Three and a half years have already passed since the launch of the fourth generation of Audi A8, and now it is almost ready for its mid life facelift. Many sightings of its different prototypes have recently been reported, from the ordinary plug in hybrid, to the sporty S8 and even longer and more luxurious Horch version.
In terms of styling, there will be little to look forward to. We can see from the prototypes that headlamps have different graphics, similar to those on new Audi A3, though it’s worth noting that while the plug in hybrid version had the regular lighting units at the front, the regular internal combustion powered variant was apparently equipped with the Matrix LED clusters.
Besides the headlights, front grille has slightly different shape which works in unison with redesigned front bumper. At the rear, facelifted Audi A8 will get slightly redesigned rear lights, with different rear bumper and that is actually it. Even the inside will stay relatively the same, featuring more modern software, different upholstery and trim options but that is pretty much it.
More changes are expected under the skin, especially within powertrains. It is still a little bit early to talk about all the different engine options, but there will be a plug-in hybrid A8 TFSI e with bigger battery, trumping 27 kilometer electric range of the current model, therefore improving its efficiency even further. Besides the bigger battery we expect similar power output and performance figures. Current Audi A8 TFSI e can hit 100 kilometers per hour in 5 seconds, which is curtesy of 3.0 liter V6 coupled with the electric motor for the combined power output of 449 horsepower and 699 Nm of maximum torque.
The facelifted Audi A8 is expected to debut later this year as a 2022 model, but since it will be no revolution, you are probably better of chasing better discounts on the old one.