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When I was in the Boy Scouts, I achieved the rank of auk, the now-extinct, flightless bird, through no fault of theirs. Even at that tender age I was of the view that the great outdoors was something our evolutionary history had been aimed at overcoming, rather than embracing. But I did go away – to their great relief – with a firm belief in the motto, “Be Prepared.” So occasionally I reflect on how I will spend my lottery winnings. Like most peasants, I tend to think first of gratifying my automotive fantasies. And of course, given my job, it’s a question I get asked often: “What kind of car would you buy if you hit the lottery?” Well, as Jay Leno and Ahnold discovered a long time ago, a fella needs a variety of machines to satisfy different purposes and moods. I usually take that question to mean, What is the world’s best car?

More often than not, that implies a maker’s big flagship sedan, the one where holding the line on cost is well down on the list of design priorities. It’s a short list, and it just got longer by one. In the super-luxury ranks, one has to consider Rolls/Bentley, as genuine works of art and still the quintessential way of flaunting an excess of wealth; Mercedes, as engineering par excellence; Jaguar, for its sheer beauty and panache; BMW, for its history and verve; Lexus, for its perfect blend of luxury and competence; Infiniti, for cutting-edge engineering with an Asian flavor; and Audi, which alone in this class offers the safety- and performance-enhancing advantages of all-wheel drive.

The rap on Audi’s flagship A8 was that, magnificent as it was, with its “midsize” interior dimensions, it was awfully snug for a prestige car. Right about now, Audi’s answer is rolling into showrooms: the A8L (Long wheelbase), subject of this week’s examination. (Actually I had earlier tested the standard-wheelbase car, too, to refresh my recollection and to provide a point of comparison; no sacrifice too great, ya know.)

The A8L is 5.1 inches longer in wheelbase and overall length than the A8, and $5.9K more expensive, although the tariff includes such niceties as the Electronic Stability program and a GPS navigation system.

The stretch is used to good advantage in the passenger compartment, transforming it into a large car in EPA terms, and making the rear a plausible place for two adults to spend long periods of time. Three kids would fit, but from what I’ve heard, the national record for them to remain peacefully ensconced in any vehicle is 3 minutes, 17 seconds.

With the extra length comes extra weight, of course, and the quattro all-wheel-drive mechanism causes a mass penalty, too. The A8L weighs 4,156 pounds, vs. the shorter series’ 4,068. (Both come only in all-wheel-drive form.) The comparable Mercedes-Benz S-Class machine is roughly the same length and weighs just a few pounds less – 4,133 pounds, without the extra drivetrain.

Audi managed to keep the weight down through extensive use of aluminum in both the frame and the body panels. With a space-frame design, the A8 even in stretched form is an unbelievably rigid platform. This became obvious when I left the freeway and started exercising the car on roads more commonly used for testing sports cars. From the driver’s perspective, the A8L does not feel any larger than its sibling, and neither one feels ungainly or hard to maneuver. (The S-Class doesn’t either, but somehow, with that three-pointed star standing on the hood, it can’t help seeming more majestic, while the Audi seems sportier.)

The ride is limo-like on well-maintained freeways, as one might expect from the 118.5-inch wheelbase stat alone. Such an expansive distance between axles tends to nullify pitching motion all by itself, without the considerable trickery that’s actually present. As the roads got more rustic, my appreciation for the A8L’s suspension grew apace.

There’s just enough feed through the steering wheel and seat of the pants to make one aware of deficiencies in the asphalt, but even over major potholes the A8L seemed above it all. In moderately spirited driving – the kind that makes my personal-trainer-for-life admonitory – the big ship projects an air of utter insouciance. Pressed even harder, it responds with a surefooted agility worthy of a sports car, thanks to both the constantly-adapting all-wheel-drive mechanism and the electronic differential locking, which guarantees that power goes to the wheels which can best utilize it. Ah, yes, power, the natural concomitant of money. A 4.2-liter aluminum V-8 sucks in the premium unleaded through three valves per cylinder and blows exhaust out through two. The engine has been massaged for the current season and now makes 310 hp and 302 foot-pounds of torque.

Even with the obligatory five-speed automatic it can sprint to 60 from a standing start in well under seven seconds – awesome performance for an all-day four-person hauler. With variable valve timing and a three-stage variable intake path, the engine is pretty much always “on,” though it’s strongest where torque plateaus, i.e., between 3,000 and 4,000 rpm. The transmission can be stirred manually with the Tiptronic mechanism, or left to its own devices. The only time I found it necessary to intervene was when I could foresee a need for a speed-retarding downshift. In most circumstances it found the right gear almost intuitively.

The A8s are electronically governed to 130 mph in North America, which lets them use more compliant “H”-rated tires. Standard rubber consist of all-weather 225/60s on 16-inch rims. You can upgrade to 17-inchers, which I would recommend, wrapped with 225/55s. The test car had the $1,500 “performance” 18-inchers, which seems like overkill. To be sure, dry traction was astonishing, but those asymmetrical 245/45 Dunlops would need to be swapped for winter tires in snowy climes. I thought the specific wheels were rather ugly, too.

Ventilated disc brakes – 12.3 inches in front, a paltry 9.6 rear – produced a crisp, easily modulated pedal feel and brought the big fella to a halt in admirably short distances. Antilock of course is standard.

The interior environment is sumptuous – all leather and polished walnut veneers – with a killer stereo by Bose. Fit and finish were commensurate with the price. Air bags are everywhere – both in front and on the sides, on upper and lower levels. The acoustic parking system uses sensors at the four corners of the car to give audio cues to the driver about how close he is to objects. Useful as this is on a van, I didn’t think it was necessary on the A8L. The navigation system is textual with a synthesized female voice. If I were going to have one of these things, I’d prefer the kind that uses a color LCD screen.

Base price on the A8L is $67,900. The one I used had the pearlescent white clearcoat that still knocks me out, $1,200; the 18-inch alloy wheels with performance tires, $1,500; ski sack, $200; acoustic parking system, $700, and xenon high-intensity headlamps, $500. This latter item, well worth having, should, in my view, be standard, as it is on some other luxury rides. Total price, with freight, was $76,025. When I get mine, I’ll pay cash, just for the fun of peeling off that many hundred-dollar bills. Maybe I should start buying two lottery tickets . . .

“The Gannett News Service”