RS 6

[Dr Imran T]

Gosh, I'm truly surprised by the amount of comments regarding the S8. Whilst I agree it is a superb car, I would opt for the RS6 over that without question.

Are the engines not the same bar twin turbos in the RS6?

S8's can be picked of for very little these days whilst the RS6 still holds onto its value well.

[Baryonyx]

Dr Imran T said:

Gosh, I'm truly surprised by the amount of comments regarding the S8. Whilst I agree it is a superb car, I would opt for the RS6 over that without question.

Of course though, the OP has owned both and he knows what he would choose. The D2 A8/S8 is simply amazing. To understand why it's so good, you have to understand the motivation behind it. When Audi launched the A8, it was trying to capture a slice of the market dominated by the BMW 7 series and the Mercedes S Class. Before that, Audi had had the Audi V8, a nice car but never a big hit like the ubiquitous 7 Series or S Class. With the A8, Audi threw loads of cash at it, spending loads on R&D and producing an amazing car.

Since then, with the establishment of the A8/S8, they've had less to prove, especially as their market share has grown considerably since the mid 90's with the A8 arrived. People now buy Audi for the badge, whereas in the past they didn't. Particularly in Germany, Audi had a lot to prove to be taken as seriously as BMW and Mercedes Benz. It's crazy to think that the D2 A8 design is nearly 20 years old. My A8 truely feels 'hewn from granite', and is a pleasure to drive. The S8 came along and turned that formula up some more, with stiffer suspension, bigger wheels and a chunk of extra horsepower (even in the facelift 4.2 A8's, the V8 engine is under-stressed). My uncle has an RS6 and whilst it is a fantastic car, it's a considerably different proposition to the A8/S8 and doesn't feel like Audi were trying quite as hard when they made it. It was just another iteration of (by then) a well established formula, as impressive as the results are. Compare an A8/S8 to a contemporary German luxury car and you will appreciate why they atract such praise from their owners. And the competition at the time was the strongest it had ever been, or in fact, ever would be!