S8 V10 Second Installment
Discussion
About a year has passed since I wrote a post on my first year with an S8 V10. Seeing PH’s recent story on the S6 estate galvanised me into action. Everything I said in that first post still stands, but these are the experiences that have stood out for me over the last year.
Winter and Summer trips to the Alps
Our children are now at the age when we can’t sit them on our laps on planes and holidays take place around school term dates. For European trips that means driving becomes the most economic option, even with a 5.2l V10 petrol engine. My other half would prefer to fly, but for me European driving is still one of life’s absolute joys and something I look forward to all year. Before we left on our winter trip I spent quite a lot of time researching winter wheel and tyre combinations. Ebay Germany is an excellent source. Although many people recommend another set of rims as well as tyres I personally couldn’t justify the cost as I’m not sure how many more winters I will have the car and I would have wanted OEM wheels. In the end I bought a set of nearly new 265 35 20 Dunlop winters from a reputable tyre dealer in Germany. It is the first time I have ever bought second-hand tyres, but my nervousness at doing so disappeared as soon as they arrived. Having inspected them thoroughly, I found them to be exactly as described. No repairs or damage and an even 7-7.5mm of tread across and around. The cost was about 650 euros plus £70 to have them fitted locally. New would have been just over double that.
There are plenty of posts on the benefits of winter tyres and on the S8 it will not surprise anyone to hear that they were stunningly effective in combination with the 4WD. Slush, compacted ice and deep fresh snow falls were all dismissed with supreme assurance. You really have to be quite provocative to trigger any loss of traction. Almost more impressive was their ability to clear standing water during some of the torrential cloud bursts we had on the drive down. The deep tread blocks can probably be thanked for that and for a slightly improved ride quality over the summer equivalents.
Before we left London I brimmed the tank – the last 10 litres going in at a tedious trickle. Whatever anyone thinks of Tesco’s current woes, 20p off per litre with Clubcard points is particularly welcome when running a v10 with a 90l tank. Sitting waiting to board the Euroshuttle we made rare use of the digital TV option. The picture quality is extremely good, but the sound impresses more being completely integrated with the B&O system. It also works in France which allowed me to watch some winter Olympics while waiting for a toddler’s ski lesson to finish. It’s certainly a nice option, but not one I would bother to spec on a new car given the very few times we’ve used it.
Driving through France with cruise control set at just under 140kmh the on-board fuel consumption eventually crept up to 24.9 mpg, but refused to go any higher. On French motorways with their well indicated fuel stops, a good 400 miles between stops is possible, although I tend to chicken out in the high 300s. Still a very creditable performance and one which means the combined cost of fuel, tolls and tunnel is still only half the equivalent flight option. Another feature of the autoroutes is of course the periodic opportunity to nail the throttle away from Peages. After the monotony of an hour on cruise control, it’s lovely to hear the V10 sing its way into 3 figures before dropping back to a sensible cruise. I think the gendarmes who often hang about at the Peages also appreciate the noise. In the back the kids had a stack of DVDs playing through the factory-fitted Blaupunkt system. This usually keeps them happy until a first stop somewhere beyond Reims. One thing you have to be careful of though is to unplug the headphones before the kids try to scramble in or out. The jack socket is set low just above the transmission tunnel and is easily bent by little feet.
In the Alps temperatures were minus double figures on some mornings and that’s when the S8’s heated seats were extremely welcome. The other good thing about a very large petrol engine is that it is blowing hot air into the cabin within a minute of starting. The S8’s interior is a lovely place to be at any time, but felt particularly cosseting then. The other feature I found very useful was the ability to raise the ride height using the “lift” function on the suspension. It gave me the confidence to take the car down rutted, frozen tracks I probably wouldn’t have risked without it.
I’ve previously praised the looks of the car for masking its considerable dimensions. This illusion doesn’t shrink the car in French underground car parks, which understandably seem to have been designed with Clios in mind. You really have to concentrate on your approach to ramps and barriers to avoid curbing or worse. The compensation of any underground car park is the ability to flick the gear lever across to manual, hold on to first gear (in D the car changes into second very early normally) and listen to the V10 music. In France exotic cars are generally few and far between which means they are more appreciated than they are here.
