omg, you guys are no fun, too good at guessing games, lol.
Only 3 cars in Audi range has that badge, S6, S7, and S8.
The S8 is such a rocket ship I just had to have one, still working on the details of the deal but I don't expect any hangups.
Gonna be my first Audi ever, kind of excited, haha.
Apr 24, 2013 1:10:43 AM
Just took the car home. Wow, what a beast. I am soooooooooooooo surprised by the power of this little engine. The S8 pulled a lot stronger than my Alpina B7, no contest. I didn't think much of it when I looked at the specs on paper, boy was I wrong.
The car drives a lot smaller than the B7, despite they are about the same size on the exterior. Granted, the S8 also has a smaller trunk and interior space too, feels more like a midsize sedan like E class or 5 series. Audi/VW really knows how to do a top notch interior, everything I can touch is nice to touch, even the aluminum looking pieces are real aluminum, unlike cheap Porsche sliver painted plastic.
Center console has way too many buttons, at least not as much as the Panamera, but functionally still can't match 1st gen iDrive for simplicity to operate. My 12 yr old son actually had to experiment in order to find out how to operate everything, and he missed the 4 'soft' buttons around the knob all together, he thought those were trim pieces. Just for comparison, he spent all but 30 seconds to learn the iDrive when I first bought it and he managed to use the 1st gen iDrive on my first 7 when he was 3-4 yrs old. Told me he prefer the 1st gen the most, hated the buttons on the current iDrive and dislike the Audi one.
The seats are on par, maybe a little better than the B7, it has more lateral support. But the diamond stitching are just to-die-for nice.
This is actually not a new car, previous owner had it for a little less than 6 months and traded it in for a S7. A buddy of mine who owns a car dealership called me to see if I am interested as the price will be nice. Got it for 35k off list on a practically brand new car. The deep discount was what attracted me, I knew Audi do not hold much resale value but when someone else took the initial big hit I am happy to take over. Took a while to finish the deal as my buddy wants to buy my B7 so I had to get the Audi dealership on board for a tango dance. I traded my car in for a tax break and my buddy took it off the Audi dealer as a dealer car swap, so the only tax paid was on the trade in difference. Everyone wins but the government lol.
Enmanuel:
At heart I like BMWs more than Audis but the new LED headlights on audi models just look so damn cool !
I am the same way. For decades I was a die hard BMW fan, however the last 7-8 years Audi has been hitting all the right chords with me (save for the giant horse collar front end treatment), while BMW, 6 Grand Coupe excluded, has been mystifying me with their styling choices both inside and out on their entire passenger car range.
Heist:
Enmanuel:
At heart I like BMWs more than Audis but the new LED headlights on audi models just look so damn cool !
I am the same way. For decades I was a die hard BMW fan, however the last 7-8 years Audi has been hitting all the right chords with me (save for the giant horse collar front end treatment), while BMW, 6 Grand Coupe excluded, has been mystifying me with their styling choices both inside and out on their entire passenger car range.
I still prefer BMW to Audi overal, but you just can't ignore some of the features and design cues.
Heist:
Enmanuel:
At heart I like BMWs more than Audis but the new LED headlights on audi models just look so damn cool !
I am the same way. For decades I was a die hard BMW fan, however the last 7-8 years Audi has been hitting all the right chords with me (save for the giant horse collar front end treatment), while BMW, 6 Grand Coupe excluded, has been mystifying me with their styling choices both inside and out on their entire passenger car range.
When I sit inside I can't see the collar haha
I am in the same boat, at least one Bimmer in the garage for the last 10 yrs now, but feels like I got bored with their interior styling no matter how many times they refreshed it already. Trying something new now with the Audi and the G last month.
My last three BMWs all suffered electrical issues within 2 years of ownership. Part of the reason why I went for the agricultural XC90. (that and huge discount with 0% finance) A friend ran an A6 V6 diesel for 6 years and 140,000 miles. The only faults were bulbs. (which strangely enough was the only drawback with my old A4 cab)
I can't see me moving back to BMW next time either - it'll probably be a RR sport in two or so years time...
991 (what a car!) XC90 - Black/Black 2 kids, 1 dog
bridggar:
My last three BMWs all suffered electrical issues within 2 years of ownership. Part of the reason why I went for the agricultural XC90. (that and huge discount with 0% finance) A friend ran an A6 V6 diesel for 6 years and 140,000 miles. The only faults were bulbs. (which strangely enough was the only drawback with my old A4 cab)
I can't see me moving back to BMW next time either - it'll probably be a RR sport in two or so years time...
If you think a BMW has electrical faults, wait until you own a RR.Your service manager's kid is going to love the liberal contributions you'll soon be making towards their college education.
May 2, 2013 12:11:33 PM
May 2, 2013 5:19:02 PM
It is lighter, but not by much, as per manufacturer's scale, my old B7 weights 4861lb and the S8 weights 4619lb, so only about 250lb.
The real clue to why the S8 is so much faster is maybe the engine power is being under reported. Motortrend recently dyno-ed the car and they ended with 479hp at the wheel. Depending on whether you prefer 15% or 20% driveline loss, it ends with 563 or 598HP.
http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/sedans/1302_2013_audi_s8_vs_bmw_alpina_b7/viewall.html