The top 1% of the top 1% of those who benefit from our economy are not interested in the trivialities of piloting a motor vehicle through traffic, and all the stress that activity may generate. For these mostly suited individuals, the rear seats of a luxury car are far more important, which is something brands like Mercedes Benz, Bentley and Rolls Royce have realised for a very long time.

As the Asian economies grow however, the market for these types of luxury vehicles has exploded, and there are a few other car makers who want a piece of the velvet-lined pie. Enter the Audi A8.

Audi A8 interior

Quite simply, the interior of this car is one of the very best I have ever experienced. Tens of thousands of design hours are at work here. Everything is beautifully sculpted, beautifully finished and feels absolutely solid. The removable ashtray weighs 143kg. The hinges on the centre storage lids are cast out of solid aluminium. The wood inlays are exceptional, the alcantara is exceptional, the leather is exceptional. No expense has been spared here.

The rear seating is epic. I have never, ever seen leg room like that. It is vast. At least three metres. Would you like to watch TV while pootling around? Of course you do, you government minister you. Well these are the biggest in the segment, and we all know bigger is better. Bigger taxes, bigger TVs. The centre armrest is your own little private control centre; here you can heat your seat, cool your seat, adjust your seat or the radio, or TV, or DVD, or the health department’s budget, probably.

I did find it a little cheeky that the rear seats are fixed, and movement is optional. Surely that is the point of this whole L exercise? Anyway, massages are also optional. You definitely want to tick that box. You have a choice of five types of massage. “Waves” is the best. It feels like there are tiny masseuses running around in the seat, gently punching your lumbar region, then your mid back, then your lumbar region. It’s wonderful.

Styling

However, in my humble opinion, the exterior is still…bland. Sure, it’s the best looking Audi limo ever, but I feel like it’s a fairly beige overall design, tinsled up with some very (admittedly clever) details. The headlights, for instance, are awesome. I quite like the rear end, too. But for the most part, this is just a large slab of car. To people who aren’t car nerds like me, this could be an A6. If I bought one of these, I’d have huge signs made for the exterior which read “The Interior is Amazing, you should see it.”

Powerplants

The powerplants are just fantastic though. Could you imagine ten years ago the bulk of a luxury limo range would be diesel powered? Yes, if you want to burn petrol while contemplating important business strategies on the way home, you only have two options, the V8 in the S8, and the W12 in the flagship W12.

But you don’t want any of those. Because these oil burners are some of the very best in the business. The 3.0 V6 is a superb entry level engine, and will be just about all the engine you’ll ever need. With 190 kW and 580 Nm – you never really feel like there’s any lack of power. And most importantly, on the official test cycle this car achieved fuel consumption of 5.9 litres/100km, and it reaches 100km/h from standstill in 5.9 seconds. At the price, it’s a solid all-rounder.

This engine is the smallest engine you can buy inside a long wheelbase car in SA – a very clever move by Audi. It’s ahead of the pack in realising people mostly care about the bling and the prestige that a long wheel base car represents, and don’t actually give two hoots about the kilowatts.

However, for golf-club bragging rights, and that whoosh-feeling which never really gets old, you want the V8 diesel. For your money, this is an unholy amount of torque, which you won’t even find in a Range Rover. Crikey, look at these figures: 283 kW and 850 Nm. It’s monstrous, and it feels wonderfully smooth, and well, whooshy. It actually feels like you might be standing still, and you’re just making the Earth go backwards when you accelerate.

In fact, you’ll probably boot the chauffer. Having power like that at your control is quite intoxicating, especially in a barge like this that can actually dance.

The car comes in at under 2 tonnes due to the all alumimium construction, which is impressive. It’s about the weight of a BMW 5-series, which of course is smaller and technically in the segment below. It’s even lighter than Audi’s own RS7. Handling is therefore massively improved over the last model. On perfect road surfaces, you may as well not be making contact with the Earth.

Summary and conclusion

All in all, I feel Audi is boxing clever with this one. Without having sampled the latest S Class, this is the best Limo spec luxury car I’ve encountered to date. It’s better than a Bentley, less austentatious than a Rolls Royce, cheaper than a Merc and better inside than the equivalent Beemer. It’s going to be fun to watch this battle roll on.The W12 and S8 arrive in May 2014.

Audi A8 Price in South Africa

Pricing for the Audi A8 range is as follows, inclusive of all taxes and the standard 5-year/100 000 km Audi Freeway Plan.

Audi A8 3.0 TDI quattro tiptronic: R 1,101,500Audi A8 4.2 TDI quattro: R 1,390,000Audi A8 3.0 TDI LWB quattro: R 1,257,500Audi A8 4.2 TDI LWB quattro: R 1,545,500

Audi A8 gallery