RE: Audi S8 V10: PH Carpool
Discussion
sutts said:
Now you've done it!
I really, really don't know why people keep insisting that saloons and estates are sleepers.This isn't the 90s anymore, quick saloons and estates have been popular and quite common for roughly 20 years.
I should come as a surprise to no one that an estate or a saloon can be as fast (or faster) than a sports car.
Bladedancer said:
A question for S6/S8 owners - how reliable are these things in the long run, especially the expensive bits of engine/gearbox? Ads are full of very tempting S6'es but with a car like that if anything goes wrong it'll ruin you real fast.
There are common failure points, like electronic parking brakes, and power steering hoses - which can be a 3K engine out job if you aren't mechanically minded, but if you know a good indie or are ok mechanically it can be done by accessing through the passenger side wheel arch saving a boatload of money.Engines are generally bulletproof, but, inlet manifold flaps can break and destroy the engine, although I've never heard of one doing so, removal is quite easy, best tied in with a full carbon clean for about £1000 all in with a remap.
Electrics can play up, but VAGCOM is a great investment and solves 90% of issues.
Gearboxes are generally bulletproof unless the wrong gearbox oil has been used in a service, so if you do, make sure it's a trusted indie, mackies or Chester transmissions.
Rear glass can be done if your excess covers it, as mine did for £90
Air suspension can play up, but a compressor is about £300 to do, bags can leak and drain batteries quite quickly as the car wakes up and self levels in the night, if a bag is leaking it'll keep doing it until it has no battery left. Bags aren't mega to replace though.
Ceramics are £2000+ to replace, so I went for a car with normal discs and don't regret it.
I'd advise anyone who was considering one to have a look at the a8forum as it's the No.1 source of info on these cars, and good for parts as well. Budget for a warranty, but don't buy one, instead, keep putting that monthly warranty allocation into an account for repairs if/when they come and you'll be more than covered. Warranties don't generally pay out well, have clauses and excesses.
As an example, my warranty quote for this was £1500 a year, £1800 months in and excluding servicing, tyres, mods, I am way, way below that outlay in the 18 months I've had it.
AA inspections are also worth their weight, with a 24 page report, I also took this out before buying the car from Edinburgh. They checked it over before I flew up, paid and drove home that night, comfortably with a huge smile on my face.
As an aside to all I've said above, I have has no gearbox, park brake, suspension, engine or power steering issues... so go figure!
Also - the M5 V10 is quicker, but it's a different kind of car so it's like comparing oranges and grapefruits, the S8 is more of a cruiser with a turn of speed but comfort and refinement way above the M5. The engine on the M5 is also more fragile.
If you want to compare an M5 and an S6 that'd be a more just comparison, both lovely cars though!
Edited by 1781cc on Tuesday 27th June 09:43
1781cc said:
Bladedancer said:
A question for S6/S8 owners - how reliable are these things in the long run, especially the expensive bits of engine/gearbox? Ads are full of very tempting S6'es but with a car like that if anything goes wrong it'll ruin you real fast.
There are common failure points, like electronic parking brakes, and power steering hoses - which can be a 3K engine out job if you aren't mechanically minded, but if you know a good indie or are ok mechanically it can be done by accessing through the passenger side wheel arch saving a boatload of money.Engines are generally bulletproof, but, inlet manifold flaps can break and destroy the engine, although I've never heard of one doing so, removal is quite easy, best tied in with a full carbon clean for about £1000 all in with a remap.
Electrics can play up, but VAGCOM is a great investment and solves 90% of issues.
Gearboxes are generally bulletproof unless the wrong gearbox oil has been used in a service, so if you do, make sure it's a trusted indie, mackies or Chester transmissions.
Rear glass can be done if your excess covers it, as mine did for £90
Air suspension can play up, but a compressor is about £300 to do, bags can leak and drain batteries quite quickly as the car wakes up and self levels in the night, if a bag is leaking it'll keep doing it until it has no battery left. Bags aren't mega to replace though.
Ceramics are £2000+ to replace, so I went for a car with normal discs and don't regret it.
