Audi A8L extended, Luxury Fit for a King
Audi has traditionally been known for their performance and engineering. What happens when Audi decides to focus first and foremost on luxury? You end up with something like the Audi A8L extended.
The Audi A8L extended has been stretched and has gained two extra doors. The result is a limousine with an overall length of 20.9 feet and a wheelbase stretching 13.8 feet. It is a very long luxury sedan that required over a year to get right.
The A8L extended is more than just cutting a vehicle in half putting new panels in. The sedan was largely reengineered with extensive modifications extending from the A-pillar on back. The new passenger section consists of extruded aluminum sections for the extended side sills and center tunnel while a double rear bulkhead was implemented to separate the passenger area from the trunk compartment.
Torsional and flexural rigidity is the same as that for the Audi A8L sedan. This is accomplished with the use aluminum profiled tubes and cross-braces in the roof, which has a see-through glass panel measuring 7.9 feet in length. Because of the length of the A8L extended and to comply with the law, the luxury Audi comes with side marker lights integrated into the headlight and taillight clusters.
Unrivalled Luxury
The interior of the A8L is well, fit fir a king. Each row of seats consists of two large captains chairs covered in “extra-supple” Valcona leather featuring a velvet beige color. The second and third rows of individual seats and are electrically adjusted with the third row separated by a full-length center console featuring a screen and cool box.
Performance
Powering the A8L extended is a turbocharged 3.0 liter six cylinder engine producing 310 horsepower and a maximum torque of 324.5 lb-ft. This is sufficient to propel the extra long sedan from 0 to 62 miles per hour in just 7.1 seconds, accelerating all the way to a capped 155 miles per hour. While this performance will not win any competitions, it is sufficient to extricate VIP passengers from most every threat.
The added length of the A8L extended results in the vehicle tipping the scales at 5,330 pounds. However, this added weight is sufficient for the brakes from the Audi S8. The limousine also benefits from an eight-speed tiptronic channeling power to all four wheels through the all-wheel drive Quattro system.
While not publicly acknowledged as of yet, it is rumored that the Norwegian royal family has commissioned a six door A8L extended for celebration of King Harald’s 25th Anniversary as King.
Source: Audi
