Audi A8 – Review: Glitz. Glamour. Glorification. If you watch Extra! every night, this is what you think the luxury lifestyle is about. For the self-absorbed starlets of Hollywood, it is. For the rest of us, true luxury is about understatement, not ostentation. It's about appreciating the finer things in life, going about your business quietly, and conducting yourself with dignity, class and elegance. For this kind of life, the Audi A8 is a perfect conveyance. Unfortunately, luxury is also about simplicity, and the A8 is, at times, dangerously complex.

Audi lent us a 2007 A8, the short-wheelbase model instead of the extended A8 L version. Our Quartz Gray Metallic test sample cost $69,620 including the $720 destination charge, a fair sum for a 350-horsepower luxury sedan with all-wheel drive and a gorgeous Amaretto interior. Though expensive, we highly recommend the $6,300 Bang & Olufsen audio system, the $4,000 sport package with adaptive air suspension and 20-inch wheels (our car wore winter rubber on smaller 19-inch rims), and the $1,500 Alcantara Package. Other goodies included the $4,000 premium package, $600 for dual-zone rear seat climate control, and $550 for Sirius satellite radio for a total of $86,970.

Audi's 4.2-liter V8 is a terrific engine, delivering smooth and refined power to all four wheels at all times. Nail the throttle, and it roars with authority with a note that's pure music to the enthusiast's ears. The penalty for dipping into the A8's 350 thoroughbreds is predictably poor fuel economy – we got just 13.6 mpg in the city. On the highway at 75 mph, the A8 returned a far more impressive 24.3 mpg. The six-speed Tiptronic automatic delivers clean shifts in normal mode, cuts overdrive and holds revs longer in Sport mode, and responds quickly to manual inputs when using the separate shift gate or the small paddles on the steering wheel.

Servotronic steering is an Audi hallmark, giving these German sport sedans light, effortless steering at low speeds and firm, responsive steering on the highway. The system strikes a perfect balance and offers good road feel, to boot. The brake pedal isn't quite as pleasing, taking a moment to respond to pressure. Ride quality is programmable thanks to an adaptive air suspension with comfortable, automatic, and firm settings. Typically, pushing the A8 on back roads isn't as pleasurable as its chief competitors, the BMW 7 Series and Mercedes S-Class, but in this case blame could lie with the 255/40R19 Pirelli Sotozero winter tires mounted to our test car.

The Audi A8's main visibility bugaboo is a set of rear headrests that don't collapse or nest into the rear seatbacks. Furthermore, they don't power down when not in use. Thus, they block significant portions of the rear window. Additionally, the side mirrors are somewhat small, though they do include a defogging system that quickly clears the glass. Our test car had Audi's advanced parking system, a rear-mounted camera that shows what's behind the A8 as well as trajectory lines displaying the path the car will take. Bi-xenon adaptive headlights with high-pressure washers also improve visibility on dark, snowy nights.

If you're looking for a thrill, spend the cash it takes to park the Audi A8 4.2 in your driveway on the smaller but infinitely more exciting Audi RS4. The A8 is, after all, a luxo-cruiser first and a performance sedan second. Nevertheless, the Audi is more exciting to drive than some of the other models in this class, namely the Lexus LS and Jaguar XJ.

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