I'd advise anyone who was considering one to have a look at the a8forum as it's the No.1 source of info on these cars, and good for parts as well. Budget for a warranty, but don't buy one, instead, keep putting that monthly warranty allocation into an account for repairs if/when they come and you'll be more than covered. Warranties don't generally pay out well, have clauses and excesses.
As an example, my warranty quote for this was £1500 a year, £1800 months in and excluding servicing, tyres, mods, I am way, way below that outlay in the 18 months I've had it.
AA inspections are also worth their weight, with a 24 page report, I also took this out before buying the car from Edinburgh. They checked it over before I flew up, paid and drove home that night, comfortably with a huge smile on my face.
As an aside to all I've said above, I have has no gearbox, park brake, suspension, engine or power steering issues... so go figure!
Also - the M5 V10 is quicker, but it's a different kind of car so it's like comparing oranges and grapefruits, the S8 is more of a cruiser with a turn of speed but comfort and refinement way above the M5. The engine on the M5 is also more fragile.
If you want to compare an M5 and an S6 that'd be a more just comparison, both lovely cars though!
Edited by 1781cc on Tuesday 27th June 09:43
My mate has had one for about 2 years now (bought it off another friend who had it for 3 years before that). It's almost hit 90k now but has suffered none of the above. Neve missed a beat. It's had discs, pads & tyres only, outside of regular servicing. Immense reliabilty for such a relatively complex car.
I think it's barking mad really, a big luxury car with a V10 thrown in it!! You'll never see that again!
Agreed, you can't compare this to a M5, whcih is designed as a sports saloon in the first place, the S8 is in a different league in all other respects.
lovely car OP. I'd quite happily live with one of these if they weren't slower than my E39 M5. The sound of it with the Miltek on is amazing, and is very tempting just for the noise. I've owned a few V6's, owned 2 V8's, not owned a V10 yet but it is tempting to look at the classifieds and sell on the M5, despite the performance difference.....
hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.
hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.
TheAngryDog said:
lovely car OP. I'd quite happily live with one of these if they weren't slower than my E39 M5. The sound of it with the Miltek on is amazing, and is very tempting just for the noise. I've owned a few V6's, owned 2 V8's, not owned a V10 yet but it is tempting to look at the classifieds and sell on the M5, despite the performance difference.....
hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.
A C6 RS6 is what you want then hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.
briang9 said:
TheAngryDog said:
lovely car OP. I'd quite happily live with one of these if they weren't slower than my E39 M5. The sound of it with the Miltek on is amazing, and is very tempting just for the noise. I've owned a few V6's, owned 2 V8's, not owned a V10 yet but it is tempting to look at the classifieds and sell on the M5, despite the performance difference.....
hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.
A C6 RS6 is what you want then hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.
ZX10R NIN said:
Nice choice of transport I took the S8 to Germany it was a fun trip but the other V10 in my mates BMW had it licked.
I recall reading that the V10 in the S6 was a slugger, but not super-zingy and hungry for revs like the M5 V10. Quite different cars and quite different V10 engines. Bladedancer said:
Great writeup, thats very much for that. Will definitely check out the forum you suggested.
I wasn't comparing it to an M5. I'm looking at S6 because it usually comes as an estate and M5 estates are very rare and expensive to buy.
I've read somewhere, I'm sure, that there's a slight difference in output between the V10 used in the S6 and the one used in the S8. Same engine, just tweaked a bit. I fairly sure I've read more carbon build up accounts in the S6 engine than the S8 (though that could be because there are more S6s around). I wasn't comparing it to an M5. I'm looking at S6 because it usually comes as an estate and M5 estates are very rare and expensive to buy.
I may be wrong but my understanding is that the S8 had a balancer bar to reduce vibrations and eek out more refinement and less vibrations to the cabin, that said, I've heard of the carbon buildup sapping as much as 100bhp from the power output if the car hasn't been driven hard enough to help shift it.
hondafanatic said:
briang9 said:
TheAngryDog said:
lovely car OP. I'd quite happily live with one of these if they weren't slower than my E39 M5. The sound of it with the Miltek on is amazing, and is very tempting just for the noise. I've owned a few V6's, owned 2 V8's, not owned a V10 yet but it is tempting to look at the classifieds and sell on the M5, despite the performance difference.....
hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.
