Audi A8 L 60 TDI review, test drive

What is it?

It’s Audi’s facelifted A8 luxury sedan with a big 4.2-litre V8 diesel motor under the hood. The badge, however, doesn’t say 4.2 TDI anymore and instead, reads 60TDI, in line with Audi’s new nomenclature. And with the new badge, Audi has given it even more power and torque than before.

Everything else remains pretty much the same as its smaller-hearted (3.0-litre) sibling. So, there's the same comfortable, boardroom-like cabin that cocoons its occupants in an abundance of top-notch leather and wood. And pretty much anything that can be adjusted is powered; seats, sun-blinds and even screen angles for rear passengers. Speaking of which, the independent rear seats do a great job to keep passengers comfortable and knee room is in abundance. That said, the seats lack a bit of that sink-into-them feel you get in an S-class.

Our test car was packed to the hilt with equipment, albeit some of which are expensive options such as, a panoramic sunroof, 360-degree cameras, leather seats, a refrigerator, reclining rear seats, massaging seats and onboard WiFi. While the base car is priced at Rs 1.23 crore, adding these options amongst others pushes the price to around Rs 1.40 crore (all prices ex-showroom, Delhi). 

What is it like to drive?

The A8 60TDI is easily the quickest diesel car we’ve tested. Flatten the accelerator and a slight pause later, the freight train-like 86.6kgm of torque catapults the A8 forward in a way that makes it easy to forget that this luxo-barge tips the scales at over two tonnes. Putting that big wave of torque effectively on the tarmac is done by Audi’s four-wheel-drive Quattro system and eight closely stacked gear ratios. At full tilt, the A8 60TDI hits 100kph in a sportscar-rivaling 5.08 seconds and pressing on, sees 180kph come up in 16.7 seconds. And only past around 220kph does it start to lose steam. 

There’s more to the motor than just impressive numbers. For starters, the V8 engine is really refined at idle and while cruising. On our typically noisy roads, you would hardly guess there’s an oil burner under the hood and only in a quiet environment can you hear a hint of diesel-like growl while accelerating. Partly why the motor feels so hushed while cruising is that it turns over at near-idling speeds (around 1,400rpm) at 120kph in eighth gear.