Audi just unveiled its newest super sedan, the S8, and said that the new all-aluminum car would get an 85 horsepower bump and would sprint from 0-60 in under four seconds.
The turbocharged 4-liter V-8, which can make 553 pound-feet of twist and is only about as deep as a case of beer, just became the eighth wonder of the known universe.
The engine is married to an eight-speed automatic that shifts power to all four wheels via Audi’s all-wheel drive system, dubbed Quattro. Air suspension and adaptive damping come standard, if that’s keeping you from buying one.
According to Audi engineers, the S8’s frame is only about 500 pounds, which is lighter than that found in the Mercedes-AMG’s S63/S65. The overall weight of the car hasn’t been announced, but Audi says the car will go on sale in November for 145,000€ ($157,665).
Among the vehicle’s highlights are and optional-for-us (standard for Germany) high-performance package that boosts the S8’s top speed to 190 mph.
The S8 will manage a combined fuel economy of 25 mpg, according to Audi, probably thanks to gearing that tiptoes a finer EPA line than any of us could imagine.
Although the S8 gives up 16 horsepower to the S65, it also does it with 33 percent fewer cylinders. It’s possible that some variant of the engine could appear in an upcoming R8.
Sounds a lot like the CTS-V, until you get to the price. I’m sure the Audi has a higher level of interior refinement. But there’s gotta be a lot of classy layered on for that extra $75k, right?
This is a size class up from the CTS-V. Audi’s closest CTS-V competitor is the RS7 (the direct competitor would be the RS6 if there were one).
Oh right. I wonder if the CTS-V is Coming with Length…
XTS-V. For being the early bird at the early bird special.
I think that’s a German-market price. For comparison, the current S8 starts at a mere $115K. (Giving it advantages over, say, a train, which I could also afford.)
Prices in Europe are inclusive of VAT, which is 19% in Germany. So, 145,000 euro is 117,450 before VAT, which is abt $128K.
A VW with oomph. Should sell well, Cadillac is pretty much confined to NA
“…via Audi’s all-wheel drive system, dubbed Quattro.”
Quattro is a clever name for a four wheel drive platform. I wonder why they didn’t start calling it that sooner.
Oh right. I wonder if the CTS-V is Coming with Length…
Yeah, sorry, CTS puts this thing to shame. More power, less weight, less money.
(That’s coming from an A8 owner, BTW.)
Sooner than what.
I hope there’s a choice to ditch those black wheels.
Other than those wheels I think this is the car I would lease if I could afford to throw $2000/month down the drain on a car lease.
“The turbocharged 4-liter V-8…just became the eighth wonder of the known universe.” The ninth wonder will be the maintenance and repair expenses.
If you need to ask…
Wait 10 years… it’ll be at your local wreckers.
Did they include the $58 metal bars to help protect passengers in an offset crash scenario too?
Just kidding…just kidding…sheeze
a stock V8 cranking out 605 hp is a world wonder before a factory 4 banger that can manage 375? not sure i agree, but I’m no engineer.
Keep in mind it is only 4.0L. 605hp / 550ft-lbs is pretty impressive. No, it won’t win the hp/L award but it’s still significant.
Odds are that’s at least a bit underreported, too. The current RS7 is sold as 553/516, but APR reports output of 581/535.
Hopefully it’s the same 4.0L 8 they used in the Passat W8.
Must be very tall beer bottles if that is this engines’s height! Utter BS. And as for reminding us that Audi’s AWD is dubbed Quattro, why gee thanks – it’s only been 35 frickin’ YEARs that way.
The readers of this site aren’t total neophytes, but Cole apparently is.
Aaron Cole should get his own column entitled “Phoning it in”.
This article is an embarrassment.
He is trying to get noticed by Jalopnik is my take on the articles I’ve read written by him lately. This place doesn’t need any of that and I have a hard time calling them articles. Cringe worthy stuff.
edit:
changed we to this place, there is no we
I’m always glad to see another super-sedan but I don’t understand the target demographic for this car. If you want to drive a big 600hp sedan, aren’t most of the luxury features of the A8-family kinda wasted?
If you are in the “I pay someone else to drive me around” demographic….for $175k can’t you get a Bentley and ride in the back in greater comfort?
This thing is like a BMW M7. And BMW, the company that makes a car for practically every niche…doesn’t make an M7. There’s gotta be a reason for that.
