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Awesome 6.0 litre W12 tops teutonic power struggle This car is just too powerful for its own good. But before all you power-obsessed junkies come down on me like a ton of bricks, permit me to explain. Audi’s new A8 L 6.0 is a very fine car, it’s up there with the BMW 750i and Mercedes-Benz S600. It even manages to surpass them in the engine department. Thing is, the A8 has been around since 1994. Seven years might not seem that long, but the decision to shoehorn a radical new W12 engine into the LWB version magnifies its shortcomings. Developed jointly by VW and Audi, the W12 was created by coupling two narrow-angle V6 engines together on a common crankshaft at an angle of 72 degrees. Thus they not only succeeded in creating an engine that is wildly different from the traditional 60-degree V12s used by their competitors, but one that is exceptionally compact. Its 6.0 litres produce a potent 309 kW at 6000 rpm and Audi hails its A8 L 6.0 as the world’s most powerful ...