona Beach, New Brunswick (Georgia), Atlanta, Birmingham (Alabama), Atlanta. It was 1,682 miles of driving in ten days, it was two fill-ups, a lot of strange food, Spring Breakers, graffiti, Dairy Queen, sand and motorcycles – and one Ferrari – along the way. But first we'll give you the short story via our Driving Notes: The cipher to translate the diesel A8, thrown up in the sky like the bat signal, was "24-36-28-857." The first three numbers are the EPA fuel economy ratings for the sedan – 24 city, 36 highway, 28 combined. Take that highway number and multiply it by the 23.8-gallon tank and you get a hypothetical range of 856.8 miles, enough to drive almost the entire coast of California – on the scenic route – from San Diego to the heart of the Redwood National Park near the Oregon border. Or you could go from New York City to Atlanta with ten miles worth of hydrocarbons left in the tank. That's what you call "range." The instrument striking the note is a 3.0-liter diesel V6 with a single turbo helping it put out 240 horsepower and 406 pound-feet of torque. That power number could read a little low for a long-wheelbase sedan …
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Retail Price
$87,600
MSRP / Window Sticker Price
| Engine | 4.0L V-8 |
| MPG | 16 City / 26 Hwy |
| Seating | 5 Passengers |
| Transmission | 8-spd w/OD |
| Power | 420 @ 5000 rpm |
| Drivetrain | quattro all wheel |
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