2022 Audi A8

At the end of 2021, Audi debuted a refreshed A8 at the Guangzhou Auto Show. A fitting place, given that the A8 is a big limousine and Chinese buyers often have drivers. There’s even a Horch Edition in China, named for August Horch, who founded Audi in 1904. American buyers had to wait several more months and won’t get that extra-fancy version, but the 2022 Audi A8, and its racier companion, the S8, arrived this summer with modest updates but a very new—and very big—face.

Audi has employed some clever design tricks that massively lift the visual line of the hood without actually raising the height, which makes it look lower, longer and sleeker behind its bold new face. On sale since 2019, this fourth-generation A8 gets few changes to its more significant parts, and while the styling revisions are clever, they’re purely evolutionary and obvious only to dedicated fans. The mechanical pieces are mostly the same, including the A8’s 335-horsepower V6 and the S8’s potent 563-horsepower V8.

An S-line package is now available for the A8 for the first time, which makes it look much more like the S8 even if it isn’t as fast, and a pair of upgraded 10.1-inch rear entertainment screens are now available. There are new wheels, new seat trims and new colors too, but is that enough to compete with much-updated competitors? The 2023 Genesis G90 and BMW 7 Series will soon be on sale, the Mercedes-Benz EQS and Lucid Air were new this year, and the Mercedes-Benz S-Class was entirely redesigned for 2021. Big luxury car buyers demand the best, and the Audi is the most subtle of these big limos.

Performance-wise, neither the A8 nor the S8 has changed at all, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. The A8 does not have the urge of a pure EV, but its mild hybrid system helps get it up to speed while boosting efficiency. The S8 remains the strong, silent type, effortlessly fast without ever being obnoxious and requiring no tradeoffs in luxury for its performance. Peak horsepower arrives at 6,000 rpm, with peak torque down low at 2,500, but the S8 is just strong, everywhere, all the time, without ever feeling strained. 

Unfortunately, Americans only get these two powertrains and the long-wheelbase configuration. Like the Horch edition, Audi’s excellent turbodiesels, plug-in hybrids and the slightly shorter, sportier regular-wheelbase models (U.S. versions are technically the A8L) aren’t offered in the U.S. Audi does not skimp on comfort, though. Both front seats have massage functions and power adjustment and are heated, while rear passengers enjoy more legroom than in the S-Class or G90. The Luxury package comes with leather for everything (including the dashboard), a heated steering wheel and interior ambient lighting that basically lets you choose from every color in the rainbow. 

Audi includes lots of safety tech, but as with the other German luxury barges, some things that should probably be standard on an $86,000 car still cost extra, like adaptive cruise control and a heated steering wheel. The upsides to the A8 and S8 include their huge interiors, luxury accommodations and understated style, although, as in years past, it might be too understated for some. The A8 has always been a low-profile limo, and what’s familiar about it has resonated with those who like it, but it’s hard to see this year’s update as truly “new.”

Performance: 13/15

You’ll find the least changed part of the 2022 Audi A8 upgrade beneath its hood, at least in terms of power and fuel consumption. The A8 draws power from the same 3.0-liter V6 it’s had for years, with 335 horsepower and 369 pound-feet of torque on tap driving all four wheels through an eight-speed automatic transmission. Both the A8 and S8 come standard with Quattro all-wheel drive (AWD).

Capable of accelerating to 60 mph in 5.6 seconds, the big A8 is nice enough in a casual sort of way, and it can press on to a 130 mph top speed. There’s a bit of boosting via the 48-volt mild-hybrid system, which is a fancy combination of a generator and a starter motor. It’s quite smooth and strong, and it never feels like it’s not enough engine in real-world driving. It never sounds much like a V6, either, and it hits most of the luxury benchmarks without ever being obtrusive.

