WHY IS IT HERE?
There's a reason for Audi's new S8 quattro being on the planet but it's nothing to do with being green...
We drive: Audi S8 quattro - watch out world

November 14, 2006

By Sean O'Grady

Price: £70 825.
Engine: 5.2-litre V10.
Maximum power: 340kW at 7000rpm.
Maximum power: 540Nm at 3500rpm.
Transmission: All-wheel drive with six-speed "tiptronic" gearbox.
Performance: 250km/h (governed); 0-100km/h 5.1sec; 13.57 litres/100km.

It's hard to justify, at first glance, the existence of the Audi S8. It's one of those "Audis with a Lamborghini engine", the 5.2-litre V10 also in the Gallardo. It's a magical unit, for sure; almost as sonorous here as in its original home in that wedge of Italian style
We may as well be frank about this - the S8 is no mate of Gaia.

Yet did we really need it in an Audi barge?

In reality, I note, the Lamborghini engine owes more than a little to Audi, for Audi is the loving mother of Lamborghini these days. She's just taken back from her offspring what was originally hers and it's that remarkable engine that not only makes this car hard to justify but also easy to love.

First, and we may as well be frank about this, the S8 is no mate of Gaia. The official fuel consumption figures suggest that it's capable of 14.2 litres/100km but, thanks to one of the Audi's many optional trip data computer readouts, I'm confident that my average was about half that.

This would suggest that the actual CO2 emissions are also adrift of the official numbers. According to the government, this near two-tonne machine will pump out 320g of carbon dioxide for every kilometre travelled; bad, but the reality is probably even worse
As with every A8 I've driven, it is superbly well constructed.

All this, it has to be said, is true even though Audi's A8 range, of which the S8 is the sporting flagship, uses lots of weight-saving technology such as a space frame, aluminium body panels and an aluminium engine (although I guess the quattro all-wheel-drive transmission might be heavier than it ought to be).

So I would hope that the average buyer of this expensive motor car (£73 000 as tested) would limit excursions in it and spend most of their time in a Smart or in one of those electric G-Wiz cars, or in a little Citroën diesel, or - well, pretty much anything, because pretty much anything is better than an Audi S8 on pollution.

You should also be prepared to keep your S8 for a very long time because the longer you keep a car away from the scrapyard, the better it is for the world.

Now, I know that all this is supposed to be beside the point when it comes to a performance machine like the S8 - but why should it be? If we're serious about climate change, we should at least give a second thought to the planet when it comes to our motoring choices.

Ready to stay

If you don't accept the scientific consensus, fine, don't worry. Otherwise, you do have to wonder about pottering around at 24 litres/100km.

Still, when it comes to durability - an important point in assessing greenness - this Audi looks as though it's ready to stay around for a long, long time.

As with every A8 I've driven, it is superbly well constructed. Even a few years into its life the interior still looks contemporary, especially when the woodwork that usually adorns the cabin is replaced by some carbon fibre-effect trim. The seats adjust every which way; there's four-zone climate control and the leather is very comfy.

Our S8 was even fitted with a TV, a R12 000 option (my six-year-old co-driver found it too low to see properly but you can't win 'em all).

There's a colour camera that shows you where you're reversing; the boot has an electric motor so it opens and closes itself; and - what else? Ah yes, the heatable seats have six settings and there are two illuminated interior mirrors, one at normal magnification and one that's electron-microscope strong for getting a real close-up of those spots. Handy.

Why another engine?

Still, you can get all that on an A8 with any of the usual VW/Audi group engines, including their muscular V8 and W12 petrol units. Why, then, go for 10 cylinders when eight or 12 already do such a magnificent job of moving this Audi around?

How can they justify yet another engine option?

You won't know until you drive it, but I'll try to explain. You see, the V10 doesn't necessarily go that much faster than the V8 or the W12 and all A8's are governed to do no more than 250km/h anyway. It's how they do their job that's the point.

The V8 and the W12 do things without undue fuss; the V10 doesn't really give a damn.

The Audi S8, in other words, inherits some of its Lamborghini half-brother's sense of urgency. You have to get used to a very frisky machine. You have to get used to the accelerator's extreme alacrity: not enough and you'll kangaroo along, too much and you will flatten yourself and your passengers against the seat backs.

It's fun, but it's not really what you're supposed to do in a limo.

Car transformed

The real laughs, though, begin when you investigate the paddle shifts. I usually disregard them because they never seem to add that much to the driving experience but I tried them early on in my time with the S8.

The car was transformed. D mode is fast, S (sports) mode is even more rapid with more metallic growl from up front. Play around with the paddle shifts and suddenly you're in a great big Lamborghini with four doors and an Audi badge.

It's like administering mind-altering drugs to some sober-sided German businessperson.

That alone is enough to justify the S8's existence. - The Independent, London

THE RIVALS

Jaguar XJ/R £62 040
To some, the XJ is classically beautiful; to others, it's fuddy-duddy. Still, this version is one rude Jag; a proper V8 and a snug cabin and more reliable these days.

Maserati Quattroporte Sport GT £80 595
Don't overlook this, a new version of an old(ish) favourite that doesn't actually go any faster. The gearchange is its biggest flaw.

Mercedes-Benz CLS 63 AMG £72 995
Smaller and sexier than its competitors here, the AMG treatment results in a very hard-edged machine. Nimble, and the V8 is unfailingly delightful.

 

So they don't like the fuel economy of a two ton luxury car with a 10 cylinder engine? Are they nuts? Who buys a performance car ands worry about fuel economy?