Audi A8 Saloon (03-11) - Review

Review by Dan Harrison on
Last Updated: 16 January 2009
As a luxury machine, the A8 barely puts a foot wrong, offering satisfying performance, spacious and luxurious interiors along with solid build quality. But despite this it's never proved as popular as rivals like the Mercedes S-Class and BMW 7-Series. This may be down to the conservative styling and play-it-safe handling dynamics, but it still has plenty of gadgets to keep restless fingers amused. A long wheelbase version is available and in 2005 the car received a very minor makeover which included Audi's new-style grille and a new 4.2-litre diesel engine to replace the 4.0-litre diesel.
4 out of 5

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4 out of 5

Comfort

Passengers will enjoy the classy cabin, and relish the well-finished interior. It feels like a quality vehicle, and has plenty of room for people to stretch out and enjoy the (gentle) ride. There's a small amount of road and wind noise, but engine noise is well suppressed.

4 out of 5

Practicality

It's a long car and the interior reflects this with more than adequate room in the cabin, and a deep, accommodating boot for luggage. The bootlid opens wide, making it easy to load luggage and there's a big glovebox too. There's also the option of automated boot opening and closing which is useful if you have hands full, but the cargo net comes as standard and is great for stopping smaller bags from sliding around in the boot.

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How does the boot space compare?

560 litres
500 litres
Audi A8 Saloon (03-11)
500 litres
325 litres
4.5 out of 5

Behind the wheel

The electric seats and steering column allow a good driving position while the dash is simply laid out. Even though it's home to a menagerie of kit - MMI (Multi Media Interface) is Audi's one-button sat nav and stereo interface to rival BMW's i-Drive all the controls are fairly intuitive. The steering wheel is a good size and pleasing to grapple with on faster B-roads.