Audi aims high

AP:

High-brow luxury sedan buyers who don't want to be stodgy or predictable have a newly updated choice, the 2011 Audi A8. Audi's flagship four door isn't just longer, wider and more powerful than before. Its new exterior styling is arguably the most distinctive and sporty of any executive-level luxury sedan on the market.

The 2011 A8's well-crafted interior also has features any tech-savvy business person will love, such as a touch pad where a driver can, with a finger, write letters and numbers that are recognised by the onboard computer as a phone number or a destination. The idea is to keep driver eyes on the road ahead and not down on some knob or onboard menu.

And coming later in the model year is a Google search connection to the A8's navigation system that will allow maps to be displayed as Google Earth images, as if a driver were at his or her laptop.

The best part is that all the interior creature comforts and technology as well as the weighty solidity of the two-ton A8 don't detract from a car that's also speedy, spirited to drive and capable on twisty roads.

Just don't expect the newly updated A8 to be inexpensive or fuel thrifty.

The base A8 comes with a 372-horsepower V-8 and has a starting manufacturer's suggested retail price, including destination charge, of US$78,925.

This is up 4.7 per cent from the US$75,375 starting retail price of a 2010 A8.

Meanwhile, the longer-length A8L, which accounts for the majority of A8 models sold in the United States because it has an extra roomy back seat for titans of industry who are often chauffeured around town, starts at US$84,875 now, up 7.1 per cent from the US$79,225 starting retail price for a 2010 model.

The 2011 A8 has a significantly higher starting price than the competing 2011 Lexus LS 460, whose starting MSRP, including destination charge, is US$66,255. The LS 460 has a 380-horsepower V-8. The 2011 Mercedes-Benz S550 with 382-horsepower V-8, starts at US$94,525, and the 2011 BMW 750i with 400-horsepower V-8 starts at US$83,875.

With a nod toward growing consumer sensitivity to fuel economy, Audi officials note the 2011 A8 has better fuel mileage than its predecessor, even though the A8's 4.2-liter V-8 engine now generates more horsepower and torque.