It seems like all cars in this uber-high-performance luxury car segment are just becoming gigantic, squishy, straight-line bullet trains. They’re all astonishingly quick but lack the sort of grace that used to make cars like the E38 BMW 7 Series and D2-generation Audi A8 so wonderful to drive. The all-new Audi S8 seems as if it wants to change all of that, though, and it just debuted in North America at the 2019 LA Auto Show.
The BMW M760Li is a good example of these cars becoming faster but less interesting to drive. Its monster V12 is incredibly powerful and makes the car very fast in a straight line. But its squishy suspension and asteroid-like curb weight push it further from the legendary E38-generation than ever before. The same can be said about the Mercedes-AMG S65. However, the all-new Audi S8 looks like it wants to do both.
Under its hood lies a 4.0 liter twin-turbocharged V8 that makes 591 hp and 590 lb-ft of torque. That’s about on par with the M760Li, just down a few ponies. However, the S8 is lighter, which is shocking because it’s still a very heavy car. Audi claims 0-60 mph in under four seconds but it’s likely closer to the low-three-second range.
What makes the Audi S8 more interesting is that the folks in Ingolstadt spent just as much time on developing new handling tech. Like the 7 Series and S-Class, the Audi S8 uses a system that checks the road ahead for bumps, so it can adjust accordingly, ahead of time. However, where the S8 differs from its competitors is that it actually uses an electromechanical suspension setup that utilizes electric motors to raise or lower the ride height on the fly and in milliseconds. So if it senses a bump ahead, it can actually adjust the ride height, as well as the firmness/softness, to cope. Clever stuff.
We were already impressed with the new Audi A8, which actually beat the 7 Series in a recent comparison test of ours. So we’re very interested to see what the Audi S8 has in store.
From engineering point of view this car is disaster . The engine infront of the front axle, the electronic 4×4 with unable mode to disable the stabylity control, which means if it goes wrong you are screwed , the aluminium space frame means it’s weak, it can break of two pieces during impact and there are real examples of that…..tablets everywhere, electromotors in so important part as suspension is absolutely crap idea. Have you ever seen a heavy duty machine with electromotors in suspension?
Dude, what are you? A car and driver test critic? Give them a break. My only worry for an Audi is the long term integrity of the car. But anyone pushing the envelope in car design is a friend of mine.
Meh. Not a fan of any car in this class at the moment, but they all shit on the BMW 7.
the same goes for merc all look the same
Since when does Audi compete with BMW in the luxury sector?
Audi A8 „World Luxury Car 2018“,
The 7 series couldn’t deafeat the s-class.
You mean Audi is competing with BMW in the luxury segment since 2018? Audi is and will be a third class “premium brand”. The sales numbers of A8 proofs it.
VW Group > Daimler Group > BMW Group.
Feels bad man.
Sweetie, Bmw and Mercedes have been building luxury models for decades not like Audi since last year. Audi is just a big baby among BMW and MB. Audi will never be at eye level with BMW and MB. The BMW Group will remain the leading premium supplier Nr. 1 at the end of the year. 2 MB. 3 Audi.
it doesnt make Audi better because VW own them..they are just rebadged VW’s in truth everything looks identical
Dude just open your eyes.
Yeah then ill see the different badges