I don't think the A8 has torsion suspension.
The current model has air suspension; before that it was ordinary coil springs, I think.
I would guess that the "torsion bar" you're thinking of is what is also called a "sway bar" (and probably lots of other terms too).
[Sorry if this invalidates any of your pontifications, Greg. :^]
[link|mailto:MyUserId@MyISP.CountryCode|Christian R. Conrad]
(I live in Finland, and my e-mail in-box is at the Saunalahti company.)
Ah, the Germans: Masters of Convoluted Simplification. — [link|http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/?p=1603|Jehovah]