It's sod's law that whenever Mom’s Taxi has a big expensive car to drive, it's mid-month, or a week before payday, and the coffers are resoundingly bare.
Car guards expect more than the token coin from you - certainly not a handful of brown money - and petrol attendants' eyes light up when they see you, their minds conjuring up visions of generous tips.
And so it was with Audi's A8 for the week I had it; nevertheless, although being in a state of penury, I was still able to enjoy every incredible second with this vehicle.
With its new squared off headlights and that distinctive grille, the A8 looks seriously menacing from the front. Take a walk around it, and it looks even meaner - and longer, wider, and bigger than ever. Surprisingly long, in fact.
Despite its length, though, Audi's designers have come up with nearly two and a half tons of extraordinarily good-looking machine. Pause for thought here, and ponder on the fact that prodigious use was made of aluminium via the unique Audi space-frame. This is lighter than steel, and the components made from it exhibit far better rigidity. Were it not for this, I wonder just how much heavier the car would have been.
Not that it even felt anything like the couple of tons it is. The A8 is startlingly agile, responsive, sporty and refined. I was driving the 4.2-litre V8 FSI, and honestly, girls, it was like gliding around in the QE2. So large, so spacious, so smooth, so remarkably well finished off and thoughtfully designed… but devoid of any sailors at all!
Like many other Audi engines, this one uses FSI technology. The latest generation of engine management systems and innovative thermal managements also help to reduce fuel consumption. In fact, the consumption and emission figures have been dramatically lowered, compared with the previous model, thanks to a whole series of efficiency measures. The A8 sips only 9.5 litres/100km, even though it delivers an impressive of 272kW; peak torque of a whopping 445Nm takes it from 0-100km/h in a mere 5.7sec.
There's no question of the superiority of your drive in this vehicle. It's fitted with an eight-speed Tiptronic gearbox with DSP and sports button, and changes so smoothly you're barely aware of it. The Audi drive select system allows you to adjust individual vehicle components at the lighest touch of a button. There're four modes available: comfort, dynamic, auto and individual, the latter allowing you to decide which of the components covered by the system should respond in what way.
The suspension is sublime. And naturally it comes with the usual host of safety features, such as ABS with ESP and EBD and a barrage of airbags etc. You'll also be boggled by the vast range of optional equipment available for the A8 - all at a pretty price, of course.
Audi really has all of the segment bases beautifully covered: from SUV's to small cars to sportsters and with this one, the very large and expensive… and all very competitive in their class, too.
I just don't know if I'd pay the R1 105 905 I'd need for this large car, beautiful as it is. My 12-year-old fell in love with it, though, so when I win my millions, I might be forced to reconsider.