Audi?A8
The?Audi?A8?is?a?four-door,?full-size,?luxury?sedan?manufactured?and?marketed?by?the?German?automaker?Audi?since?1994.?Succeeding?the?Audi?V8,?and?now?in?its?third?generation,?the?A8?has?been?offered?with?both?front-?or?permanent?all-wheel?drive—and?in?short-?and?long-wheelbaseXSS?variants.?The?first?two?generations?employed?the?Volkswagen?Group?D?platform,?with?the?current?generation?deriving?from?the?MLB?platform.?After?the?original?model's?1994?release,?Audi?released?the?second?generation?in?late?2002,?and?the?third?and?current?iteration?in?late?2009.
Development?
Audi?Space?FrameXSS?Concept?Car
In?1982,?Ferdinand?Pi?ch?signed?an?agreement?with?Aluminum?Company?of?America.?The?objective?was?to?design?and?develop?a?car?that?would?be?substantially?lighter?than?any?other?vehicles?in?its?class?(to?compensate?for?the?fact?that?standard?all-wheel?drive?was?around?100?kg?heavier?than?competitors'?rear-wheel?drive).?In?the?late?1980s,?it?was?decided?that?the?target?vehicle?would?be?a?successor?to?the?V8?(Typ?4C)?flagship?introduced?in?1988.?By?1990,?a?final?design?by?Chris?Bird?and?Dirk?van?Braeckel?was?chosen?and?frozen?for?series?production?in?mid-1991.?In?September?1993,?the?Audi?Space?FrameXSS?(ASF)?Concept?was?unveiled?at?the?1993?Frankfurt?Motor?Show?(IAA)?as?a?D2?Typ?4D?prototype?in?polished?aluminum.?Pilot?production?began?in?December?1993?and?development?ended?in?early?1994,?at?a?total?cost?of?$700?million?(£418.1?million).
Introduction?
The?Audi?A8?(Typ?4D)?was?presented?in?February?1994?and?debuted?at?the?1994?Geneva?Auto?Show?in?March,?with?full-scale?factory?production?commencing?in?June?1994,?although?it?was?not?until?October?1996,?for?the?1997?model?year?that?it?became?available?in?North?America.?Unlike?its?predecessor,?the?Audi?V8?model,?which?was?built?on?an?existing?steel?platform,?the?A8?debuted?on?the?then-new?Volkswagen?Group?D2?platform,?an?all?aluminium?monocoque,?marketed?as?the?"Audi?Space?Frame"?(ASF),?which?helped?to?reduce?weight?and?preserve?structural?rigidity.?The?saloon/sedan?was?offered?in?both?the?A8?(standard?wheelbase),?and?the?A8?L?extended?or?long-wheelbaseXSS?(LWB)?version.?The?A8?L?adds?5?inches?(127?mm)?of?rear?legroom.?Updates?to?the?car?in?1997?included?the?addition?of?six?interior?airbags.?The?A8?was?designed?as?a?competitor?to?fellow?German?rivals?Mercedes?Benz?S?Class?and?the?BMW?7?Series.
In?1997,?Audi?introduced?the?first?series?production?ESP?Electronic?stability?control?for?all-wheel?drive?vehicles?(Audi?A8?and?Audi?A6)–?the?world's?first?production?cars?with?both?front?and?rear?side?airbags.
For?1997,?the?new?A8?was?available?with?either?front-wheel?drive?(FWD),?or?the?Torsen-based?quattro?permanent?four-wheel?drive.?The?FWD?models?are?powered?by?a?2.8-litre?V6?engine,?producing?142?kilowatts?(193?PS;?190?bhp),?and?a?3.7-litre?V8?engine?producing?171.5?kilowatts?(233?PS;?230?bhp),?while?the?quattro?received?a?4.2-litre?V8?producing?220?kilowatts?(299?PS;?295?bhp).