Flagship German cars such as the Mercedes-Benz S-Class and BMW 7-series are relatively well-known, even familiar, here and elsewhere. But there's a third that seems almost a rarity, the Audi A8. writes Andrew Hamilton
Far from being a flop, Audi says it has been selling all it can build. "It's just that we have much more limited production," says Audi spokesman Axel Cattel. "We built over 105,000 of the old model that started in 1994 and has just finished its production run. We have always been constrained by space."
Cattel was speaking to us during the international press testing of all the models eligible for the European Car of the Year award 2003. It's held annually in the far north of Denmark, as we reported in last week's Motors. That's where there was an opportunity to have a first sampling.
The A8 stands out from the two other Teutonic competitors because it has as standard the Quattro all-wheel-drive system. There are two V8 engined models, one a 4.2 litre with 335 bhp and the other a 3.7 litre developing 280 bhp. The new A8, which we will see on Irish roads early next year, bristles with cleverness. One of the somewhat bizarre options is fingerprint identification.
Here's how it works: a couple sharing a car can set individual choices for seat, steering wheel and mirror positions and even suspension, heating and ventilation - all will be adjusted by individual fingerprints when they press the start button to activate the engine.
Alternatively, a driver could store relaxed settings and music stations under one fingerprint, sporty suspension settings and favourite CDs under another.
What happened if you've hurt your finger? Would you be able to start the car? Nobody seemed to know. With thieves now stealing keys because anti-theft systems are so good, the risk of digit crime - somebody actually stealing your finger - has to be too terrible to contemplate.
On flat ultra-smooth Danish roads, the 4.2 litre A8 rode like a magic carpet. Our car actually rode on an air suspension that we could adjust at the twirl of a dial. Even though it's all power and glory performance, with a top speed limited to 155 mph and a 0 to 60 mph time of just over six seconds, it glides with ease and dignity into limo mode.
There are floating Xenon headlights which come on at speeds up to 45 mph when the car is turning, on a tight bend, or reversing. They illuminate areas around the driver's field of vision that would normally be regarded as blind spots. Also activated by the indicators, they can see around corners at up to 90 degrees to the direction of travel.
BMW's new 7-series has much of its driving complexity in I-Drive, but Audi says that the A8's system, MMI, for Multi Media Interface, is "simple and intuitively comprehensible". Audi claims that its new flagship is "the ultimate driver's car". Familiar language!