A particularly sad day... but D3 now or D4?

[d.f.]

Apologies that I've not been too active of late but I have been watching the shenanigans going on here when I flop at the end of the day. Love this forum.

Well, here we go: sadly I have written off my beautiful D3. A flukey 17-20mph clip of the curb, to avoid being hit by a white van recklessly careering towards me, and at such an angle that a) the steering rack buckled and b) the subframe cracked in 3 places (at one part sheared in two). My dear uber-mechanic Duncan Slade says if I tried it 100 times again it wouldn't happen.

At least nobody got hurt but gutted doesn't come close to describing how I feel.

Once I have been through all the insurance business another A8 is absolutely-no-doubt-about-it-definitely happening, but I wanted to reach out for hard-won wise advice from forum members:

I sat in a D4 recently and I have to say I was really taken with the internal layout. More ergonomic I thought. You know where this is going...

Are there members here who have gone from D3 to D4? Would love to read your thoughts on the switch. Pros and cons and indifferences.

And then there is also the diesel (which is what I had - 3.0) to petrol conundrum.

Regards to all in advance...

All hail the 8.

David.