Audi A8 L W12

So far as I can see, and I accept some subtle point may have escaped me, people who go around in flagship limousines like this new Audi A8 L 6.0 do so for the same reason they buy gold Rolex watches. And I can see but one point to wearing a gold Rolex: to let those around you know you have more money than they have.

And so it is with this A8. Like the aforementioned shiny timepiece, you can’t miss it, thanks to the domineering new grille Audi has slapped on its hitherto discreet snout and, if that somehow eludes your attention, the chromed W12 badge should leave you in no doubt at all that his really is bigger than yours.

Fair enough. This is a car that will sell in tiny quantities and if Audi reckons it can shift ’em, we’re not about to say it shouldn’t. Indeed, if you’d never travelled in any other A8, you could well escape from an afternoon in the company of the W12 thinking it was one of finest ways of getting from one place to another yet devised. But it’s not.

Here’s why. At £75,775, it costs £17,440 more than the next-most-expensive A8, the similarly long-wheelbase A8 L 4.2. For that you’re buying more than the W12 engine of VW Phaeton and (in turbocharged form) Bentley Continental GT fame. Options to the value of £6970 are included in the standard equipment list, but this includes £1250 for different 18in alloy wheels and still values the engine at over 10 grand.

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Andrew Frankel

Engine

• Layout 12 , 5998 cc
• Max power 444 bhp at 6200 rpm
• Max torque 427 lb ft at 4000 rpm

How much?

• Price as tested £75,775

From autocar.co.uk