A C6 RS6 is what you want then hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.
I wouldn't mind a C6 RS6, but I think I'd need a warranty.I-A said:
Lovely car!!
Lovely car indeed. I would worry about buying a used one though as there is so much to go wrong and could cost a fortune. You really have to know these cars well and what to look for before doing so, but if you buy a good one, limo style luxury for around 15k can't be bad!!Just a quick update on this for anyone considering an S8... Carbon clean is a must!
So the Carbon buildup issue on the FSI is well known as are the inlet flaps snapping (mine hand not) however, as a precautionary measure I booked the car into VRS Northampton this week for a full carbon clean, inlet flap delete, Remap and dyne's before and after.
To me the car never really felt down on power, always pulled nicely and was a joy to drive, however, the dyno revealed a different story as the car only made 362bhp and 382lb ft - quite different from what its meant to do as stock power is 444bhp new.
This is what was inside:
https://youtu.be/wC1VrqelHWQ
So they set about cleaning it all out, deleted the flaps and bolted it back together:
They chucked her on the dyno and she made 420bhp - much more respectable, however a problem revealed itself when the inlet flap motor was burnt out, yes the flaps were deleted, but the burnt out motor and sensor had logged an error that wouldn't clear without being fixed, a new part was sourced and dropped in, error cleared, back on the dyno and set about remapping.
Initially they dropped an APR off the shelf map on it and she made and extra... 4bhp - Will decided to sack the map off and custom map the car - the result:
480bhp & 398lb ft of Torque - a massive 118bhp up on the amount of power she was making when I dropped her off, the new power output is more impressive when you consider nigh on 400hp of it is available at the wheels.
Needless to say, it fully showcases that if you have an S8, its worth doing the carbon clean, flap delete and remap. Its shocking that FSI's do this in the first place, B7 RS4s are well known for it, but I certainly didn't expect mine to be so bad given its history, the way its been looked after and how I drive it.
The drive home was... boring, traffic all the way, nose to tail, horrendous rain... the car felt much smoother though, but I didn't get about 40, so tomorrow I'll be out for a proper blast +++
Dyno run video - https://youtu.be/kFbj66fHAK4
So the Carbon buildup issue on the FSI is well known as are the inlet flaps snapping (mine hand not) however, as a precautionary measure I booked the car into VRS Northampton this week for a full carbon clean, inlet flap delete, Remap and dyne's before and after.
To me the car never really felt down on power, always pulled nicely and was a joy to drive, however, the dyno revealed a different story as the car only made 362bhp and 382lb ft - quite different from what its meant to do as stock power is 444bhp new.
This is what was inside:
https://youtu.be/wC1VrqelHWQ
So they set about cleaning it all out, deleted the flaps and bolted it back together:
They chucked her on the dyno and she made 420bhp - much more respectable, however a problem revealed itself when the inlet flap motor was burnt out, yes the flaps were deleted, but the burnt out motor and sensor had logged an error that wouldn't clear without being fixed, a new part was sourced and dropped in, error cleared, back on the dyno and set about remapping.
Initially they dropped an APR off the shelf map on it and she made and extra... 4bhp - Will decided to sack the map off and custom map the car - the result:
480bhp & 398lb ft of Torque - a massive 118bhp up on the amount of power she was making when I dropped her off, the new power output is more impressive when you consider nigh on 400hp of it is available at the wheels.
Needless to say, it fully showcases that if you have an S8, its worth doing the carbon clean, flap delete and remap. Its shocking that FSI's do this in the first place, B7 RS4s are well known for it, but I certainly didn't expect mine to be so bad given its history, the way its been looked after and how I drive it.
The drive home was... boring, traffic all the way, nose to tail, horrendous rain... the car felt much smoother though, but I didn't get about 40, so tomorrow I'll be out for a proper blast +++
Dyno run video - https://youtu.be/kFbj66fHAK4
Edited by 1781cc on Wednesday 16th August 20:18
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