The all-new Audi A8 has become the complete luxury sedan. Of the three traditional German prestige marques that battle each other from compact car to super sports car level, Audi was the latecomer to the luxury sedan party. Mercedes started this flagship game back in the 1930s, and BMW’s first 7-Series made its debut in 1977. Audi did not have a reply until 1988, when they launched the V8, the first production luxury sedan with a 4WD option. But it was not until the V8’s successor arrived in 1994 that a big Audi proudly wore the A8 badge. Audi’s all new fifth generation flagship , internally known as the D5, is the fourth car to bear the A8 moniker. Based on Audi’s MLB Evo floorpan, shared with the Audi Q7 and the latest Porsche Cayenne , the latest A8/L is slightly narrower than the outgoing model but a tad longer. The first A8 (D2) of 1994 had a good, solid, Teutonic look to it and still has reasonable presence today. This also applies to the D3 that succeeded it, and was also the ...
