2007 Audi A8 L W12 Road Test

With all of this talk about the new Audi R8 supercar, a shadow is cast over

The mighty A8 L W12 is the ultimate Audi - luxurious, handsome and powerful. (Photo: Justin Couture, American Auto Press)

another very important product. Even though the R8 has looks that could kill and one of the best V8 powerplants in the world, Audi's top dog is still the A8, and more specifically their ultimate flagship model, the long wheelbase A8 L W12. This isn't the first time that Audi has sold a twelve-cylinder A8, as there were a very limited number of these luxury machines in the understated and very rare first generation shape. But now in its second generation, and a much more popular and distinguished machine at that, this latest A8 W12 is in many ways the ultimate representation of Audi luxury.

Designed in a handsome state of tasteful reservation, the A8 W12 is quite possibly the finest looking machine in the grand luxury sedan segment. The extra 5.1-inch stretch is seamlessly hidden in the roof, and the car as a whole looks just as well balanced as the short wheelbase model. And though the W12 could easily be distinguished from other A8s when it was first launched due to the then-new trapezoidal grille and LED headlamps, this is no longer the case as all A8s carry these design cues. The extra money spent on the W12 is revealed in subtler details, such as the tailpipes, which have been cleanly integrated into the rear bumpers. Or, have closer look at the daytime running lights, each of which is

Turn night into day with powerful xenon and LED headlamps. (Photo: Justin Couture, American Auto Press)

composed of five extremely bright LEDs (though shared now with the S8). It's a car that, upon leaving, causes a glance backwards while walking away. Sitting there, on its lowered air suspension and tuning fork 20-inch alloy wheels, it looks very, very pretty. And when you return at night it lights up in a dramatic yet cool fashion, with pinpoint LEDs under the door handles and beneath the side view mirrors. Very impressive indeed. No wonder Jason Statham drives one in the second installment of Transporter – it's just so slick, and such a devilishly handsome automobile.

My admiration continues with great enthusiasm inside the car. Just as with any other A8, the W12 has the finest interior in the business, bar none. Its controls are logical and easy to figure out, and it's minimalist when you want it to be, rather than allowing technology to be forced upon you by default. At this end of the market, anything but flawless fit and finish would be laughed out of the marketplace, and the Audi passes with flying colors. What conveys more of a message is the leather, the color, the ambiance and the styling. It's the way the leather around the steering

The A8's cabin is still in a class of its own when it comes to style. (Photo: Justin Couture, American Auto Press)

wheel feels as it slips through your fingertips, or the softness of the Alcantara that lines everything above the window line. It's the deep gloss of the wood contrasted with hairline brush marks of the aluminum trim versus the precision stitching of the leather on the dashboard that surrounds it above and below. It's the soft white glow at night that seeps in from the door panels, foot wells and door pockets, and the warm yellow lighting that creates just the right of ambient glow while cruising around in the dark. No matter how many A8s I drive, the interior never ceases to leave me speechless.

Neither does Audi's decision to opt for a non-vee layout for its twelve-cylinder engine. It and others in the VAG kingdom are the only companies in the world who bother with anything other than a V (or an I, or an H). This is an immensely complicated engine, packaging twelve cylinders into a compact package about as long as a traditional inline-four; just thinking about what went into engineering the car's crankshaft makes my head spin. The engine's ECU must have been a nightmare to program too, considering that four camshafts control the car's 48 valves, with each

The world's most popular 12-cylinder engine resides under the hood of the A8 W12. (Photo: Justin Couture, American Auto Press)

camshaft featuring variable valve timing. It seems to have worked, as for all the different brands that make twelve cylinder cars, including Ferrari, BMW and Mercedes-Benz, they're all a drop in the pond compared to the W12. Believe it or not, there are more W12s around the world than any other brand of 12-cylinder engine. Keep in mind that it isn't just Audi using this engine, but Volkswagen and its British sibling Bentley that make up the brunt of W12 volume.

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