This Summer tyres were again an issue which needed to be resolved before setting off for the Alps once again. I had been hoping to get through to November and then change to the winters, postponing expenditure until Spring ’15. It wasn’t going to happen though, and I bought a set of new Michelin Pilot Super Sports in July. So far they are fully justifying their premium price, providing improved ride, road noise and wet weather performance compared to the P zeros the car was wearing before. I would thoroughly recommend them to anyone who has an S8.
This time on our way through Northern France we turned left just after Reims towards Metz and the German border. Metz incidentally is a charming town with a magnificent Cathedral and well worth a stop. The official reason for going that way was to cross into Germany and visit the old university town of Heidelberg and the UNESCO world heritage site of Maulbronn monastery – both fantastic. Unofficially I was also hoping I could let the car off its leash on the A5 down to Basel. As it was the first weekend in August this was somewhat naïve, but I did manage a few short runs up to 155 (something I wouldn’t have felt comfortable doing without the new rubber). High speed cruising is the car’s raison d’etre, so it was no surprise to find it to be utterly stable and still remarkably refined even at those speeds. The double glazed windows help a lot here. Although I sung the praises of steel brakes in my original post, the experience of having to knock off 70 or 80mph several times in short order would make me think again about carbon ceramics if I was doing regular autobahn work. The engine is fully into its peaky stride at these higher speeds and performance from 130 up to the limiter is strong enough to imagine that it must be a 180 car in the absence of a limiter. At the end of my autobahn session the mpg was reading 13, but what would you expect.
Being a black car with black leather the car’s aircon is always going to get a good work-out in August in Europe. This is one area where the car is not as good as my previous e39 m5. At the maximum setting that car could lower its cabin temperature much more efficiently than the S8. Having the aircon re-gassed has helped a bit, but it is still not as good.
Servicing, expenses and reliability
Before the summer trip I had a full service done at one of the London Audi dealerships. They agreed to match a like-for-like quote from an independent using Audi parts. They made me work for it, but to their credit they did match the quote and allow me to supply my own oil (sourced from Opie), which meant a big service for just under £600 (with brake fluid, but without plugs). The starting quote was well over £800.
Insurance was renewed for £870, which also covers an A2 1.4tdi. Both are parked on the street in London with my wife and I as named drivers. I was also pleasantly surprised to find that to renew the comprehensive Audi warranty for another year cost “only” £1,200 this year on account of the car having already been on cover for a year (first year was about £1,800). I guess it’s a kind of no-claims discount, although I had claimed for some items last year. I’m not complaining.
Most recently the car has gone in for some more warranty work which would have landed me with a £2,000 bill if it hadn’t been covered. The electric boot motors needed to be replaced and a failed lambda sensor had caused the emissions light to come on in the dash. One more item is still under discussion, which I hope will be resolved soon. So far, across two years with premiums and excesses taken into account I am about even on the warranty front, but with 7 months to go if anything else goes I should be ahead.
A few small things continue to confuse rather than annoy me. For some reason the car seems to switch seemingly randomly between kilometre and mile readouts. It must be something to do with the car recognising or not recognising my profile or something. Soft close on the rear doors also seems to have a mind of its own. Sometimes it is disabled while at other times it operates as per the front doors. There doesn’t seem to be a pattern to it.
In summary, two years into ownership and I’m still enjoying the car immensely. The European trips have really allowed it to show its wonderful range of talents and getting in to fire up the V10 still brings a tingle of excitement. Running costs are high, but worth every penny.
Tom, Richard and anyone else with experience, I would love to hear how you are all getting on with yours.
Winter and Summer trips to the Alps
Our children are now at the age when we can’t sit them on our laps on planes and holidays take place around school term dates. For European trips that means driving becomes the most economic option, even with a 5.2l V10 petrol engine. My other half would prefer to fly, but for me European driving is still one of life’s absolute joys and something I look forward to all year. Before we left on our winter trip I spent quite a lot of time researching winter wheel and tyre combinations. Ebay Germany is an excellent source. Although many people recommend another set of rims as well as tyres I personally couldn’t justify the cost as I’m not sure how many more winters I will have the car and I would have wanted OEM wheels. In the end I bought a set of nearly new 265 35 20 Dunlop winters from a reputable tyre dealer in Germany. It is the first time I have ever bought second-hand tyres, but my nervousness at doing so disappeared as soon as they arrived. Having inspected them thoroughly, I found them to be exactly as described. No repairs or damage and an even 7-7.5mm of tread across and around. The cost was about 650 euros plus £70 to have them fitted locally. New would have been just over double that.
