Audi A8 L 60 TDI

What Do You Call an 850-LB guard dog? Call it whatever you want, it’s an 850-lb guard dog! The same can be said about Audi’s A8 L with their most powerful production diesel motor under the bonnet. Call the A8 L 60 TDI a luxury saloon, a premium family car, a limousine or luxury yacht on four wheels, it is quite a creation. Whether the ‘L’ stands for ‘long wheelbase’ or ‘limousine’ or ‘locomotive’ I’m not sure, but it adheres to every one of those descriptions faultlessly. For one, it sports a wheelbase 130 millimetres longer than the standard A8. Second, the rear seats have a business-class style raise-and-recline function which lets you relax in cosseted luxury, with the premium perforated leather and massage function adding those extra touches to ensure you never want to leave. Third, the engine, a 4.2-litre V8 turbo-diesel yes, it’s badged ‘60 TDI’, and, no, it’s not a 6.0-litre engine makes a locomotive-like 850 Nm of peak torque. So you see what it’s about then?

Usually, I would rave about the fact that it is a big V8, and it’s a turbocharged diesel with loads of torque, more than two A4 2.0 TDIs put together, and it has an eight-speed tiptronic automatic gearbox, and the unbelievably grippy quattro intelligent all-wheel-drive system which powers this 2.2-tonne leather-and-gadget-wielding behemoth to 100 km/h in just five seconds. But not today. This car is about moving up, acquired by those who have climbed higher up the ladder of success and want to celebrate it. It is as much about the equipment and cutting-edge technology as it is about comfort and speed. So, then, what’s changed?

For starters, the Matrix LED headlamps are the obvious giveaway on the facelift model. The lengthy, full-looking bodywork looks understated and isn’t over-styled in the least, but shows off the generous proportions the A8 L offers. Simple lines do their job to the best of their ability and the result is something extremely satisfying and, quite simply, desirable. I’d like to clarify that the 60 TDI is not the absolute top-of-the-line A8 there is. The S8 is the more sport-oriented fl agship, while the A8 L W12, which packs pretty much everything on the equipment list as standard kit, including night vision, is the peak of the Ingolstadt luxury mountain. The A8 L you see here is called the ‘India Edition’, and features a lot of kit from the W12 model as well as some of the good stuff from ‘Audi exclusive’ trim works.

Don’t get me wrong, the 60 TDI is the most powerful oil-burning variant on offer from Audi, this side of the R18 TDI Le Mans racer, and it’s got the kit to match the credentials of its big heart. Take it for a spin and it’ll hit triple digits before you realise what’s happened. And the head-up display shows its use right there, but there’s more on the drive later.

Inside, the cabin isn’t your regular leather and wood affair. Yes, there’s a lot of leather and wood, but they’re accompanied by quality craftsmanship and technological bits which blend old-world charm with contemporary practicality. The balance of rich beige leather, contrast dark brown leather and aluminium and gloss black finish lends the cabin an exclusive and elegant touch. One can run their fingers on the fine grain ash wood trim while making a voice call to their children via the connected mobile telephone. There’s even a Wi-Fi hotspot for mobile data connectivity, not to mention satellite navigation with traffic alerts.

Entertainment is taken care of by a Bang & Olufsen audio system with a six-disc DVD-changer, Bluetooth, iPod, SD card and even more forms of connectivity. The room at the front is considerable and quite generous even with the front seat taken as far forward as possible. The Audi touch-enabled MultiMedia Interface (MMI Touch) makes life easy on the move, but, let it be said, at reasonable speeds. Then again, if the rear seat is where you will spend most of your time, this car surely won’t disappoint.

With the extended wheelbase adding more room, the car feels extremely spacious and the panoramic sunroof adds to the airiness. Choose the left side to spend your drive time and you have a front passenger seat which can be folded forward to create a relaxed seating akin to first-class aboard an Airbus (the big one). Add the selectable massage function via remote control, with four options and five levels of speed and intensity, and it’s a car you really don’t want to get out of. The centre console at the rear offers several settings and hands over control of the rear dual a-c zones. Rear seat occupants also get to enjoy the twin high-resolution LCD screens. There’s also a refrigerator hidden away in the back panel behind the arm-rest.

Practicality is not a word one would usually link to something as large as the A8 L, but it does make a lot of sense if you want a quick car with all the luxuries in the world and, of course, can afford it. The boot is a large 490 litres and there are loads of storage spaces within the cabin as well. The ride-height control lets you raise the car a good 45 millimetres, taking the clearance up to 165 mm; just right for those annoyingly tall speed-bumps which threaten to disintegrate your transfer box from the underbody.

Speaking of which, this is a 4WD Audi and anyone who knows quattro knows that it delivers in dry and wet conditions and gives exceptional grip. In this turbo-diesel-V8, 2,170-kg A8 L, it rockets to 200 km/h in just 19 seconds. Given the freedom, it will do an electronically-limited 250 km/h; just right for meeting those deadlines then! The handling is excellent and even when taking sweeping corners at speed, there is hardly any perceptible body-roll. The ride quality from the air suspension, even with the 19” wheels and 45-profile tyre set-up, is also very good, and the car wafts over undulations, eliminating them at highway speeds.

We were driving around the IT district, and, well, one would expect the folk there to be smart. But, alas, every traffic rule was being fl outed several times a minute by those professionals turned moronic pedestrians who had no clue to what a roundabout was and there were several of those or how to go around one. Thankfully, the braking is exceptional too. Coming to a standstill from 100 km/h takes just over 2.6 seconds and the big Audi needs just about 36 metres (or 120 feet) to shed all of that speed. If you were wondering, the V8 TDI motor doesn’t drink as much diesel as we were expecting either. With about 10 km/l on the highway and 7.5 in the bustling city traffic, it isn’t half bad.

The A8 L 60 TDI quattro makes perfect sense for someone powerful who loves power and the feeling of being in control. The Rs 1.23 crore price-tag is the only deterrent, but when you compare the price you pay for other similar offerings from the competition, which feature two less cylinders in diesel guise and are just rear-wheel driven, it stands out; and it stands out like an 850-lb Rottweiler, doesn’t it?