My 2006 A8L with 105k miles is going away.

My dealer tells me the 2012 will be ready for delivery September 14.

Blue with the Balao Brown interior option, all the other gismos except the Bang & Olufsen.

Anyone else taking delivery this early? I was surprised, i expected late October.

My 2006 A8L with 105k miles is going away.

My dealer tells me the 2012 will be ready for delivery September 12.

Blue with the Balao Brown interior option, all the other gismos except the Bang & Olufsen.

Anyone else taking delivery this early? I was surprised, i expected late October.

Congrats, sounds like a terrific configuration. When did you place the order, and do you know what production week you got?

A8 orders typically arrive fairly quickly after post-launch allocations start a more orderly flow...I ordered my very first A8 (also a 2006 MY) in late June 2005, and it was delivered late September---about a 3-month process. Our new D4 was pre-ordered in late November 2010, but I knew it was a 1st Quarter '11 allocation car; it went into production the week of Jan 30th of this year, and was delivered on March 28th (actually arrived at dealer two weeks before that). So in reality, from the time the order was locked in the order bank in mid-January, to the time of delivery, was approximately 2-months give or take; 4-months from early pre-order to delivery. So, I'm not surprised your car will arrive that early.

I will ask the dealer about the build week.

Assuming you placed the order within the last week, that is quick. Audi ships to Houston which can cut down delivery time a week or two if you live there. It takes about 3 weeks to ship from Europe to US and usually about a week or two to make and test the A8 at the factory.

I am picking up the blue 2012 August 31.

Must have been a fast Atlantic passage.

You think global warming is at play here?

I am picking up the blue 2012 August 31.

Must have been a fast Atlantic passage.

You think global warming is at play here?

Nah. You probably caught a car already allocated for your dealer, and he was able to get the configuration changed in time. When did you place the order?

My 2006 A8L with 105k miles is going away.

My dealer tells me the 2012 will be ready for delivery September 14.

Blue with the Balao Brown interior option, all the other gismos except the Bang & Olufsen.

Anyone else taking delivery this early? I was surprised, i expected late October.

I just have a question, I did not see the Balao Brown on the website, is this obviously a custom order? Is that brown like the nougat or is it like the old Amaretto, my favorite interior? Thanks in advance!

I just have a question, I did not see the Balao Brown on the website, is this obviously a custom order? Is that brown like the nougat or is it like the old Amaretto, my favorite interior? Thanks in advance!

Nope, it's the Audi Design Selection package with Balao Brown interior---a new package option added for 2012 on both NBW and LWB cars. Retail is $4,000, with invoice at $3,720. Color is much darker vs. the old Amaretto, and the current Nugat---more of a chocolate brown, as I recall.

Wouldn't be on the AOA website yet, since it still is set up for the 2011MY. Here are the specs from the Order Guide:

Balao Brown valcona leather
Brushed aluminum lower inlay
Snow white alcantara headliner
Fine grain ash natural balsamic brown upper inlay
Snow white seat stitching and piping

I saw an early 2011 demo with this color interior. It is a dark brown, and almost has a slight reddish hue to it. I think it was more of a show car type demo that they were using for VIPs for a big art event here. (I was not a VIP, but a I did get to take a good look inside of the car.)

The white stripe down the center of the seats and the white piping adds a sporty look. It is a bright white/cream, so I am wondering how that will hold up to wear.

Personally, I think there are limited exterior colors that it would work with, namely the white and the greys/silver. It will be interesting to see it with a blue vehicle. The nougat looks good with the blue, as did the amaretto on the D3, so the brown hues can work.

Curious to see pictures of this car!

I saw pictures of the interior in the Audi Exclusive materials at the dealership.

We went in one last year which was a launch demo too. Nice contrasts inside, but not quite our cup of tea.

