V10 S8 mini review
Discussion
Four months in, time for a mini review.
I realised in Sept this year that I'd been window shopping for S8s for coming up to three years. Time to piss or get off the pot. My preferred spec was Daytona grey, B&O, facelift (08 onwards), no two tone leather, and heated rear seats.
The car I ended up with was that, but pre facelift (an 06), with a big list of options ticked, after market RSE, and v low mileage (<15k). It still has that nice tight feeling that a newish car has, which was a nice bonus.
Interior: there are basically only four substances used in the cabin: carbon fibre, leather, aluminium and carpet. What isn't one of those four substances can be covered by a single hand, or is glass. It all oozes old time German quality, of the "hewn from a block of something very solid" variety.
Comfort is exceptional: the seat supports in all the right places, and crucially has the facility to adjust the upper half of the backrest independently from the lower half. The only crit I have is that my preferred seating position means the cruise stalk is obscured completely by a limb of the steering wheel.
Coming to life: I've realised that when you live with three women, soft close doors are pointless because they will always slam the doors shut. 49 times out of 50 I forget the doors are soft close, to be honest (not helped by our other car being a FFRR which requires a bit of oomph to shut the doors).
Slide in, and press the finger print scanner to fire up. First thing is that the scanner is a bit hit and miss. As I only drive it, it's not much of a problem. But occasionally it will work with my key, someone adjusts the seat and loses my seat position. First world problem.
As someone else reported on here, when the engine is cold, the starter turns over just a couple of seconds longer than usual for a car. And it's got this high pitched whine to it, so the whole package sounds quite exotic. Then the V10 catches and fires, and a smile appears. As one of my mates aptly put it "are they allowed to make engines that sound like that now?"
In motion: the suspension has three settings but the one you go to is dynamic and then forget about the other two. The gearbox has three settings: D, S and manual. These equate to Jekyll, Hyde, and Hyde on gamma rays.
In D the car wafts around smoothly; floor it and you'll be surprised at how rapidly it shifts. But in S it's like being on the end of a rope attached to a falling weight where the rope keeps snagging and stopping as you come off the throttle. And in manual it's comedic. My previous car was a 996 turbo, and whilst this is not as quick, it certainly isn't shamed by a comparison, and in a straight line has pace that needs genuine attention.
Through corners? Well, it's a big heavy car, so you won't be reading the postcode on an Elise's number plate. But it is quite well balanced - the size of the car allows the weight to be spread around so you don't get the sense that 70% of the mass is up front. And the diff splits power 60/40 rear/front by default, which doesn't hurt. So whilst the 6T would leave it through the twisties, I am pretty sure that the S8 driven with commitment and skill could make an average driver in a 6T work quite hard to pull out a respectable lead. Which is no mean feat.
Practicality. Well, it has five proper seats, proper legroom in the back, and a boot that swallows two road bike frames and four wheels. What more could you want? The shopping hooks are one of the single most useful things I've ever found in any car. Two T-shaped hooks that pull down from the boot roof to hang your shopping bags upright. So you can boot it home from Waitrose and not have to collect your food from the far corners of the boot when you get home. Like that.
Fuel consumption is predictably poor, but in truth, who cares? You buy a V10 (or a V12 or V8) and you really skip the queue that leads to the "I care about fuel consumption" petition. Maybe an i8 is in my future one day, but not now.
Oh, and the B&O really does sound very, very good. Beautifully balanced with excellent clarity. The only thing that sounds better is when you drop the gearbox into 3 on the motorway and flatten the carpet. The rumble you hear is really like nothing I've ever heard another engine produce. It sounds so deep and angry that you wonder whether you've left a line of cracked road behind you. In a good way, obv.
Overall: really love this car, even if it end up a dinosaur. But if it does, it will be a T Rex.
I realised in Sept this year that I'd been window shopping for S8s for coming up to three years. Time to piss or get off the pot. My preferred spec was Daytona grey, B&O, facelift (08 onwards), no two tone leather, and heated rear seats.
The car I ended up with was that, but pre facelift (an 06), with a big list of options ticked, after market RSE, and v low mileage (<15k). It still has that nice tight feeling that a newish car has, which was a nice bonus.
Interior: there are basically only four substances used in the cabin: carbon fibre, leather, aluminium and carpet. What isn't one of those four substances can be covered by a single hand, or is glass. It all oozes old time German quality, of the "hewn from a block of something very solid" variety.
Comfort is exceptional: the seat supports in all the right places, and crucially has the facility to adjust the upper half of the backrest independently from the lower half. The only crit I have is that my preferred seating position means the cruise stalk is obscured completely by a limb of the steering wheel.
