| Audi is in the midst of a powertrain overhaul for its flagship sedan, the A8, having already swapped the base 4.2-liter V-8 for a supercharged V-6 and introduced two versions of the same twin-turbocharged, 4.0-liter V-8 to the lineup. Next up is a new, fuel-efficient diesel model—powered by Audi's corporate 3.0-liter V-6 TDI engine—and the automaker has now announced pricing for it. The A8L TDI will cost $83,395 when it goes on sale later this year. Now, Audi has yet to release pricing info for the rest of the 2014 A8 lineup, so for now we'll compare the A8L TDI to its 2013 model year siblings. The diesel A8 will only be available in long-wheelbase form, and its price places it squarely between the $79,395 A8L 3.0T (supercharged V-6) and the $88,095 mid-level A8L 4.0T (twin-turbo V-8). For reference, the short-wheelbase A8 3.0T starts at $73,095 and the 4.0T at $81,795.
When Audi announced it was bringing a diesel A8 to the U.S.—along with an oil-burning A6, A7, and Q5—at the 2012 L.A. auto show, it boasted that the A8L TDI would return an estimated 24 mpg in the city and an astonishing 36 mpg on the highway. Those numbers have now been confirmed by the EPA, meaning the A8L TDI betters the (fairly decent) fuel-economy estimates of the A8L 3.0T, which stand at 18/28, by a significant margin and at only a marginal incremental cost. (Face it, at this price point, $4000 can be considered incremental—at least against other long-wheelbase A8s.) Moving outside of the Audi universe, the diesel A8L also will kick sand in the face of its key competitor, Mercedes-Benz's $93,905 S350 Bluetec diesel sedan, which is rated for 21/31 mpg.  from Car and Driver Blog http://blog.caranddriver.com | |||
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