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AUTOMOBILE AUDI

An exclusive inside look at the latest engineering from Audi

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December 2008 | www.lifestyleliving.in

CHETAN BHATTARAI THE THING to possess here is a car, not just an ordinary car, but a car from the land of marvellous technology and engineering– Germany. No, it’s not an S-Class Mercedes Benz or a 7-Series BMW, it’s an Audi. So, why an Audi? For starters, the A8 is turning heads, not just for its awesome looks but also for its superb technology.

The A8 looks simple, but is loaded with excellent features. Its design and technology are committed to give you the ultimate style statement and pleasure of driving. Before we start our ride, let’s do some safety checks. The Audi A8 comes with an electronic safety system, called the Audi Side Assist. This system uses a radar to detect cars driving in

December 2008 | www.lifestyleliving.in

its blind spots. While changing lanes, the blind-spot indicator flashes yellow LEDs in the mirror housings to warn you that the way is not clear. Audi Lane Assist uses a small camera to detect lane changing. The driving wheel vibrates if the driver wanders to the other lane without signalling first.

In India, the car is available in three trims– the A8, A8 L and the powerful 12-cylinder A8 L W12. The first two are powered by a 4.2-litre, 350-horsepower V8, while the A8 L W12 offers a 6-litre engine. That’s a lot of power for a luxury saloon.

The car comes with a Quattro all-wheel drive. The Audi Space Frame ASF aluminium body is lighter than the traditional steel frames, but stronger. It also has the four-wheel anti-lock brakes (ABS) system, which makes braking safer, but that does not mean you don’t keep a distance or drive rashly.

When you buy something like A8, you should also be given a chance to play with its interiors. Customisation of the interiors and exteriors is possible to a great extent.The car is spacious inside and you can actually customise it. Style the interiors according to your personal taste to feel a sense of satisfaction. You don’t need to worry about the colour or fabric of the seat covers. You can choose from a range of colours, and style accordingly. The leather upholstery is a fine work of design and artistry.

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AUTOMOBILE AUDI

A4

A6

A8

TT

Q7

It’s Vorsprung durch Technik at its most futuristic.The new Audi A4 is equipped with Audi Drive Select–it adjusts its suspension to suit the road and your mood better. With Quattro, our renowned permanent all-wheel drive technology, it keeps you on the road even where there’s none.

It’s cutting-edge technology and performance is measured by different standards. Audi A6 embodies a fascinating combination of design, style, high-quality materials and finish, and driving dynamics.

It is a synthesis uniting form with passion, function with comfort and power with supreme sportiness.

Luxurious amounts of space and dynamic design make the A8 sporty luxury saloon, sets standards with its new design idiom and innovative technology.

The luxury saloon brings together Quattro fourwheel drive. The A8’s design and technology redefine the benchmark in every respect. The 12cylinder A8 offers comfort and luxury at the highest level.

A sports car is a vehicle that combines clarity and form with progressive technology to produce the ultimate experience in driving.

The Audi TT combines these virtues. It is sporty and harmonious, with an open or closed roof, in both the first and second generations.

Those in the lead don’t need compromises, they want the solution. Are you looking for a vehicle that is as comfortable to drive to work as to drive in the mountains? A car to represent your elegance, your strengths and your taste? Would you like a companion that offers you a flexible spacious interior and almost unlimited driving pleasure?

Discover the Q7.

The customised paint option allows you to have your dream car in the colour of your choice. You can literally create the type of car you want. Interiors, exteriors, engine, paint and everything that you want to have in your dream machine.

Apart from customisation, Audi also fulfils the information and entertainment thirst of its drivers. Audi calls it infotainment. The car has a multi media interface (MMI) display, which lets you control all the functions in the interface. The car is loaded with a DVD navigation aid, a seven-inch screen and a voice activated AM/FM radio with AudioPilot(R) speed-sensitive volume. The car has the famous and reliable 12-speaker Bose sound system and a six-disc CD changer, an MP3 player and a Sirius satellite radio. Now, this is what you call infotainment. The MMI

display and the controls are within easy reach of the driver and ensure that the driver, is not distracted while using the controls.

The car sets a benchmark in its segment.

People with a sense of style and elegance use this beauty. Argentina’s Presidential cavalcade has a number of armoured A8s.

The Hollywood action movie, Transporter 2, uses this car as the best friend of the hero, Jason Statham. Louis Leterrier, the director of Transporter 2 agrees that the difficult stunts were possible because the car was an Audi, and believes that the A8 W12 is the world’s best car combining both sports and luxury.

Other movies that also used Audis were Legally Blonde, About a Boy, Mission Impossible II and Ronin. The Audi RSQ concept car starred in the 2005 Will Smith movie iRobot. In the

recent releases, actors Robert Downey Jr and Gwyneth Paltrow drive Audis in the action movie Iron Man, released in May. The hero, Tony Stark (played by Downey), drives Audi’s flagship sports car, the R8, while Paltrow zips in the new S5 performance coupe.

British comedy actor Rowan Atkinson and Australian popstar Kylie Minogue are the proud owners of customised (to individual tastes) Audi A8s. It is reported that Kylie Minogue spent 20,000 pounds on her car’s interiors, with special mirrors, top-end sound systems and seat headrests with screens in front.

So, if you want to go for a car that has a sporty and elegant look and with a powerful engine driven by the famous and mighty, then it should be the Audi A8. Happy driving.

Audi R8

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December 2008 | www.lifestyleliving.in