With wide price ranges and numerous body configurations, this diverse segment has two clear Best Buy choices--the refined Lexus LS 430 and the unique Audi A6. The LS 430 can't be beat for comfort and features at around $55,000, while the A6 earns Best Buy status for its blend of space, performance, design sophistication, powertrain choices, and workmanship at prices below those of most rivals.

We Recommend the Acura RL--a steal at around $45,000 fully equipped. Though it is a front-drive V6 in a field of V8 rear-drive models, it has a great ride, plenty of power, and is quite luxurious. If you are looking for something a bit more sporting, we Recommend BMW 5-Series. If your taste ranges more toward the luxury end, then take a look at the roomy Cadillac DeVille.

A redesigned A8 hits showrooms this June as an early 2004 entry. Audi says the lone "L" model will start around $70,000, up about $3000 from the equivalent '03 A8L. An updated S8 should arrive in mid-2004 and may use a shorter body.

The '04 is mechanically similar to previous A8s, but the 4.2-liter V8 is boosted 20 hp to 330. A manually shiftable automatic is still the sole transmission, but it's a 6-speed instead of a 5-speed. Audi's quattro all-wheel drive remains standard, as do 4-wheel ABS disc brakes, antiskid system, and a full complement of airbags. New are front knee airbags and a 4-wheel air suspension that automatically adjusts damping to suit speed and road surface. Also new is MMI--Multi-Media Interface. It's Audi's answer to the problem of controlling today's many expected luxury-car gizmos without excess buttons and switches. Though we've just briefly fiddled with it so far, MMI seems far more intuitive than BMW's daunting "i-drive" system.

The A8's aluminum "space frame" body/chassis has been redesigned with fewer parts, to reduce manufacturing costs, and to provide a claimed 60-percent gain in rigidity. Overall length is little changed by the new, more rounded styling, but wheelbase increases 2.5 inches to 121, height goes up 0.7-inch to 57.3, and curb weight adds some 250 pounds to near 4400.

Options will include 18- and new 19-inch wheels and tires to replace the standard 17s, plus rear-obstacle detection, navigation system, ventilated and/or massaging front seats, "smart" cruise control, double-pane side glass, and suede-like Alcantara upholstery to replace leather. Due to be available later on are a sport suspension, voice-recognition system, and power side-door closing.

Audi hopes the '04 will double U.S. A8 sales to about 6000 a year. Is that wishful thinking? We'll have a better handle on that after driving Audi's latest top-liner, which we'll be doing soon, so keep checking back with us.

The new A8 is the reported basis for Audi's first luxury sports coupe. Due by 2006, it's being developed as Project TC (Touring Coupe) with styling like that of the little TT, plus a new trapezoidal grille theme destined for other future Audis. Powerteams are said to involve quattro and front drive, a 245-hp V6, a 335-hp V8 and, by mid-2007, a 500-hp twin-turbo V8. Worldwide sales are apparently pegged at 15,000 a year, with maybe half in the U.S.