Audi S8 Beginner's Guide
Discussion
Some good points made there regarding the A8 4.2TDi, but I have to disagree with one of them, although I confess it is from an uninformed perspective and may have to eat humble pie if proved wrong. Great though the powerhouse diesel is, I just can't see how that particular car could be improved by the addition of a louder exhaust. Does anyone have evidence to the contrary? I would have thought that the pleasure would be derived from a purposeful but not overpowering growl, combined with ridiculous levels of seat of the pants thrust from the iron fist engine that lurks beneath the velvet glove bodywork!
They can sound like a 'proper' V8 rather than the fuel of satan but it's never going to have the bark of the V10 on a silly pipe - have heard an S6 avant with a non-res milltek and when you hear it you expect to see something exotic rather than a family wagon.
You won't hear much of anything in the cabin of the 4.2 diesel when its warm unless you open the windows....
You won't hear much of anything in the cabin of the 4.2 diesel when its warm unless you open the windows....
Adrian E said:
.You won't hear much of anything in the cabin of the 4.2 diesel when its warm unless you open the windows....
...at which point the smell of diesel exhaust will make you retch. 
The S8s tend to be better spec'd than the TDis, and have a bit more road presence to them IMO.
And don't smell of Satan's fuel, which is nice.
It's quite odd how Audi dealerships seem to shun S8s *and* D3 4.2 TDis in almost equal measure. Last time I looked you couldn't move for 3.0 TDis, but 4.2s were very thin on the ground. And leggy.
slippery said:
The TDi is probably the best option. The S8 sounds glorious, but is starting to look pretty slow when put against the likes of the M5, 63AMGs and XFR.
To be fair, those are a generation younger than the S8, no? Only the F10 M5 comes close to the S8 in the looks department (its predecessor was fugly IMO, even if it was faster than the S8).Greg66 said:
To be fair, those are a generation younger than the S8, no? Only the F10 M5 comes close to the S8 in the looks department (its predecessor was fugly IMO, even if it was faster than the S8).
Agreed, but many of the examples on offer are the same ball park price wise. I think the S8 is due to take a big hit depreciation wise soon. People are just asking too much money for a shape that's nearly 10 years old now. Don't get me wrong, I love them to bits, but I think that W12 market values are much more in line with reality.
Hi there,
Some real world views from a current S8 V10 owner after for 6000 miles on 2006 model with 60,000 miles.
1. Fuel consumption 22mpg motorway cruise at 85mph, 18 mpg around town or going quickly on country lanes.
2. Audi dealer service costs high (£1000 for 60k service, vs. local specialist at under £500.) Parts were £350.
3. Electic rear brake calipers not very reliable, £600 to replace each side.
4. Ride is fairly firm, but given 35 section tyres on 20" wheels, shouldn't complain. I use dynamic suspension setting most of the time, could drop down to comfort when road surface poor.
5. Performance is Jeckell and Hyde. In D mode, transmission wants to get into 6th gear as fast as possible, but is still responsive. In S mode, like a scalded cat and never wants to go into 6th even at silly speeds.
6. Interior quality is superb and go for B&O stereo & DAB radio, it makes a big difference. Lovely place to be for long distances.
7. Brakes very powerful (mine are steel which is fine for UK roads and speeds). Full set of discs and pads from Audi all round £700 fitted, given 450 bhp, seems reasonable to me. Note rear brakes need VCDS/dealer software to retract caliper pistons for pad or disc change.
8. Paint and trim very resilient, comment from my detailer, paint is as hard as nails (see pictures at GemClean Detailing)
9. Prices still seem to be dropping. 2006 cars without B&O now around £16k or less, but some dogs out there. Nice cars around £20k retail for 60k miles. Facelift cars 2008 onwards not yet below £20k. B etter nav/stereo display and hard disk based rather than DVD based nav.
