A8 Driver Assistance

Night vision
Night vision assistant with Pedestrian Detection
With the optional Night Vision assistant, an integral thermal imaging camera, discretely mounted in the front grill, significantly improves safety and comfort when driving at night. Helping driver's spot hazards beyond the view illuminated by the headlight beam the thermal camera registers heat sources that are located near, or approaching, the route ahead.

Located in the Driver's Information System, between the speedometer and rev counter a camera's eye view of the road ahead is displayed to the driver. The system will highlight people using their heat source. Typically a person standing by the side of the road would be highlighted in yellow, indicating they are outside of the vehicles route, however should the person start to walk towards the road the advanced image processing system will identify that they could walk into the car's path and will highlight them in red.

The system can be adjusted through the MMI menu and allows adjustment of highlighting people, the warning system and the contrast of the screen.

Side Assist
Safe lane changing
The optional Audi side assist offers safe lane-changing even if there's another vehicle in your blind spot. At speeds over 40mph, it monitors the area to the rear and sides of the car and detects whether the lane is occupied by another vehicle. If it is, LEDs on the corresponding door mirror warn you before you begin to pull out.

Adaptive Cruise
Audi Adaptive Cruise with Stop & Go function
The optional Adaptive cruise control builds on a standard cruise control system and allows the driver to maintain a set distance from the vehicle in front. It uses a radar sensor to measure the distance from the vehicle ahead. If the distance is too small, the system reduces speed moderately by easing the throttle or it automatically activates the brakes. Once the road ahead is clear again, adaptive cruise control accelerates the car back up to your previous speed.

Using the satellite navigation system, the Adaptive cruise control knows exactly where the car is, so if travelling on a motorway and the car in front brakes and indicates left (because the driver wants to take the next exit) the system can recognise this - thanks to the camera image and because it sees the exit on the navigation data. In this scenario a traditional radar based cruise control system would brake, whereas the A8 would continue uninterrupted.

A traditional cruise control system is standard on the A8.

Adaptive Lights
Lighting your path
Xenon headlights produce light that is much closer to daylight and about twice as much light as comparable halogen headlights, and make night driving, particularly in poor weather, safer and less tiring for your eyes.

The adaptive lights swivel in the headlamp cluster. When turning, they follow the steering wheel and cast a wider angle of illumination so you can see round the bend more clearly at night.

At the rear, the A8's lightweight LED tail lights offer greater visibility, penetration and an overall safer driving experience, as well as lasting longer than conventional halogen bulbs.

Stay in lane
The optional Audi lane assist helps prevent you from drifting out of your chosen lane. A tiny image recognition camera watches the lane markings on either side. If you veer too far right or left, the system knows you're in danger and vibrates the steering wheel to alert you. If you change lanes using your indicators, the system knows that's safe and temporarily switches itself off.

Parking Systems
Easy parking
The Acoustic Parking System, with its eight ultrasonic sensors, provides all-round assistance when parking the A8. As soon as the distance to an obstacle at the front, rear or side is down to a preset minimum, you are warned of the fact by a tone signal, as well as a graphical indication on the MMI Screen. The closer you get to an obstacle, the faster the tones sound until you're less than 25cm away, when the tone becomes continuous. The system is only activated when reverse gear is engaged.

The sensors, four at the front, four at the back, are barely visible. They've been flush mounted into the bumpers so they don't interfere with the Audi A8's immaculate lines.

The Parking System Advanced system adds to this a small camera in the boot lid, providing a 130° view to the rear, displayed on the Multi Media Interface screen. The image is overlaid with coloured graphics and shows the path the vehicle will take based on the position of the steering wheel. With blind spots minimised, the driver is able to park effortlessly in even the tightest of parking spots.

Parking System Advanced comes standard on SE Executive models.