The mighty S8’s 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 is also unchanged, belting out 563 hp and 590 lb-ft and also using the eight-speed automatic. The S8 can blast to 60 mph in the low 3-second range and stretch out to 155 mph, which puts it on even footing even with some hot EVs, the new kings of performance. Both the Tesla Model S Plaid and Lucid Air cost more, and Mercedes-Benz and Genesis don’t offer real performance versions of their luxury barges at the moment. BMW’s Alpina B7 may or may not return in 2023.

There are other engines Audi could have offered Americans, like the “other” 460-hp version of the 4.0-liter V8 or the 3.0-liter turbodiesel (Oh. Right. That. Forget we mentioned it). This same engine is part of the A8’s plug-in hybrid for Europe, which gives 460 hp of system output and 40 miles of EV running. Sadly, it doesn’t seem in the cards for American buyers, at least not yet.

Fuel Economy: 13/15

The 2022 Audi A8 logs 19 mpg in the city, 28 mpg on the highway and posts an EPA combined figure of 22 mpg. All that sucks juice from a 21.7-gallon fuel tank, suggesting ranges of 412 miles in the city, 607 miles on the highway and 477 miles on the combined cycle. 

Of its key rivals, the 7 Series is about to be replaced and will grow significantly heavier next year, so its existing mpg figures are irrelevant. The Mercedes-Benz S500, with a turbocharged 3.0-liter straight-six cylinder engine, is thirstier around town, with a city mileage of 21 mpg but manages 30 mpg on the highway; as expected, the V8 S580 does worse than the regular A8. The S580 can’t match the S8’s speed, but the 429-hp S500 is more powerful than the A8. The 2023 Genesis G90 lags the A8 by 1 to 3 mpg in each measure. 

The S8, with its considerable emphasis on performance and additional weight, does much worse at just 14 mpg city, 23 highway and 17 combined, which is well below the Alpina B7 and on par with smaller supersedans like the Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing.

Safety & Driver Assistance Tech: 9/15

The most irksome thing about the 2022 Audi A8 is that its pre-facelift form was supposedly Level 3 autonomy-ready in 2017, and the 2022 model still isn’t. Having discovered in 2018 that it was too far in front of legislation, Audi began pulling its potential L3 tech out of the A8, and now it’s gone.

More annoyingly for buyers today, though, while the safety systems Audi offers are truly world-class, as on the S-Class and 7 Series, the best ones cost extra, even on the $118,595 S8. Forward collision warnings, automatic emergency braking with pedestrian detection, automatic high beams and lane departure warnings are standard. But adaptive cruise control, traffic sign recognition, blind-spot monitoring, intersection assist and a few other things are part of the Executive Package ($3,400 on the A8, $3,800 on the S8). Genesis makes all this standard.

The adaptive cruise system includes lane-keeping, distance control, braking and steering, but it’s not Level 3. It’s a Level 2+ system only. At least it’s not pretending to be something it isn’t. Like its predecessors, this A8 hasn’t been rated by NHTSA or the IIHS, which costs it some points in our scoring system.

Comfort & Room: 14/15

There is a headline act of 22-way heated front seats with massaging, so right away, it’s something special. Front or rear, the A8 is an undoubtedly comfortable machine to spend time inside, but then, so is everything in this class. The A8 does have fractionally more rear legroom than the S-Class and (2022) G90, but nobody’s cramped in these cars, and to get more room than this would mean upgrading to a big SUV like a Cadillac Escalade ESV.

Oddly, Audi barely mentions the $5,900 four-seat option (which has foldout tables, a continuous center console and heated massage seats with electric adjustment and a heated footrest) on its site, though it’s available and popular, and nobody really wants to ride in the middle in the back of a car like this anyway.

The Executive package takes the Leather package’s grouping and adds massaging to the front seats via 18 pneumatic cushions, plus the heated steering wheel, ambient lighting and various active-safety features. Both the A8 and S8 are stupendously comfortable to ride in, though, and the car refuses to become unsettled, whatever the road conditions. It’s just about the most secure-feeling machine this sort of money can buy.

