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Afternoon, I am thinking of buying an S8 and will be test driving a 2001 this weekend.

Can someone who has owned one please give me a quick low down?

I know there is an earlier post below but there’s not much detail.

How is the triptronic? Is there a massive delay.

Are they fast enough?? Does the power get eaten by the shear size?

Did you consider buying an E39 M5 or E39 B10 V8??? If yes why did you go for the S8?

Are there any frequent faults that occur on S8/A8's ?

All you comments / thoughts would be very welcome prior to me taking the plunge.

Cheers

Hi,

Bit of a late response.

I have owned 2 S8's now - my first was a 1998 which i did about 100K miles in - including frequent runs across germany from the UK - i replaced that with a 2002 s8 Final Edition which just went 3 years old and sadly is shortly to be replaced.....

my first advice would be to avoid any of the series 1 S8's - there is nothing bad about them really but the series 2 facelift means more toys a revamp on the interior and styling and sharper handling. My new 02 car made the old one feel very tired - but having said that even at 100K it didnt have a creak or rattle - i had a TT DSG and the build quality was rubbish in comparison to both my s8's.

The size is a bit disconcerting at first, and you will never get away from it in the UK - driving thru contraflows in a car this wide and this fast is a exercise in frustration - you have to concentrate much more than most cars simply because it really fills the lane wherever you go.

Surprising its party trick is the all aluminium construction - it actually weighs hugely less than most cars a lot smaller. something like 1670KG which means with the torque output it simply takes off like a eurofighter.

Don't be fooled by the zero to sixty, thats not what this car is about = the mid gear acceleration is simply incredible - 70 - 120mph batters most cars into the distance, and of course quattro means i have regularly humiliated 911 owners in the wet.

Reliability isnt really a problem, they drink a fair bit of oil being a v8 - about 1/2 litre every 1000 miles so you really have to keep an eye on that. The bodywork costs a FORTUNE to repair and dints easier than a coke can so make sure you park SLOWLY!

the worst thing about the car for us new owners is residuals and resale. Once they are outside the dealer network they are almost impossible to sell, and my s8 lost 10 grand in 3 months last year. its simply horrific - finding a new buyer is quite tough unless the car is very cheap.

Maitenance bills will always be high, even if you pay 10K for it remember it is still a 65K car......since they are so rare getting parts is a problem even at audi dealers.

Personally i would buy one of the final editions and nothing else - with the new s8 round the corner they simply are the most desirable of the old line. either a Gmbh edition in avus silver with either red or purple leather, or the much rarer final edition in ebony black with sable leather. the final editions all have lots of kit as standard and have the tasty 20" wheels which look great but are very kerb unfriendly. a problem given the cars immense width.

Thanks Martinhans, interesting reading a welcome addition to the site... cant imagine there are many S8's in the country let alone owners who are on this site!

There's a much more active S8 forum over on tyresmoke.net.

I was looking at getting one, but after a couple of test drives, I knew it wasn't going to be the car for me. I believe the A8 was facelifted in 2000, when Navigation+ became standard (instead of the basic navigation system), and the S8 got a power increase from 340 BHP to 360 BHP. There's also a "final edition", most of which are 52-reg and will run you between £20,000 and £25,000. These come with 20" wheels, extended custom leather colours and a Playstation for the rear passengers.

Good ones (ones that have been looked after) should be in top notch condition. So far, I've seen two; both have been at the low end of the price range, and both were pretty tatty. You get what you pay for I suppose. Be prepared for a long hard search for the right car!

Performance is in-bloody-credible. Gut-churning torque propels you along in a seemingly unstopable surge. The gearbox should shift smoothly and seamlessly, giving the impression that you'll just carry on going faster and faster! Tiptronic mode is great!

There's no disguising the size of the car (5 metres long!), particularly when parking or manouvering in tight places. But when you're making progress, it feels much smaller than it is, and it attacks corners brilliantly (for a luxo-barge anyway!)

There are a few things to watch out for, detailed on www.audipages.com - in particular, make sure the cambelt has been done (or knock £900-£1500 off), watch for torn CV joint boots, check the diffs for leaking oil, and pay attention to the gearbox - a rebuild can cost well over £2000, but many common problems can be sorted by a fluid-and-filter change.

my S8, 1998 model, 152K miles on it now... sweet as..
very happy with it.

cam belt done... £600, tensioners etc
oil leak/water leak which turned out to be a silly spacer & o-ring, but 1/2 the engin ebay dismantled to get at it... £20 parts, £400 labour

auto is my fear. I use it to tow my racecar.
oil and filter change helped sort some snatchy changes when I bought it. Probably could'nt hurt to do so again.

Its a tank. even beemers move out of your way on the motorway
Its not fast as such, but deceptively rapid.
not sure if 155mph is limited, seen 165mph indicated on a run thru germany a couple years ago. very quiet.

trouble is... once you have had one, what on earth do you replace it with?

top car. rare, gets people askign you "is it an S8?" which surprised me. plain wrapper, but people who know, know what it is.

I love mine.