Unfazed Audi A8

There's even a vented and heated seating option that features diamond pattern New Zealand leather, which cossets almost to the point of decadence.

It's all as warm and welcoming as earlier models were cold and perhaps uninspiring.

Instead of needing a bulky second binnacle for its Sat-Nav screen as some makes do, the big Audi has a pop-up device that disappears when not in use.

While Audi was at it, it simplified and reduced the clutter involved in the A8's Multi Media Interface (MMI). Now, its central knob (or mouse), and shortcut buttons are mounted closer to the confluence of the dash and console and it's more intuitive.

Audi has, possibly without realising it, taken up a gear lever design that harks back to the asymmetrical shift bar used by BMW in the 80s and early 90s.

By having the quadrant rod at one end of the bar, which has an intuitively-placed detent button at the thumb end, the A8 has left and right-hand drive levers for its new eight-speed transmission.

It works beautifully, with no need to look at the lever for reverse, neutral and drive selection – which is the case in at least a couple of the A8's competitors.

The A8's driving environment is brilliant, comfortable and minutely adjustable for a range of sizes.

But you won't want to spend time in the rear while the driving seat is available, as possibly more than any A8 before it, the new model is a driver's car.

I tried all three of the engines available at the car's launch.

Audi offers a 4.2-litre TDI V8 that gurgles out 258kW and a huge 800Nm wedge of torque from 1750 to 2750rpm, a 4.2-litre petrol FSi V8 with 273kW and 445Nm, and a new 3.0-litre TDI V6 with 184kW and 551Nm on tap.

The power and torque of each of the engines increase considerably compared with the equivalent old units, while fuel consumption has decreased by as much as 22 per cent, thanks to new efficiency technologies.

The V6 TDi manages 6.6L/100km (22 per cent better than the previous V6 diesel).

The larger V8 diesel manages 7.6L/100km, but what's more surprising, is the similarly sized V8 petrol unit, which still manages to sup just 9.5L/100km.

The V8 diesel reaches 100km/h in 5.5secs, while the V8 petrol takes two-tenths longer.

The free-spinning nature of the petrol V8 will woo some drivers, but for me the sheer thumping shovelsful of torque offered up by the similarly-sized diesel would be my preference, though for New Zealand, the 3.0L TDi V6 will be more than adequate, with an astonishing zero to 100kmh time of 6.6 seconds.

I mistook it on the second drive day for the V8 I'd already used and it wasn't until I read the spec sheet that I realised.

This could save a lot of money!

The A8's new eight-speed automatic is uncanny, with Audi's unique Google Earth Sat-Nav set up hooked up it can even garner the information required to predict your shift requirements based on geography, gradient and position on the road.

Cornering performance is all a matter of taste and preference.

Using the Audi drive select system, the car's suspension rates, steering and accelerator reactions can be adjusted for the job at hand.

The big Audi's Dynamic Steering system also alters the hydraulic systems turning ratio according to speed of the car, so the company seems to have thought of everything.

Even in comfort and normal modes, the A8 seemed nimble and taut enough for most conditions.

On one particular stretch of back road that took my fancy, well away from traffic, but unfortunately, not the weather, the A8 would wriggle and dart on mud and gravel slurry, but would always react perfectly to driver input.

When the A8 arrives in New Zealand sometime later in the year, its distributors, in trying to juggle prices will have to make some curly decisions about what to leave in or out of the cars.