2005 Audi A8 SWB W12 - quintessential Q car?
Discussion
I trust PH will soon be celebrating the 20th anniversary of Audi's 'top athlete' erstwhile halo car?
https://www.autointell.com/News-2004/Feb-2004/Feb-...
Don't confuse it with its longer A8L limo cousin with its softer suspension and long-legged gearing. Only about 1,400 of these amazingly agile quattro sports saloons were produced around 2004/5 as a stopgap between the 'Ronin' V8 D2 and the V10 D3 S8. Ferdinand Piech allegedly preferred it to the VW Phaeton. I think fewer than 70 RHD versions were sold in the UK - and ignored by the motoring press. At the time, apart from the Ferrari 612, it had few competitors. Apart from mechanically similar Bentleys, no other 12 cylinder sports saloons, e.g. the weighty BMW 760i and pricy MB S600, had four wheel drive. The costly Aston Martin's relatively primitive engines with their dodgy oil supply and badly placed cats didn't even have variable valve timing. The sub 400hp 8 cyclinder Maserati Quattroporte V had an iffy gearbox till 2007 and the Jaguar XJR just wasn't quite in the same league. None were as sleek (Cd <30) as the A8's ageless aluminium body, including subframes.
I bought mine over ten years ago as a retirement 'forever car' and obtained its descriptive W12 AYE vanity plate from the DVLA for a minimal sum. Such big old complex cars are always a gamble but it's easy enough to look after and things like tyres and brake pads are no more expensive than similar sized cars. So far the biggest bill has been £500 for a seized rear EPB caliper, noticed when trying to replace the rear pads. The pre-March 2006 ones also benefit from a low VED. They hardly ever come up for sale - although there's an overpriced highmiler that's been on a well known site for some time now if PH would like to feature it on 'shed of the week'.
https://www.autointell.com/News-2004/Feb-2004/Feb-...
Don't confuse it with its longer A8L limo cousin with its softer suspension and long-legged gearing. Only about 1,400 of these amazingly agile quattro sports saloons were produced around 2004/5 as a stopgap between the 'Ronin' V8 D2 and the V10 D3 S8. Ferdinand Piech allegedly preferred it to the VW Phaeton. I think fewer than 70 RHD versions were sold in the UK - and ignored by the motoring press. At the time, apart from the Ferrari 612, it had few competitors. Apart from mechanically similar Bentleys, no other 12 cylinder sports saloons, e.g. the weighty BMW 760i and pricy MB S600, had four wheel drive. The costly Aston Martin's relatively primitive engines with their dodgy oil supply and badly placed cats didn't even have variable valve timing. The sub 400hp 8 cyclinder Maserati Quattroporte V had an iffy gearbox till 2007 and the Jaguar XJR just wasn't quite in the same league. None were as sleek (Cd <30) as the A8's ageless aluminium body, including subframes.
I bought mine over ten years ago as a retirement 'forever car' and obtained its descriptive W12 AYE vanity plate from the DVLA for a minimal sum. Such big old complex cars are always a gamble but it's easy enough to look after and things like tyres and brake pads are no more expensive than similar sized cars. So far the biggest bill has been £500 for a seized rear EPB caliper, noticed when trying to replace the rear pads. The pre-March 2006 ones also benefit from a low VED. They hardly ever come up for sale - although there's an overpriced highmiler that's been on a well known site for some time now if PH would like to feature it on 'shed of the week'.
MercedesClassic said:
Interesting car, I didn't know they were so different to the LWB version. Yours looks very understated compared to the few others I've seen for sale over the years.
Are you going to post more about it?
Sorry for late reply - just happened to revisit this tonight. As per 'bork factor' (I had to google this), nothing much has gone wrong in my 11yrs ownership. I did post something about its suspension problem .....Are you going to post more about it?
