RE: what was first year of the A8 in the US?

["TM" <mizutanit@mindspring.com>]

No,
The A8 came out in the US with a 4-speed. The '98s came with a
5-spd. Tiptronic, as I said before. I _drove_ a Euro-spec A8
in '96 with a 4-spd. Tip. For whatever reason, they did not
bring the Tiptronic to the US for the first model year.

There are conversion kits because there was a 4-spd. Tip in
Europe.

I wonder if Audi still uses the same ZF trannies that they used
in the V8? If that's the case, one could presumably convert a
BMW 7 series or a Merc S-Class to Tiptronic, given sufficient
time, funds and willpower. :-) I'd love to have an E500 Tip.

I stand corrected on the European A8 intro date- I honestly don't
know exactly when they came out, but they were available in 1995.
First looks maybe in 1993, but I saw the A8 prototype in 1993,
the wild chrome-looking one, still labeled Audi ASF, not A8. I doubt
that the finalized car was available to the press until 1994 at the
earliest.

Regards,
Taka Mizutani

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-quattro@audifans.com [mailto:owner-quattro@audifans.com]On
Behalf Of Virtual Bob
Sent: Thursday, November 18, 1999 3:35 PM
To: Quattro List
Subject: RE: what was first year of the A8 in the US?


> You're off by a year- the promo vehicles toured in 1996 and the A8
> was available for MY 1997. '97 A8s had a non-Tiptronic 4 spd. auto,
> the only year for that tranny. '98s went to the 5-spd. Tip. A8s were
> out in Europe in 1995.

A8 were out in summer '94 in Europe; handful of Euro mags may have some
"first looks" on the A8 beginning in around '93.

I belive all A8 had 5-speed. For U.S., the "Tiptronic" shift gate was
simply changed. There are conversion kits available for '97 models to make
it Tip.