Million-dollar Audi A8 L Security limo revealed

Audi has created a special armoured variant of the latest Audi A8 that's claimed to offer occupants protection from machine guns, snipers, grenades and explosives.

Created specifically for the Russian market, the long-wheelbase Audi A8 L Security limousine is claimed to be one of the safest armoured passenger cars on the market.

Featuring an armoured skin and a fire-extinguishing system that places nozzles within the fuel tank, underneath the car and within its wheel housings, the A8 L Security also packs an emergency in-car oxygen tank if there's a gas or chemical attack.

Riding on large 20-inch rims and toughened run-flat tyres that can travel at up to 80km/h without air, the A8 Security's on-board innovations also extend to a self-healing fuel tank that auto-plugs any holes and a separate protected intercom system to summon help.

Claimed to offer ballistic protection up to VR9/VR10, the Audi A8 L Security can withstand "hardened steel bullets fired from an assault rifle", a prolonged machine gun bombardment and protection from mines and another improvised explosive devices.

If the worst happens and the occupants are trapped within the burning car, Audi has also fitted the A8 with pyrotechnic door hinges that literally blow the doors off to allow escape.Sadly, the added weight of its class-leading body armour sees the Audi A8 L Security weigh up to 4215kg depending on its specs.

To cope with the mass, Audi has dropped in the 420kW/800Nm 4.0-litre twin-turbocharged V8 from the S8. It can haul all that weight to 100km/h in 6.3 seconds, which is brisk but some way off the 3.8sec 0-100km/h sprint time of the standard S8.

The Audi A8 L Security is available to order now, priced from $US740,000 ($A1.2 million).