[Tj2k]

The good:

Ascetics – I like the shape of the D4 though not yet as much as the D3 still. The D3 was a lovely shape and a nice progression from the D2 and I’m one who still loves the D2 as well. So whilst I acknowledge that the car has transitioned its looks bringing with it the newer Audi style to the front and rear LED side-lights that the R8 brought to the camp, I still think that the new 8 is too like the A4. This may be due to the A4 being more widely available or more of them around to that of the A8 – I don’t know, but I would have liked Audi to have made the A8 look a little more different to that of the 4.
New LED sidelights are somewhat aggressive looking – not too bright. The newer rear LED strip-light effect is very pleasing at the rear. My model does not, alas have adaptive lights or the full LED light upgrade so cannot comment on that – and over my D3, I already miss adaptive lights! ☹

Rear number plate lights are still filament bulbs I was rather surprised to see, also, so too are the boot cavity lights – I was really surprised to see. In my D3, (Psyche you’ll have noticed I’ve changed the filament bulb lights in your D3 to CANBUS aware LED lights). This is an upgraded I feel I’ll have to do!! Vanity lights for driver and passenger have been upgraded to LED though and they’re a welcome change.

Illuminated Sills – My D3 had retro fitted illuminated sills – and a very nice addition they are too! He new SE (so base spec) models, have fully integrated illuminated sills as standard. They’re smaller – but nonetheless attractive!

It's quicker, more responsive, more torque noticeable.

Audi Drive Select – so I took the car out, and drove it “briskly” – I didn’t drive it too harshly – but definitely briskly. Note that the car was in “D” and not “S”port. The car was also set to “Individual” and all settings beneath that where in “Auto”. There are a number of settings which can be adjusted to the drivers taste - such as Engine, Transmission, Steering, Suspension and so on - I've not played with these just yet, though I intend to and update accordingly! The car moved swiftly away from the mark, leaving all behind me, and accelerated vey well indeed. Gear changes are barely noticeable (8 speed transmission). Moving from an A-road onto a motorway an then allowing time for traffic to pass as I transitioned from central lane to the overtaking lane, the car dropped down and moved swiftly past the traffic to my left. Moving off the motorway, taking the next exit, slowing for entrance from the slip road to a roundabout, moving my foot from the brake pedal to the accelerator pedal, saw less transmission and turbo lag that the D3 sometimes could have been better at (though still not perfect) I went through the roundabout, off my exit and slowed the car, up to a set of traffic lights.

Moving off again and now driving in typical town traffic, maintained a sub-40mph speed, I noticed that the transmission was holding gears down – I found that the car was going toward the full extent of the gear range, for each of the gears it used before changing. Looking at the DIS, I’d now noticed that the Transmission indicator had transitioned from “D” to “S” automatically and so the car had seemingly learned my driving style and adapted to the sportier drive. Looking back, I had also noticed the suspension had tightened up as well. So I had an issue with that – as I found myself wanting to get the car driving into a relaxed / economical manner now I’d dropped out of warp. So, I shifted the gear lever back to D and the car again became more relaxed.

So I need to experiment with this a little more – but a dramatic difference to the D3 there – I know the D3 does adapt to the drivers style of driving (even in D and not S) – but certainly not as noticeably as the D4.

Service Menu – On my last (& best) D3, it did not have a service menu on it but I think the later D3 after my 2006 model had it introduced. My earlier D3 would tell me when the variable service was due by hitting the check button, as it did on my 04 4.2 petrol but on my 06 4.2 Tdi, the function had been supressed though as you guys will doubtless confirm, I think Audi added an option to the MMI display (which can be retrospectively added by the way, if you’re on the right MMI version) to tell you when the service was due. The new A8 has this function as you might expect. This was split into two - an Oil Service and a Service - the oil service being significantly sooner! Technically, two services!!??

Sports Rear Differential – so, just one of the many reasons I wanted a 4.2tdi, was because of the sports rear diff fitted only as standard to the 4.2tdi. Having read up on this prior to purchase, I was eager to put that to the test. The 8 is a big car, there’s no getting away from that but the D4 does handle better over the D3. The rear diff is supposed to control traction to the rear wheels better than standard Quattro and regulate power to the inner wheel and disperse more power to the rear wheel on the outer-side of the bend – effectively pushing the vehicle into the corner. Well, I *think* can confirm, this works – and the car progresses around sharp bends and indeed, takes inclines very well indeed as well. Coupled with the steering changes (see my note on steering), the car handles like a much smaller car than it actually is - not a mini - but still.