Modern full-size luxury cars are something of an anomaly in that they’re not as full-size as they used to be. The 2024 Audi A8, for example, is a relative short 209.5 inches long, which is nowhere near as long as an early ’70s Buick Electra 225, which was so named because that’s just how long it was.
And it wasn’t as long as a Cadillac.
Full-size luxury cars also used to come standard with at least a V8, and most could be had with a V12. This includes models like the A8, which as recently as about 10 years ago used to come standard with a 372-horsepower 4.2-liter V8 and could be optioned with a 6.3-liter W12 that made 500 horsepower. Rivals such as the Mercedes S-Class and BMW 7 sedan came with — and offered — similar.
The current A8 comes only with a 3.0-liter V6 that makes just 335 horsepower. But even that is becoming “luxurious” as the V6 is rapidly disappearing from under the hoods of the midsize family sedans such as the Toyota Camry and Honda Accord that used to commonly offer them.
What it is. The A8 is Audi’s top-of-the-line luxury sedan. Like its main rivals — the Benz S-Class, BMW 7 Series sedan and the Lexus LS — it comes standard with a six-cylinder engine rather than the previously expected V8, the latter having become almost as exotic as the 12-cylinder engines you used to be able to get in cars of this caliber.
Base price is $88,900, which is a relative bargain compared with the $114,500 Mercedes asks for the S500 and the $93,300 that BMW asks for the 740i.
AWD is standard, and so is the most rear-seat legroom (44.3 inches) of the bunch, which is even more than the driver and front-seat passenger get.
What’s new for 2024. A free trial of Audi’s ConnectPlus system (which includes remote-start capability) is now standard.
What’s good. Exceptionally roomy back seats. 600 miles of highway driving range. Costs thousands less than its main rivals.
What’s not so good. You don’t get much under the hood for all you’re paying. Less trunk (just 12.5 cubic feet) than many compact-size cars have.
Under the hood. The’24 A8 comes standard — and only — with a 3.0-liter V6/mild hybrid combo that makes 335 horsepower. This is about 40 less horsepower (and a lot less prestigious) than the V8 that used to be standard in this model.
Shrinkflation isn’t just something you encounter at the grocery store.
The mild-hybrid side of the powertrain is there to allow the engine to be cycled off as often as possible, on the theory that this will save gas — which is kind of an esoteric concern (if it is any concern) for people with the means to spend nearly $90,000 on a car.
On the upside, the A8 has long legs. It can go more than 600 miles on a full tank, which is easily 200 miles farther than the longest-range electric cars.
An eight-speed automatic is standard and so is Audi’s Quattro all-wheel-drive system. A rear-wheel-steering system is also available; it is primarily meant to make it easier to slot the A8 into a curbside parking spot.
On the road. Driving a nearly six-figure luxury sedan is not the exclusive experience it used to be — chiefly because of what’s no longer under the hood. The A8 accelerates about as quickly as a V6 Camry, both of which get to 60 in a tick over five seconds. Back when the A8 could be powered by a W12, it got to 60 in just over four seconds.
To be fair to the new V6-powered A8, it’s actually just about as quick as the V8-powered A8 used to be. But it’s not all about that. The V8 had a quality that is lacking here. A purring smoothness and powerful ease appropriate to the status of a nearly six-figure luxury car.
The V6 sounds like less because it is less. And it sounds like it’s working harder — because it is. It is necessary to push the right pedal harder and deeper to get the same performance out of it that the V8 offered up with less effort.
The A8 and its rivals are still luxury-priced cars, but they no longer deliver a driving experience commensurate with what they cost — though that may change as the six-cylinder engine becomes the new “exotic” engine.
At the curb. The A8 is still a large car — and that’s a tangible something-you-get for the money. Large cars are all but extinct outside of the luxury car (and top-of-the-line) segment. The largest you can get for less than luxury-car money is something midsize, like a Camry or an Accord. But even when you spend luxury car money, you don’t get as much as you used to.
The A8 is 209.5 inches long. Relative to a Camry, that’s longer, but only slightly. Oddly, much of the reason for the abbreviation is the truncated trunk. Big cars used to extend for feet behind the rear axle. Now they’re all pinch-butted and the result is a large car such as the A8 with a small car’s 12.8-cubic-foot trunk.
What you do get for the money in the A8 is cavernous rear-seat legroom: 44.3 inches, which is more legroom than most cars have up front — including the A8, which has 41.5 inches of legroom for the driver and front seat passenger. This makes the rear seats the place to be when you go for a ride in this car.
Especially when the car is ordered with the Executive package and reclining rear seats. It’s the perfect place to take a nap while on the go.
The rest. The A8 is available with luxury amenities such as massaging seats and heated armrests (front and back) that are not available in lesser-priced cars. For now.
But how long will it be before they are? Run-of-the-mill cars now almost all come standard with large LCD displays — and even LCD dashboards — which were luxury-priced car exclusives a decade ago. It is all but certain that many of today’s luxury-priced car exclusives will become commonplace car features before another 10 years pass, if not sooner.
The bottom line. This may be your last chance to buy an Audi with a V6 — at any price.
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