Audi Singapore has announced the release of the refreshed A8 L luxury sedan, priced at $516,677 with COE for the three-litre turbo V6 variant and $684,675 with COE for the 4.0-litre turbo V8 variant. The S8, which makes its return to the local lineup after a hiatus, is priced at $719,546 with COE.
The range-topping Audi sedan line gets the usual midlife visual updates with a wider front intake grille, restyled digital matrix LED headlights with 1.3 million micro mirrors within each headlight unit to focus the beams, and a customisable taillight signature with digital OLEDs on a continuous, segmented light strip.
However with large luxury sedans in the age of post opulence, the real updates are all under the skin and not on visual display. This same trend is seen in cars like the Mercedes-Benz S Class and BMW 7 Series.
The big news on the A8 L is the further evolution of the car's optional predictive active suspension. Available to A8 L owners at an additional $30,291. We first had a go in it onboard the previous-generation Audi A8, where it gave the car a true 'floating on air' feel on the highway.
It now works harder than before, taking readings from the steering wheel inputs and front-facing camera to regulate the suspension damper movement at each wheel.
Besides smoothing out road bumps by actively moving the wheels up and down in response to road graduations, it will also lean the car into corners by up to three degrees, so that the occupants will barely feel the effects of cornering forces.
Audi claims that between speeds of 80 and 130km/h and lateral acceleration of up to 0.4G, cornering forces will hardly be noticeable.
Active suspension appears to be the new battleground for luxury sedans as the Mercedes-Benz S-Class also features a similar system.
It's not entirely new technology however, as active suspension systems were already fully in Formula 1 by 1987, with the Lotus-Honda 99T, before being banned by 1994 for being simply too effective.
The long wheelbase Audi A8 will be the only version of the car available in Singapore. Denoted by the L in the name, it has a wheelbase of 3,128mm, with a body measuring 5,320mm in length built over the top.
The interior is typical of a car priced in this category, with lounge-like seats, nighttime ambient lighting, and 22-way seat adjusters. The A8 L 4.0 gets back seat touch control screens and massage chair functions as well.
Power output of the three-litre, turbocharged V6 engine is rated at 340 horsepower. The eight-speed transmission and Quattro all-wheel drive accelerates it from 0 to 100km/h in 5.7 seconds.
The larger four-litre turbocharged V8 engine develops 460 horsepower, and also features an eight-speed gearbox and all-wheel drive. It's much quicker with a 0 to 100km/h time of 4.5 seconds.
The real king of the A8 hill is the S8, with the four-litre twin-turbo V8 turned up to a massive 571 horsepower for supercar-matching 0 to 100km/h acceleration of 3.8 seconds.
It also has active four-wheel steering and active sport differentials to further sharpen handling across all driving conditions. As a standard length A8, the S8 has a wheelbase that measures 2,998mm, and at 5,190mm in length it's 130mm shorter than the A8 L.
All the A8 series cars feature 48v mild hybrid drive, and the four-litre V8 engine can also deactivate four out of its eight cylinders while cruising under light loads.
Despite the efficiency assists, the large engines do put all of them into the VES C2 emissions band, which knocks them all with a $25,000 surcharge, already factored into the final price tag.
To be fair though, unless you're going all-electric, large fossil-fuel engined luxury limos all pump out a lot of CO2 emissions no matter how you engineer them.