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
....and a couple of years ago one of the EPB calipers had seized preventing renewal of the rear brake pads - £500 to sort. But that's been the biggest bill. I just change the oil myself every 10k miles (which isn't that often these days), and a set of front pads at a mere £35 was easy for me to replace. All the discs are original, but it hasn't done many miles - less than 80,000. Not much else to mention, really. Even if it goes 'bork' tomorrow I suppose I've had my moneysworth, but I intend to keep it indefinitely - quite apart from being such excellent VFM it's such a satisfying car!
Sadly no sign yet of a celebration of its 20yr birthday! But I suppose there are so few of them in the UK hardly anyone knows they exist.
Thanks MC, so do I! I thought I should also mention possibly the the most important part of its powertrain - the low gearing. I don't think the cogs inside the ZF HP6 can be altered. I think it's the final drive that confers the amazing 0-60 (probably under 5secs if using the recommended 98 octane; but it runs quite happily on E10 plonk) and mid-range acceleration, great for A road overtaking. In 6th gear it gives only 30mph per 1000 revs, about the same as Mrs L's Peugeot 3cyl motor bike-size engine with a similar Japanese version of the HP6. Here's a link to an old enthusiastic description on another site.....
https://forum.a8parts.co.uk/showthread.php?t=4747
....I usually drive it carefully in Dr Jekyll mode; gentle riding and gliding can get 20mpg. But not when in Mr Hyde howl mode when the exhaust flaps open and four wheels tear at the tarmac.....
https://forum.a8parts.co.uk/showthread.php?t=4747
....I usually drive it carefully in Dr Jekyll mode; gentle riding and gliding can get 20mpg. But not when in Mr Hyde howl mode when the exhaust flaps open and four wheels tear at the tarmac.....
30MPH per 1000RPM would be close to my old 3 speed XJR-S V12 which would be doing 3000RPM at 80. Very good for responsiveness at motorway speed, not so good for fuel economy 
My X351 XJ with a later verion of the ZF6 is geared to be doing 42MPH per 1000RPM in top, and the ZF8 cars drop this even further.
I love these big 12 cylinder cars from mainstream manufacturers, they always sell in absolutely penny numbers to the point I probably see 200x more Lamborghinis (and I mean real ones) for every V12 barge. In fact in the last couple of years I've only seen one C216 CL600, one Maybach S680, and a BMW 760Li in the wild. I think I've only ever seen 2 or 3 W12 A8s of any description, while Flying Spurs (and V12 RRs) are a common enough spot in London.
Hope it continues to serve you well, the SWB ones are always more interesting for being an outlier; both my X305 XJ12 and my current XJ Supersport are SWB versions.

My X351 XJ with a later verion of the ZF6 is geared to be doing 42MPH per 1000RPM in top, and the ZF8 cars drop this even further.
I love these big 12 cylinder cars from mainstream manufacturers, they always sell in absolutely penny numbers to the point I probably see 200x more Lamborghinis (and I mean real ones) for every V12 barge. In fact in the last couple of years I've only seen one C216 CL600, one Maybach S680, and a BMW 760Li in the wild. I think I've only ever seen 2 or 3 W12 A8s of any description, while Flying Spurs (and V12 RRs) are a common enough spot in London.
Hope it continues to serve you well, the SWB ones are always more interesting for being an outlier; both my X305 XJ12 and my current XJ Supersport are SWB versions.
Leveret said:
Krikkit said:
Hmm, that's very poor. In theory even a modest autobahn cruise altitude would have you at well over 4000 RPM in top?
True, but then it's not designed to be a long-legged M-way cruiser. In theory, it might do over 180mph without its 250kph limiter.Don't get me wrong, it's a very lovely car indeed, but it seems like an odd ratio choice for what I would've said would be a very capable cruiser with all that torque and refinement.
Walshenham said:
These come from that interesting era where Audi didn t quite know what to do with their s branding.
From memory, don t these have basically the same performance as the S8 v10 of the same vintage?
Cool as you like though.
Mercedes did the same thing with the S600 and S63 AMG. Same performance, same power, but in character they were very different. SL55k/S55k and SL600/S600 before that too.From memory, don t these have basically the same performance as the S8 v10 of the same vintage?
Cool as you like though.
Seems like a magical time when it's "4.0 twin turbo or p

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