10. Excellent forum over at http://forum.a8parts.co.uk/index.php. They do parts at reasonable prices vs. Audi dealers.
11. Known failure points: rear brake calipers, front suspension arms, power steering pump (engine out job at £3k!!), but not as prone to carbon deposits as the S4, RS6 models are far as I can discover. Brakes and tyres are consumables (£250 per corner for Bridgestone OE tyres) not surprising, given 2000Kg weight.
12. If it does go wrong, it will be expensive. I took out a Warrantywise most extensive warranty and very pleased I did!
Hope my view helps others. I am glad I jumped in after 200,000 miles in an E38 7401 sport. Doing 25k miles per year and plan on keeping for at least 3 years. Good luck to those thinking along similar lines.
Richardracer (Bracknell/Ascot area)
Some real world views from a current S8 V10 owner after for 6000 miles on 2006 model with 60,000 miles.
1. Fuel consumption 22mpg motorway cruise at 85mph, 18 mpg around town or going quickly on country lanes.
2. Audi dealer service costs high (£1000 for 60k service, vs. local specialist at under £500.) Parts were £350.
3. Electic rear brake calipers not very reliable, £600 to replace each side.
4. Ride is fairly firm, but given 35 section tyres on 20" wheels, shouldn't complain. I use dynamic suspension setting most of the time, could drop down to comfort when road surface poor.
5. Performance is Jeckell and Hyde. In D mode, transmission wants to get into 6th gear as fast as possible, but is still responsive. In S mode, like a scalded cat and never wants to go into 6th even at silly speeds.
6. Interior quality is superb and go for B&O stereo & DAB radio, it makes a big difference. Lovely place to be for long distances.
7. Brakes very powerful (mine are steel which is fine for UK roads and speeds). Full set of discs and pads from Audi all round £700 fitted, given 450 bhp, seems reasonable to me. Note rear brakes need VCDS/dealer software to retract caliper pistons for pad or disc change.
8. Paint and trim very resilient, comment from my detailer, paint is as hard as nails (see pictures at GemClean Detailing)
9. Prices still seem to be dropping. 2006 cars without B&O now around £16k or less, but some dogs out there. Nice cars around £20k retail for 60k miles. Facelift cars 2008 onwards not yet below £20k. B etter nav/stereo display and hard disk based rather than DVD based nav.
10. Excellent forum over at http://forum.a8parts.co.uk/index.php. They do parts at reasonable prices vs. Audi dealers.
11. Known failure points: rear brake calipers, front suspension arms, power steering pump (engine out job at £3k!!), but not as prone to carbon deposits as the S4, RS6 models are far as I can discover. Brakes and tyres are consumables (£250 per corner for Bridgestone OE tyres) not surprising, given 2000Kg weight.
12. If it does go wrong, it will be expensive. I took out a Warrantywise most extensive warranty and very pleased I did!
Hope my view helps others. I am glad I jumped in after 200,000 miles in an E38 7401 sport. Doing 25k miles per year and plan on keeping for at least 3 years. Good luck to those thinking along similar lines.
Richardracer (Bracknell/Ascot area)
richardracer said:
Hi there,
Some real world views from a current S8 V10 owner after for 6000 miles on 2006 model with 60,000 miles.
1. Fuel consumption 22mpg motorway cruise at 85mph, 18 mpg around town or going quickly on country lanes.
2. Audi dealer service costs high (£1000 for 60k service, vs. local specialist at under £500.) Parts were £350.
3. Electic rear brake calipers not very reliable, £600 to replace each side.
4. Ride is fairly firm, but given 35 section tyres on 20" wheels, shouldn't complain. I use dynamic suspension setting most of the time, could drop down to comfort when road surface poor.
5. Performance is Jeckell and Hyde. In D mode, transmission wants to get into 6th gear as fast as possible, but is still responsive. In S mode, like a scalded cat and never wants to go into 6th even at silly speeds.
6. Interior quality is superb and go for B&O stereo & DAB radio, it makes a big difference. Lovely place to be for long distances.
