Audi S8 (sedan)
Audi S8: Pure Performance
Price as tested $111,470
With its lighter and stiffer aluminum alloy frame and quattro all-wheel drive, the standard wheelbase Audi A8 was always the closest thing out there to a four-door Porsche sedan. Now, with the Porsche Panamera on the horizon, Audi has upped the performance ante with the latest iteration of its S8 flagship – the sport/performance version of the A8.
The 2007 S8 comes with the same all-aluminum V10 engine as its Italian cousin the Lamborghini Gallardo (Audi is Lamborghini’s parent company). Audi tunes this 5.2 liter, 450 horsepower, direct injection beast to rocket the 4,500 pound S8 around the pavement as if it were a go-kart. We’re talking about 398 lbs-ft of torque that moves the S8 from zero to 60 mph in 4.9 seconds (Audi’s numbers). With all-wheel drive and sticky performance tires, the car just keeps going faster and faster until you chicken out. Piloting the big, but nimble S8 through high-speed parkway traffic will make you feel like an all-pro running back.
As impressive as the S8’s straight-line acceleration is, the quattro all-wheel drive system makes lateral movement equally superb. Neither the BMW 7 series nor Mercedes S Class can match the S8’s performance in this regard, though the BMW offers significantly better brake feel, and the Mercedes is more luxurious. The only sedans that really come close are the aluminum-framed supercharged Jaguar XJR (which is smaller than the S8), and the big Bentley Continental Flying Spur (which checks in at more than $170,000). However, the Volkswagen-engineered Bentley shares the S8’s annoying tendency to lose composure in the back end during high-speed lane changes or cornering on rough pavement.
The S8’s tasteful exterior is complemented by a leather, wood and aluminum interior with first-rate contemporary design sensibilities. That said, the accommodating and supportive seats could have offered a bit more thigh support, there’s a serious lack of cubby space for do-dads and small packages, and one could do without Audi’s joystick-controlled Multi-Media Interface.
My car also had the $6,000 plus Bang & Olufsen sound system upgrade, which featured tweeter assemblies that popped up from the dashboard…about half the time. Though quite good, the B&O system was hobbled by Audi’s standard CD changer, which is mounted in such a distant corner of the glove box as to be unreachable while driving. The premium harman/kardon sound system in the Mercedes S550 sounds better. Oh, well.
The Verdict: For pure road-handling performance, the Audi S8 ranks among the best.
Audi S8.It's a great sedan,What an exterior it has?
Posted by: michael | 18 June 2008 at 01:34 AM