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Rick Newman is the Chief Business Correspondent for U.S. News & World Report and a longtime car buff. He will be reviewing automobiles here on a regular basis, as well as writing about all things vehicular. Below is his "micro-review" of the 2011 Audi A8.
What's worth knowing: It's a chariot that's more refined than the BMW 7 series, more youthful than the Mercedes S class, and edgier than the Lexus LS.
Base price: $78,050
MPG range (city/highway): 17/27
Who it's for: Suburban royalty who want town-car space and deep luxury, and can live without the performance edge of a BMW or the tri-star snootiness of a Mercedes.
What's good: Styling is sharp and the gorgeous interior is clean and uncluttered. The digital interior controls provide lots of ways to customize climate and radio settings, yet a few dashboard buttons let you bypass all that if you want to keep it simple. Gee-whiz standard features include an advanced eight-speed transmission (which helps inch mileage out of the ghastly zone), a 19-speaker Bang & Olufsen audio system, and 18-way powered seats designed for the most finicky drivers.
What's bad: This isn't the kind of car you'd enter in the local road rally, yet purists ding the 420-horsepower A8 for being a bit less powerful than some German rivals. Whatever. You'd also think that for nearly $80,000 Audi could toss in a few luxury basics, like a power trunk and an adaptive cruise control system. But of course the automaker makes good money charging for those as options.
What to do: At this rarified level, all the cars are terrific. Choosing one comes down to splitting hairs on things you probably never used to care about, like the shading of the wood trim or the way the sun glints off the hood. Just test-drive them all, enjoy it, and see which one juices your biorhythms the most. And make sure you have a small trust fund set up for repairs, in case something goes wrong.
Click here for everything else you need to know about the Audi A8.
Follow Rick on Twitter, @rickjnewman.
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