The Audi A8 claimed the crown of the sportiest luxury saloon and shakes so confident on the throne of the BMW 7 Series. Whether the King of Bavaria, the future comes from Ingolstadt, clears the first comparison.

~ Martin G. Puthz
A passion for technology and luxury they had in Bavaria, as the car was not yet invented. When fairy tale king Ludwig II (1845-1886) played in his party Lohengrin Grotto, a dynamo-generated electricity for the power plant colorful light. Meanwhile the people starved in candlelight. High tech was a privilege of rich people. Just like today when driving. Except that no one would come up with the idea, explain the BMW and Audi for their bosses to Fortschrittsdrangs crazy as it was the "Kini". Internet in the car and a touchpad, the Chinese can, might sound wacky but rather normal consumers, luxury car buyers, however, one must keep in good spirits.

Overview: All news and tests the Audi A8
No wonder, then, that in Bavaria's top producers with an innovation, the other hunts - whether they have dedicated themselves to the joy of driving or want to shine with edge through technology. Or both - as the new Audi A8. Forsch he calls himself the biggest sporting gun from his class and intends to use the 7 Series of BMW . Disempower Schau'n we even know if he really has the makings of a king of Bavaria. Decent look and perfectly balanced proportions disguise its true size, but does with 5.14 meters, the Audi almost seven inches longer than the BMW. Plus the interior can be read Feeling, however, rather than to the tape, because even during 7 Series you can enjoy sumptuous movement. Seats, which can buckling angle of the backrest to adjust almost everything electrical costs, although increases in saturated four-digit level, are worth for demanding frequent but their money.

Overview: All news and tests the BMW 7 Series
to control the art, a plethora of functions with a few simple steps, both opponents dominate brilliantly. With the push of iDrive BMW now are also technique-jerk along well, which is among other things, that the Munich in the renovation of its user logic Audi were inspired. Uniform decrease, from top to bottom durchzublätternde menus and easy-to-click-circles with letters and numbers, the risk of getting tangled up in the multimedia jungle. And if it happens, the "Back" button quickly everything on top. At Audi is the control panel of the MMI interface moved forward a bit and gain a better with the fingers now reach. As the first production car offers A8 also a touch pad. The touch-sensitive surface on the center tunnel allows entry of the handwritten Navi objectives or phone numbers, and also deciphered the sloppy scrawl. Nicely done, in this first stage but not yet operating Revolution, made the selection for the main menu should continue by voice or keyboard.
The touchpad is so into the game until the very end. The issue of Internet in the car know BMW drivers for some time. Now also brings Audi the information highway into the cockpit, but to other conditions. 7 Series owners can go for 12.50 euro monthly flat rate and pay online from the fourth year an additional 250 euros annual fee. At Audi the Web services billed by the mobile phone card, the costs depend on the agreement of the user. A8 drivers are still open only selected information. BMW drivers can surf unlimited, at least in the booth That lies in the A8 But a Google-map display on the navigation map, enabling both path finding with photo-realistic bird perspective the search for points of interest such as hotels and shops.

The lighter Audi A8 depends on the BMW 7 Series from among the performance
Since his body is made of aluminum, remains the A8 under two tons. This one feels. The BMW carries 220 pounds more weight around with him and thereby urges earlier in fast cornering to the outside. Otherwise, one might, given the ease with which it be 407 PS strong bi-turbo V8 bolzt through the traffic, hard to believe that here almost 2.2 tonnes to be moved. As the measurements show, the additional power and torque plus the BMW consumed but by its higher mass: The 35 weaker PS Audi has the nose in front, he also uses significantly less. nozzles at 100 km during BMW 14.1 liters of the fuel injection system, the Audi only 11.4. The A8 it is also the level of its lower speed Automatic benefit, which has eight steps (two more than the BMW gearbox), but for sporty driving style, unfortunately, jerky turns.

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