So, I got the chance for a quick testdrive in the new Audi S8 last week.
I only had about 30 minutes before the next customer was booked so we had to do a quicky.

For anyone who doesn't know what it looks like, this is a pic of one (the same colour I drove).


First impressions:
Car looks very handsome from the outside, especially in the darker gray colour.
The exhaust sounds absolutely great at higher revs. Really lets you know there is something special under the bonet. (I would let someone do a custom exhaust on it to let it roar some more if I owned one though).
Interior fit and finish is great, I really liked the dials and how they lit up.

The drive:
The car in the normal D mode drives really supple. enough power in reserve to overtake 95% of what is on the road.
If you put it in the S mode the car becomes really agressive. Not suitable for city driving, it will give you a whiplash.
The manual mode with the flippers on the steering wheel is a cool gadget, but I wouldn't use it on a daily basis.
The performance is incredible, 450 hp really makes this car move.
I did some acceleration runs from a standstill and a 5 sec 0-60 time is very believable. The car doesn't feel that fast but the speedo goes up into "lose your licence territory" very fast.
Thank god the brakes on this car car slow the car down very well.
When one of my collegues was behind the wheel and did an emergency stop from 145 it was allmost like we hit a wall.

One of the letdowns of the car was the B&O hifi system. This is a 10k option on the normal A8, and I felt it wasn't as good as the Mark Levinson systems in the newer Lex's.

All in all, one beast of a car, but not cheap, 180k euro's in Holland.

Hope you all enjoyed my review.

 

I heard that they actually offer manual transmissions on the Audi 8 over in Europe. Is that true?

 

180k Euros? Holy moly...

 

I recently drove the 07 A6 4.2, what an amazing vehicle - damn well near perfect.

Expensive though!!! But it's everything I wanted the GS350AWD to be and more...(found the GS too soft and detatched)

 

Hey Richie, did you see all the all the CF trim in the interior? I had a chance to drive one of these some months back, and all I can say is WOW. The adjustable-height suspension is also very cool





Javier

 

Yes, the S8 is quite a car, but outrageously expensive. I myself, though, would buy one ( or a regular A8 ), long before I would even touch a BMW 7-series or Mercedes S-Class. For one thing, the standard Quattro AWD is a big selling point.

I hope your test car had at least 1000 miles on the clock.....you don't want to push a brand-new car to its limits during break-in.

 

I know they did on the 1st gen S8.
I don't think they offer it on this model S8, not sure about the rest of the lineup but I thought it was auto only.

 

Yeah the CF, leather and Alcantara in the interiuor really looks the part.
None of that fake stuff.
I put the suspension in the lowest setting pretty soon after driving off. Didn't experience the rest of it, LOL.

 

Thanks for the write-up Richie! Currently the S8 is my favorite sedan. Too bad about it's price....it's well out of my range

 

definitely one nice car. performance large sedan, this is definitely my top choice so far. i would probably choose this over the s55

 

I think it's cheaper in the US, like 120k dollars.

 

S8 always one of my favorite sedans But in terms of appearance, I like the A8 just as much. I usually likes the body modifications given to the sports model more, but in this case, the front of the S8 looks a little busy to me compared to the A8.

 

Personally I'd do a LS460 and a used 911.

 

This car is so friggin' nice

Pics

 

Andrew, IRL the front looks much better.