7. Brakes very powerful (mine are steel which is fine for UK roads and speeds). Full set of discs and pads from Audi all round £700 fitted, given 450 bhp, seems reasonable to me. Note rear brakes need VCDS/dealer software to retract caliper pistons for pad or disc change.
8. Paint and trim very resilient, comment from my detailer, paint is as hard as nails (see pictures at GemClean Detailing)
9. Prices still seem to be dropping. 2006 cars without B&O now around £16k or less, but some dogs out there. Nice cars around £20k retail for 60k miles. Facelift cars 2008 onwards not yet below £20k. B etter nav/stereo display and hard disk based rather than DVD based nav.
10. Excellent forum over at http://forum.a8parts.co.uk/index.php. They do parts at reasonable prices vs. Audi dealers.
11. Known failure points: rear brake calipers, front suspension arms, power steering pump (engine out job at £3k!!), but not as prone to carbon deposits as the S4, RS6 models are far as I can discover. Brakes and tyres are consumables (£250 per corner for Bridgestone OE tyres) not surprising, given 2000Kg weight.
12. If it does go wrong, it will be expensive. I took out a Warrantywise most extensive warranty and very pleased I did!
Hope my view helps others. I am glad I jumped in after 200,000 miles in an E38 7401 sport. Doing 25k miles per year and plan on keeping for at least 3 years. Good luck to those thinking along similar lines.
Richardracer (Bracknell/Ascot area)
Great post.Some real world views from a current S8 V10 owner after for 6000 miles on 2006 model with 60,000 miles.
1. Fuel consumption 22mpg motorway cruise at 85mph, 18 mpg around town or going quickly on country lanes.
2. Audi dealer service costs high (£1000 for 60k service, vs. local specialist at under £500.) Parts were £350.
3. Electic rear brake calipers not very reliable, £600 to replace each side.
4. Ride is fairly firm, but given 35 section tyres on 20" wheels, shouldn't complain. I use dynamic suspension setting most of the time, could drop down to comfort when road surface poor.
5. Performance is Jeckell and Hyde. In D mode, transmission wants to get into 6th gear as fast as possible, but is still responsive. In S mode, like a scalded cat and never wants to go into 6th even at silly speeds.
6. Interior quality is superb and go for B&O stereo & DAB radio, it makes a big difference. Lovely place to be for long distances.
7. Brakes very powerful (mine are steel which is fine for UK roads and speeds). Full set of discs and pads from Audi all round £700 fitted, given 450 bhp, seems reasonable to me. Note rear brakes need VCDS/dealer software to retract caliper pistons for pad or disc change.
8. Paint and trim very resilient, comment from my detailer, paint is as hard as nails (see pictures at GemClean Detailing)
9. Prices still seem to be dropping. 2006 cars without B&O now around £16k or less, but some dogs out there. Nice cars around £20k retail for 60k miles. Facelift cars 2008 onwards not yet below £20k. B etter nav/stereo display and hard disk based rather than DVD based nav.
10. Excellent forum over at http://forum.a8parts.co.uk/index.php. They do parts at reasonable prices vs. Audi dealers.
11. Known failure points: rear brake calipers, front suspension arms, power steering pump (engine out job at £3k!!), but not as prone to carbon deposits as the S4, RS6 models are far as I can discover. Brakes and tyres are consumables (£250 per corner for Bridgestone OE tyres) not surprising, given 2000Kg weight.
12. If it does go wrong, it will be expensive. I took out a Warrantywise most extensive warranty and very pleased I did!
Hope my view helps others. I am glad I jumped in after 200,000 miles in an E38 7401 sport. Doing 25k miles per year and plan on keeping for at least 3 years. Good luck to those thinking along similar lines.
Richardracer (Bracknell/Ascot area)
Slippery, just buy one and I will come down and drive you around
Richardracer, great, informative post thank you for putting that up. Interesting comments. So with the 90 litre tank and 22 mpg on open roads your getting up to 400 miles a tank roughly?