Coming to life: I've realised that when you live with three women, soft close doors are pointless because they will always slam the doors shut. 49 times out of 50 I forget the doors are soft close, to be honest (not helped by our other car being a FFRR which requires a bit of oomph to shut the doors).
Slide in, and press the finger print scanner to fire up. First thing is that the scanner is a bit hit and miss. As I only drive it, it's not much of a problem. But occasionally it will work with my key, someone adjusts the seat and loses my seat position. First world problem.
As someone else reported on here, when the engine is cold, the starter turns over just a couple of seconds longer than usual for a car. And it's got this high pitched whine to it, so the whole package sounds quite exotic. Then the V10 catches and fires, and a smile appears. As one of my mates aptly put it "are they allowed to make engines that sound like that now?"
In motion: the suspension has three settings but the one you go to is dynamic and then forget about the other two. The gearbox has three settings: D, S and manual. These equate to Jekyll, Hyde, and Hyde on gamma rays.
In D the car wafts around smoothly; floor it and you'll be surprised at how rapidly it shifts. But in S it's like being on the end of a rope attached to a falling weight where the rope keeps snagging and stopping as you come off the throttle. And in manual it's comedic. My previous car was a 996 turbo, and whilst this is not as quick, it certainly isn't shamed by a comparison, and in a straight line has pace that needs genuine attention.
Through corners? Well, it's a big heavy car, so you won't be reading the postcode on an Elise's number plate. But it is quite well balanced - the size of the car allows the weight to be spread around so you don't get the sense that 70% of the mass is up front. And the diff splits power 60/40 rear/front by default, which doesn't hurt. So whilst the 6T would leave it through the twisties, I am pretty sure that the S8 driven with commitment and skill could make an average driver in a 6T work quite hard to pull out a respectable lead. Which is no mean feat.
Practicality. Well, it has five proper seats, proper legroom in the back, and a boot that swallows two road bike frames and four wheels. What more could you want? The shopping hooks are one of the single most useful things I've ever found in any car. Two T-shaped hooks that pull down from the boot roof to hang your shopping bags upright. So you can boot it home from Waitrose and not have to collect your food from the far corners of the boot when you get home. Like that.
Fuel consumption is predictably poor, but in truth, who cares? You buy a V10 (or a V12 or V8) and you really skip the queue that leads to the "I care about fuel consumption" petition. Maybe an i8 is in my future one day, but not now.
Oh, and the B&O really does sound very, very good. Beautifully balanced with excellent clarity. The only thing that sounds better is when you drop the gearbox into 3 on the motorway and flatten the carpet. The rumble you hear is really like nothing I've ever heard another engine produce. It sounds so deep and angry that you wonder whether you've left a line of cracked road behind you. In a good way, obv.
Overall: really love this car, even if it end up a dinosaur. But if it does, it will be a T Rex.
Lovely little review. After having an S6 with the same engine a few years ago, I looked at a few S8 recently with a view to getting into one. My budget was probably lower than yours was.
I found one that went through BCA Manchester for £12300 plus the buyer's premium. It went for a little over what I was willing to spend just before Xmas. It's currently being sold by these guys at £15450. http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2014... Nice little markup if they get what they're asking.
In any event, I've just bought a 2006 S6 avant with the same V10. High miles but well cared for with full Audi service history and invoices to back up the stamps in the service book. As there is a chance I might flip it in Spring, I'm umming and ahhing over fitting an exhaust. Might just go for bespoke back boxes to keep the cost low. A Milltek for one of these is over a grand.
I found one that went through BCA Manchester for £12300 plus the buyer's premium. It went for a little over what I was willing to spend just before Xmas. It's currently being sold by these guys at £15450. http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2014... Nice little markup if they get what they're asking.
In any event, I've just bought a 2006 S6 avant with the same V10. High miles but well cared for with full Audi service history and invoices to back up the stamps in the service book. As there is a chance I might flip it in Spring, I'm umming and ahhing over fitting an exhaust. Might just go for bespoke back boxes to keep the cost low. A Milltek for one of these is over a grand.
They don't get it. Great write-up.
Your comment about the soft close doors made me laugh. I have given up remindng my other half. Once when I parked on the offside of a heavily cambered road my mother couldn't physically push the passenger door open because of its weight and the angle of the car. Bank vault just about does it justice.
In the new year I'll probably do a full "end of term" write-up with running costs.
Keep us posted how you get on with yours.
Your comment about the soft close doors made me laugh. I have given up remindng my other half. Once when I parked on the offside of a heavily cambered road my mother couldn't physically push the passenger door open because of its weight and the angle of the car. Bank vault just about does it justice.
In the new year I'll probably do a full "end of term" write-up with running costs.
Keep us posted how you get on with yours.
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