If you’re a Master Of The Universe and like driving, then you probably very much appreciate God-like acceleration paired with exquisite luxury.
Also BMW did build an M7, only they named it the Alpina B7.
There’s no culture for being chauffeured in most of the US and Europe. I wouldn’t be surprised if the first driver hired by most of those who get around to hiring one, is the one they hire to “drive” their plane.
Even cars twice this price, are still cheaper than a full time chauffeur. And that’s discounting the fact that you need three of them for full 24/365 standby service of the usual 2 car household.
A guy I worked with looked into creating a Uber like chauffeur service (He grew up wealthy in an Asian city where “noone” drives themselves), but even in billionaire county (Silicon Valley), the wealthy still prefer to either drive themselves, or, ta-dah, use Uber…. It’s likely the loss of anonymity from living with a staff, that bothers them. My friend did have a driver drive him around in an Avalon for a few years, but even he realized the Asian model of basically keeping and being responsible for the driver and his family, gets both expensive and a bit awkward over here.
Plenty of rich folk have chauffeurs in NYC. Any city with bad traffic will.
I’m confused: isn’t the current S8 only like 2 years old? Is this a redesign with a brand-new aluminum frame? Or is this just an evolution of the existing, aluminum-framed D4 S8?
I’ll take a P90D instead, which is quicker, cheaper to buy and operate, and more reliable. But the Tesla won’t do 190 mph.
Even if the Tesla could do 190, it’d drain your battery in about 3 minutes.
Nor get far enough to pull it’s battery cable out of the charging socket at 180….
The regular A8 4.0 V8 is a fantastic car for hitting cruise at 100-125 and just letting the miles fly by. I’m sure the S is similar, except at 120-155. Unless you can get away with driving like that, it’s all a bit anodyne and pointless.
In all honesty, the proper way to test this S8, would be to have Baruth attempt a new Cannonball record. With a videographer and 2 wealthy hedgie sponsors aboard. For most any other use case, it’s just another $40K Buick, optioned up with a $150K bragging rights package.
Yes, cheaper is very important here. If they’d make 85d with roll up windows it’d be even cheaper to buy and maintain!!!!
Who needs led optics on these cars? You know how much it will cost to fix? Also, that large ipad in the center of the dash of the 85D, if the screen cracks, it’ll be so expensive to fix. If they could just stick mazda’s infotainment unit from the pre-redesigned cx-5, it would make tesla even more attractive and cheaper to buy and maintain. And hey, audi, F You!!!!!
I wasn’t suggesting price and operating cost were that important; it’s just a benefit.
I don’t understand these cars. Why would I pay $160K for this, instead of, say, a base A8 and a C7 Z06? It’s not the 90s… a base A8 is still pretty quick and pretty much strikes the ideal balance of luxury and sport for this class. Only people buying cars like this are people with more money and needs to badge whore than sense…..
But then why a base A8 when you can get an A6 and a new Miata? See where I’m going? Before long you end up with a Trabant and a skateboard…
Because then you don’t get the same level of luxury and horsepower/performance.
Seriously, how is this car better than a base A8 + Z06?
I think the person that buys this has enough money to buy an S8 and Z06. Or S8 and 911 GT3 RS.
This is a silly spiral in the other direction. Just because someone has the means doesn’t mean they will exercise them… this is more and more true the higher up the economic ladder.
Right. But my point is that someone buys a S8 because they want an S8 and has the cash to do so. We can find equivalencies at every price range. This sells to rich Audi enthusiasts that want the baddest Audi sedan money can buy. It doesn’t matter that an A8 + C7 Z06 is a better deal or makes more sense.
Well, you could say the S8 gives you Z06 powah and A8 luxury in one tidy package. Clearly the S8 is for millionaires with one-car garages.
I’d bet S8 owners just want an S8 because it’s the nicest and fastest large Audi sedan you can buy. They probably have a bunch of other cars too.
What kind of millionaire only has a 1 car garage? Most millionaires I know have at least 2 and a car in each bay. And they will be something like an M3 and a 4 runner.
For driving thrills this thing will never come close to a bona fide sports car…. so why not just keep the luxury and get the actual sports car too?
Does Audi still put their complex and failure prone cam drive on the back end of the engine?