There's another package in europe too - "Audi design selection Granite grey/Brass beige"

For £12.3 k (same cost as the balao brown package) , you get:


22-way adjustable Comfort front seats (Q2J) with memory function (3PR)
- Seats in Valcona leather (N5D) with Comfort rear headrests (VA2) in Brass beige with Granite grey accordion
pleat, piping and contrast stitching
- Headlining in Snow white Alcantara (6NN)
- Parcel shelf in Brass beige Alcantara
- Top of dashboard in Granite grey with Brass beige contrast stitching
- Lower dashboard in Brass beige
- Upper inlays in Fine grain birch wood pearl beige (5TF)
- Lower inlays in brushed aluminium, silver (GT4)
- Aluminium look interior (GS4)
- Heated front and outer rear seats (4A4)
- Ventilation and massage function for front seats (4D5)
- Deluxe 4-zone climate control (9AH)
- Design selection badge in doors
- Leather package advanced (7HD)

Seats are more comfortable than the 2006 D3

Starting to really like the Balao Brown interior. The brown is a subtle shade, with a soft look and feel. The contrasting stitching is a nice touch as is the vertical cream leather stripe. Still getting use to the dark wood trim though.

Quieter than the D3.

The normal wheelbase seems small after the long wheelbase D3. Less trunk and back seat space for all the paraphernalia we drag to the lake and back. We will adapt though, and the shorter vehicle seems more nimble.

Like the new MMI controls and shifter. Everything is easier to access, especially with beverages in the cup holders.

No rear view camera feature. Apparently the earthquake in Japan has delayed shipment. I am told the parts will arrive in the first quarter of 2012.

The ventilated seats are better.

The seat masagge function is much improved!

The ability to raise and low the central arm rests independently is nice.

The fancy lane assist and blind spot detection options will take a bit to get used to, but seem useful, especially the blind spot feature.

The day after taking delivery we drove from Minneapolis to our summer home in Northwestern Ontario. The night vision feature has a use not talked about in the manual. It images deer on the side of the road way way earlier than I can pick them out with the headlights. Neat!

The LED headlights produce a very defined beam, better the the gas discharge units on the D3.

The Google earth navigation display is impressive, the T-Mobile coverage outside of urban areas is not. But all in all, it works well. If you key in a destination, the entire trip's images are cached onto the HD. If you do not have a destination selected, and run out of T-Mobile 3G coverage (as was the case in 280 out of a 300 mile trip), the image quality degraded rapidly.

There seems to be a quirk in the 3D Google display mode, you cannot select different map scale settings. The unit will return to an arbitrairy setting. I have asked the dealer about that.

An iPod with 80gigs of music works just dandy, the menus load quickly and faithfully duplicated the iTunes menus and track information.

The ability to set the steering to a lighter touch and still keep the suspension and pedal response tight is very nice.

The manuals need at least three passes to learn all that available.

Nice car, I like it.

I have loved the Baolo brown option since the D4 was announced and am very happy AoA has decided to offer it here for the 2012 model year. It also seems to be the only way to get a full leather interior on the NWB model. True?

Also would love to see some real-life pictures!!

We have been waiting for the delivery too. Since we cannot go on a trip to the summer house, we will settle for photos.

Enjoy your new A8!

[QUOTE=veedubmac;24194078]

"I have loved the Baolo brown option since the D4 was announced and am very happy AoA has decided to offer it here for the 2012 model year. It also seems to be the only way to get a full leather interior on the NWB model. True?"

No, you can order the full leather package in the NWB A8---PF7 (color matched alactara headliner) or PF4 (black alcantara headliner). Both MSRP for $7,100, and they require also ordering option 3Y8: power rear side sunshades ($750).

Actually, you have to order the PF7 leather package inorder to get to the Balao Brown special interior (PEZ). It appears that there are several other prerequisite options you need inorder to get the Audi design selection package:

PF7 - Full Leather Pkg
PPX - Convenience Pkg (NWB only)
WTH - Premium Pkg
PAW - Cold Weather Pkg
9AU - 4-zone climate control (or PE7-Rear Comfort Pkg on A8L, or PE2-Executive Rear Pkg on A8L)

So, in effect, the total option cost for the Balao Brown design select package on a NWB A8 is $17,750---or 13,750 added to the $4,000 cost for the design selection Balao Brown option . This is all in the 2012 Order Guide.

Photography isn't my first calling. The photos were shot on a very bright, dazzling afternoon.

The more I experience the interior, the more I like it.

Kurt

Beautiful interior. Very elegant. Enjoy it in good health!