There are plenty of posts on the benefits of winter tyres and on the S8 it will not surprise anyone to hear that they were stunningly effective in combination with the 4WD. Slush, compacted ice and deep fresh snow falls were all dismissed with supreme assurance. You really have to be quite provocative to trigger any loss of traction. Almost more impressive was their ability to clear standing water during some of the torrential cloud bursts we had on the drive down. The deep tread blocks can probably be thanked for that and for a slightly improved ride quality over the summer equivalents.
Before we left London I brimmed the tank – the last 10 litres going in at a tedious trickle. Whatever anyone thinks of Tesco’s current woes, 20p off per litre with Clubcard points is particularly welcome when running a v10 with a 90l tank. Sitting waiting to board the Euroshuttle we made rare use of the digital TV option. The picture quality is extremely good, but the sound impresses more being completely integrated with the B&O system. It also works in France which allowed me to watch some winter Olympics while waiting for a toddler’s ski lesson to finish. It’s certainly a nice option, but not one I would bother to spec on a new car given the very few times we’ve used it.
Driving through France with cruise control set at just under 140kmh the on-board fuel consumption eventually crept up to 24.9 mpg, but refused to go any higher. On French motorways with their well indicated fuel stops, a good 400 miles between stops is possible, although I tend to chicken out in the high 300s. Still a very creditable performance and one which means the combined cost of fuel, tolls and tunnel is still only half the equivalent flight option. Another feature of the autoroutes is of course the periodic opportunity to nail the throttle away from Peages. After the monotony of an hour on cruise control, it’s lovely to hear the V10 sing its way into 3 figures before dropping back to a sensible cruise. I think the gendarmes who often hang about at the Peages also appreciate the noise. In the back the kids had a stack of DVDs playing through the factory-fitted Blaupunkt system. This usually keeps them happy until a first stop somewhere beyond Reims. One thing you have to be careful of though is to unplug the headphones before the kids try to scramble in or out. The jack socket is set low just above the transmission tunnel and is easily bent by little feet.
In the Alps temperatures were minus double figures on some mornings and that’s when the S8’s heated seats were extremely welcome. The other good thing about a very large petrol engine is that it is blowing hot air into the cabin within a minute of starting. The S8’s interior is a lovely place to be at any time, but felt particularly cosseting then. The other feature I found very useful was the ability to raise the ride height using the “lift” function on the suspension. It gave me the confidence to take the car down rutted, frozen tracks I probably wouldn’t have risked without it.
I’ve previously praised the looks of the car for masking its considerable dimensions. This illusion doesn’t shrink the car in French underground car parks, which understandably seem to have been designed with Clios in mind. You really have to concentrate on your approach to ramps and barriers to avoid curbing or worse. The compensation of any underground car park is the ability to flick the gear lever across to manual, hold on to first gear (in D the car changes into second very early normally) and listen to the V10 music. In France exotic cars are generally few and far between which means they are more appreciated than they are here.
This Summer tyres were again an issue which needed to be resolved before setting off for the Alps once again. I had been hoping to get through to November and then change to the winters, postponing expenditure until Spring ’15. It wasn’t going to happen though, and I bought a set of new Michelin Pilot Super Sports in July. So far they are fully justifying their premium price, providing improved ride, road noise and wet weather performance compared to the P zeros the car was wearing before. I would thoroughly recommend them to anyone who has an S8.