I don't care too much about fuel as we don't do too many miles so we're not bothered. Is the B&O that good?
I have now looked at a couple but nothing more as I don't want to get hopes up until my Tuscan is sold. Can't wait to drive one though!
I don't care too much about fuel as we don't do too many miles so we're not bothered. Is the B&O that good?
I have now looked at a couple but nothing more as I don't want to get hopes up until my Tuscan is sold. Can't wait to drive one though!
Hi there,
Sorry for the delay in responding. Yes, I can get around 360 miles per tank because it is a pig to get the last 5 liters in. I put around 82 liters in for 360 miles.
Car now done 77,000 miles so first set of tyres worn out. Just put winter wheels and tyres on whilst I refurb 20" inch standard rims and put new tyres on for spring. Mpg stayed at 22 and only new fault was a level sensor. Recommend vcds software if you are into DIY or just interested in what is going on.
Let me know if you finally bought an S8 and where you are located.
Cheers
Richard
Sorry for the delay in responding. Yes, I can get around 360 miles per tank because it is a pig to get the last 5 liters in. I put around 82 liters in for 360 miles.
Car now done 77,000 miles so first set of tyres worn out. Just put winter wheels and tyres on whilst I refurb 20" inch standard rims and put new tyres on for spring. Mpg stayed at 22 and only new fault was a level sensor. Recommend vcds software if you are into DIY or just interested in what is going on.
Let me know if you finally bought an S8 and where you are located.
Cheers
Richard
Must have missed this thread first time round, though as it's been bumped thought I'd add my bit.
I have a 2007 S8 (probably the same as Richard's model) though I have Bose and not B & O in mine, which doesn't really bother me as I'm a bit cloth eared anyway. It does have DAB radio & TV though.
I've owned it for just over three years, having bought it in August 2009 with just 18,000 on it. It's now got just short of 39,000 on it with no major mechanical faults in that time. (Touching wood as I write)
I'll also agree with the mileage figures quoted above, though it's very easy to drop these down if driven hard.
Audi were very good with mine initially, fitting a lot of bits under warranty, new coil packs as part of a recall and new front disks (ceramic) due to hairline cracks appearing on the inside of them. They also fitted front pads for free as part of this operation, so bonus there.
The downside to me is the bodywork. I'm not going to go on about it here ( there's another thread HERE on my issues) though suffice to say I won't be in a rush to buy another Audi.
(I do like that RS5 mind.
)
I have a 2007 S8 (probably the same as Richard's model) though I have Bose and not B & O in mine, which doesn't really bother me as I'm a bit cloth eared anyway. It does have DAB radio & TV though.
I've owned it for just over three years, having bought it in August 2009 with just 18,000 on it. It's now got just short of 39,000 on it with no major mechanical faults in that time. (Touching wood as I write)
I'll also agree with the mileage figures quoted above, though it's very easy to drop these down if driven hard.
Audi were very good with mine initially, fitting a lot of bits under warranty, new coil packs as part of a recall and new front disks (ceramic) due to hairline cracks appearing on the inside of them. They also fitted front pads for free as part of this operation, so bonus there.
The downside to me is the bodywork. I'm not going to go on about it here ( there's another thread HERE on my issues) though suffice to say I won't be in a rush to buy another Audi.
(I do like that RS5 mind.
)I did get one, a 2006 in black with B&O and also a Miltek which is pretty epic compared to normal exhausts! Done 65k now and 22 mpg seems to be right although it often seems more than that, but who cares!?!?
Fab car which I love! Having a full audi service done next week which is a condition of warranty so we will see what they think but on the whole it is a great machine and a lot quicker than I expected it to be. Noise is still intoxicating!
Fab car which I love! Having a full audi service done next week which is a condition of warranty so we will see what they think but on the whole it is a great machine and a lot quicker than I expected it to be. Noise is still intoxicating!
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