Infotainment: 14/15

Audi’s systems were cutting edge back in 2017 when this car was launched, but the multimedia displays now feel a bit left behind by the huge curved screens either available on (or about to be offered by) its rivals. Instead of those continuous-style screens, it has three digital portals (a 12.3-inch Virtual Cockpit for the driver, a 10.1-inch upper screen in the dash and an 8.6-inch version for the climate controls) that either manage or display everything. 

You can move around the infotainment systems using voice control, touch control or the scroller, but it’s sometimes counterintuitive to have to click so many times to get where you need to be. To dim the instrument cluster lights takes four clicks. To move the suspension into Dynamic mode takes four clicks and by then, the interesting series of corners has probably passed by anyway. This is just overly complicated, although at least it has both haptic and audible responses to each command, so you know what you’ve pressed. 

The A8 and S8 also tote a pair of front USB ports, inductive charging for one phone, standard Amazon Alexa compatibility and both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. It can even provide Wi-Fi if you pay the Audi Connect Plus subscription fee. The rear multimedia screens have had an upgrade, as has the Bang & Olufsen audio (with 23 speakers and a 1,920-watt amplifier) as has the four-zone climate control system. 

Cargo Space & Storage: 11/15

Unusually for an Audi, the 2022 Audi A8 and S8 have just 13 cubic-feet of trunk space. That stands out because Audi’s are usually right up there for best-in-class for this sort of thing, but that’s mainly in their smaller front-drive-based models. The outgoing BMW 7 Series offers up to 18 cubic-feet of trunk space and the Lexus LS 17, while the Lucid’s clamshell-style trunk offers 16, but the G90 and S-Class offer less than Audi. For small items, there are plenty of odds-and-ends places, including the enormous center console.

Style & Design: 6/10

The 2022 Audi A8 was a conservative, if neat, piece of design when it was new in 2017, and today it just seems…the same. It’s not that it has dated, but it has never been an outstanding looker. Now, though, it has this weird SUV feel about it in a rear-view mirror, with the detail work done to lift the perceived height of the hood making it look a little like an old Detroit land yacht.

It isn’t a flashy looker, and it never was, and the trick to move the daytime running lights to above the main headlamp has done its job in both renewal and making it seem more vertical than horizontal. There are new wheel designs, too, and new colors. 

Inside, the cabin is inviting and warm thanks to the ambient lighting and lovely seats, but it still vibes the trademark Audi understatement.

Is the Audi A8 Worth it? Which model is the Best Value? 

There are only two ways to get this car, the $87,595 V6 A8 or the $118,595 S8. In both cases, you’ll want to set aside some budget for the Luxury Package and some customization choices. The S8 looks quite tasty with the $2,100 Black Optic plus package, which throws in high-gloss black Audi rings in the black grille to match the black 21-inch alloy rims and black six-piston front brake calipers. There’s also a $6,000 predictive suspension and a $2,300 night vision assistant.

2022 isn’t much of a facelift if we’re honest, and maybe Audi is overcompensating for that with the 2022 Audi A8’s massive barbecue grille. The upside to a minor facelift like this is that you already know it all works and what it will feel like. The downside is that you already know it all works and what it will feel like.

That said, it’s easy to justify having a soft spot for the A8, because its cabin does not have the sort of environment to leave you cold or bored, despite the three screens seeming a bit fussy these days. Instead, the interior exudes warmth and comfort, like a ski lodge, rather than the clinical office vibe you get from some other limos at this level.

That alone makes it obvious why some people will go for this generation of A8, but you can also see why the majority of them plump for the S-Class. After all, it’s pretty much all-new and the A8 isn’t.

How Much Does it Cost to Insure the Audi A8?

The A8 is not a cheap car to buy or insure. According to our data, a typical 30-year-old female driver with a clean record can expect an average annual premium of $5,028 for an A8L, though this averages all 50 states. That compares to $5,285 for the Mercedes-Benz S-Class, $5,028 for the BMW 750i xDrive, $3,820 for the Genesis G90 and $4,084 for the Lexus LS. To get a more accurate picture of your potential insurance expenses, visit our car insurance calculator.