This time on our way through Northern France we turned left just after Reims towards Metz and the German border. Metz incidentally is a charming town with a magnificent Cathedral and well worth a stop. The official reason for going that way was to cross into Germany and visit the old university town of Heidelberg and the UNESCO world heritage site of Maulbronn monastery – both fantastic. Unofficially I was also hoping I could let the car off its leash on the A5 down to Basel. As it was the first weekend in August this was somewhat naïve, but I did manage a few short runs up to 155 (something I wouldn’t have felt comfortable doing without the new rubber). High speed cruising is the car’s raison d’etre, so it was no surprise to find it to be utterly stable and still remarkably refined even at those speeds. The double glazed windows help a lot here. Although I sung the praises of steel brakes in my original post, the experience of having to knock off 70 or 80mph several times in short order would make me think again about carbon ceramics if I was doing regular autobahn work. The engine is fully into its peaky stride at these higher speeds and performance from 130 up to the limiter is strong enough to imagine that it must be a 180 car in the absence of a limiter. At the end of my autobahn session the mpg was reading 13, but what would you expect.
Being a black car with black leather the car’s aircon is always going to get a good work-out in August in Europe. This is one area where the car is not as good as my previous e39 m5. At the maximum setting that car could lower its cabin temperature much more efficiently than the S8. Having the aircon re-gassed has helped a bit, but it is still not as good.
Servicing, expenses and reliability
Before the summer trip I had a full service done at one of the London Audi dealerships. They agreed to match a like-for-like quote from an independent using Audi parts. They made me work for it, but to their credit they did match the quote and allow me to supply my own oil (sourced from Opie), which meant a big service for just under £600 (with brake fluid, but without plugs). The starting quote was well over £800.
Insurance was renewed for £870, which also covers an A2 1.4tdi. Both are parked on the street in London with my wife and I as named drivers. I was also pleasantly surprised to find that to renew the comprehensive Audi warranty for another year cost “only” £1,200 this year on account of the car having already been on cover for a year (first year was about £1,800). I guess it’s a kind of no-claims discount, although I had claimed for some items last year. I’m not complaining.
Most recently the car has gone in for some more warranty work which would have landed me with a £2,000 bill if it hadn’t been covered. The electric boot motors needed to be replaced and a failed lambda sensor had caused the emissions light to come on in the dash. One more item is still under discussion, which I hope will be resolved soon. So far, across two years with premiums and excesses taken into account I am about even on the warranty front, but with 7 months to go if anything else goes I should be ahead.
A few small things continue to confuse rather than annoy me. For some reason the car seems to switch seemingly randomly between kilometre and mile readouts. It must be something to do with the car recognising or not recognising my profile or something. Soft close on the rear doors also seems to have a mind of its own. Sometimes it is disabled while at other times it operates as per the front doors. There doesn’t seem to be a pattern to it.
In summary, two years into ownership and I’m still enjoying the car immensely. The European trips have really allowed it to show its wonderful range of talents and getting in to fire up the V10 still brings a tingle of excitement. Running costs are high, but worth every penny.
Tom, Richard and anyone else with experience, I would love to hear how you are all getting on with yours.
Tom, Richard - thanks for your updates.
Tom, sorry to hear you will be selling your S8, but gentleman farmer sounds like a great plan. Perhaps you can find an S8 equivalent in tractors? I believe Lamborghini started out making tractors....
Richard, did that high mileage make it impossible to get a warranty in the end? I think 100,000 might be a cut off for my Audi warranty. Also, have you noticed any change in performance over that mileage? A few people have commented on coking saying this engine is not as prone as other Audi motors, but just wondered given your mileage. I share your concern about what could replace this car. C63 estate is probably where I'm leaning, but it's not really a substitute. I notice some of the new S8s are already in the 40's now - what shocking depreciation.
Tom, sorry to hear you will be selling your S8, but gentleman farmer sounds like a great plan. Perhaps you can find an S8 equivalent in tractors? I believe Lamborghini started out making tractors....
Richard, did that high mileage make it impossible to get a warranty in the end? I think 100,000 might be a cut off for my Audi warranty. Also, have you noticed any change in performance over that mileage? A few people have commented on coking saying this engine is not as prone as other Audi motors, but just wondered given your mileage. I share your concern about what could replace this car. C63 estate is probably where I'm leaning, but it's not really a substitute. I notice some of the new S8s are already in the 40's now - what shocking depreciation.
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