I had our buxom A8 for the weekend because my in-laws were in town and the two coupes in our household were not going to be roomy enough for squiring the Texas Tornados around town, particularly to a festive dinner and brunch to celebrate their 28th anniversary.
On the night that we went to Sky Room, a deco-style rooftop restaurant in Long Beach, we rolled in what I've always heard called Jersey Style, meaning guys in front, girls in back. It cemented for me the fact that the A8L is really meant to be a chauffeur-driven vehicle.
It goes without saying that it's not nearly as much fun to ride in the A8 as it is to drive it, but it is a pretty luxurious perch back there. There are untold amounts of legroom, seat heaters, reading lights, nicely placed speakers, power rear privacy shades that let you "keep out natural and social elements" as the Audi brochure so delicately puts it. There's also some nice horseshoe-shaped burl wood trim on the back of the front seats upon which to meditate while James or Jane or whoever your driver is takes you to your destination. My mother-in-law and I were tempted to practice our QEII wave to the hoi polloi as we purred by.
As discussed in our intro, we didn't even spring for the full backseat package. You can see some of its elements below, as described in an Audi brochure: 10" viewing screens, worktables -- everything you need to be a mobile captain of industry.
But the car's visual appeal transcends the usual class/cost/country-of-origin boundaries. One of my neighbors, the owner of a slick new orange-as-a-supernova Dodge Charger flagged us down when we were parking the A8.
"Man," he said, shaking his head and smiling. "That is a gorgeous car."
And so it is.
Carroll Lachnit, Features Editor @9,426 miles.
desmolicious says:
05:11 PM, 02/ 6/12
1/ "Texas Tornado"? You are related to Colin Edwards?
B/ People who you are giving the QE2 wave to may be wondering why those people in a large A4 are gesturing at them...
;p
ralphhightower says:
10:10 AM, 02/ 7/12
Geez, it looks like it could be outfitted like a Gulfstream "corporate flying board room"!
mercedesfan says:
10:53 AM, 02/ 7/12
I hate the rear seat entertainment screens. They just look like an afterthought with no attempt made to integrate them into the cabin. On a lot of cars they would hardly stand out, but the rest of the A8's cabin is so beautifully executed that they stick out like a sore thumb.
epbrown says:
07:32 PM, 02/ 7/12
I love the interior on these, but I wouldn't add those screens. A couple of 16GB iPad1s would likely be cheaper. I'd keep a couple of those in there if there's a pocket on the seat backs or some mounts could be fabbed pretty cheaply. Rear passengers could work, read (Kindle or iBooks apps, various newspaper and magazine apps), or watch movies (Itunes, Netflix) with my portable hotspot for connectivity.
e30or says:
09:38 AM, 02/ 9/12
@merecedesfan - I bet they didn't want to even attempt to integrate them into the headrest. The headrests are probably "active" ones that move violently in an accident. They are also too small to house a screen that big.
I'm still trying to figure out the tiny table on a stick. I don't see that working at all while in motion.