2012 Audi A8L: Great Engine

@duck87:

I doubt any car below $30k was designed to have an exciting looking engine bay, especially when most are 4 cylinders.

They cover less on my '08 S4 (with the preFSI 40 valve 4.2l V8)... one of my favorite hidden features. :)

i agree, it is nice that they bothered to get this right. not easy to make a modern, DI engine look good, either.

(although, I imagine something like 99.7% of A8 owners would never even think of opening the hood)

it is nice but i still wish there was a little more steel and a little less plastic

How much oil has this beautiful engine burned already?

Maybe the folks at Audi could sweat the details on the piston rings a bit better.

I've maybe opened the hood of my car five times all year. Maybe it make Audi owners feel better that their engine covers are more detailed than anything else on the road, but unless it's a mid-engined car like a Ford GT or a 458 or something...a car where the engine is showcased and needs to look good, who cares what the engine looks like.

All I need are service points that are clearly marked and things that need to be maintained are easy to get to. After that, the hood is closed. How many times has the Fusion Hybrid hood been opened? Sienna? Mazda 3?

90% of the population doesn't do their own car maintenance. I'm willing to bet only 20% know what anything is under the hood. 3% raise the hood and oogle engines. (I'm largely making up those numbers, if you didn't know. Just a guess on my part) The people who like to oogle engines buy engines that look nice. The rest of us don't care one iota. As long as it runs, we don't need to look at it.

They cover less on my '08 S4 (with the preFSI 40 valve 4.2l V8)... one of my favorite hidden features. :)

I remember when Audi used to cover everything with plastic. Glad to see they're opening it up a bit.

It is a Hundred freaking thousand dollar car. It is easy to "get it" when something costs that much.

Um... of course it is symmetrical. This is a V8 that is mounted longitudinally.

Pop the hood of an Audi A3 (transverse) or A4 (longitudinal), both of which use 4 cylinders, and you'll see? Plastic engine cover.

I credit Audi for giving MB the boost to start doing the same to its engine compartments. The old M273 in my S550 is a great engine in pretty much every respect, but the engine compartment is dull. The new M278, on the other hand, has a great looking engine compartment that sweats the details. I'm glad automakers are moving back towards this and away from the sea of plastic covering everything that Toyota popularized.

That's the kind of stuff people used to just rave about in older Hondas. The crackle finish valve covers, beautifully finished aluminum castings (especially on the intake manifolds), plug wires all loomed perfectly - all on relatively inexpensive cars. Now it's plastic valve covers, plastic manifolds, plastic gingerbread engine cover plates. Sigh. At least I still have my S2000 to moon over. Kudos to Audi (and I think Ford has done a decent job on the Mustang too).

Yes that does look very good. Only engine I can think of that looks better is the new 5.0 Mustangs.

Audis have such nice-looking engines because, at least in my experience owning three of them, the hoods are up a lot for maintenance and repair. :-)

Gorgeous, Porsche is fairly adept with this also on their cars with front mounted engines.

"I doubt any car below $30k was designed to have an exciting looking engine bay, especially when most are 4 cylinders. "

Check out an old Integra. Not expensive, 4 cylinders and very nicely done. It has nothing to do with cost and everything to do with the designers caring about their work.

It's just cheaper and easier to hide everything under a plastic box.

Why would a $100k A8L owner open the hood? How uncivilized!

@sniperruff:

see churc123's and firstwagons comments.

older hondas and even newer si's and s2k's have always had nice non-plasticky engine bays.

i thought everyone new this?

With the exception of the engine cover (which is a waste of everything), isn't using plastic in the engine compartment a weight savings measure? Also, given that plastic generally has a lower specific heat than metal, wouldn't it be useful on the intake side to keep temperatures down? I bring this up b/c many a poster above have harped on plastic, yet perhaps that plastic is providing the weight savings necessary for good gas mileage while still retaining desirable acceleration? Just a thought.

Kevin

Gotta get this thing up on the rack and get a look at the underbelly. Let's see if the Audi design touches go all the way around.

I like the wonderful engine design better than the ho-hum exterior.

@church123: I really liked the K-series Type-R red valve cover... really wish that was in my '06 Si rather than the plastic valve cover. I did appreciate the cast aluminum intake- though it could be finished better.

Audis and Fords have the best looking engines. Everyone else just hide everything under a flat plastic slab.

Shhhh dont tell ZR1man but Vettes have nice looking engines as well.

On the rare occasion when I am visiting my parents in the burns and can hand wash my '07 A8, I absolutely pop the hood to properly wipe down and dry around all body panels, grill, etc. and yes I admire my engine bay. And no I dont do my own maintenance (I realize in this site this makes me a poseur). I don't know how to change the oil on my cr, though I can on an 80s Mack truck. And BB- I am not an old fart as you previously stated.
Now let's hear about the driving characteristics since all of the previous reviews I have read here and elsewhere were sport diff and summer tire equipped A8's.