2022 Audi S8: Fast laps, in the lap of luxury

THINK of the coolest, classiest guy you know who could bench press a Harley-Davidson if he wanted. The Audi S8 is that guy, only no one seems to know about him. That’s just fine by you, because hanging out with him is always a barrel of laughs and if everyone clamoured for his attention, that would only ruin the intimacy.

That’s one, slightly vague way to think about what an S8 is and what it brings to the high performance car table. In more concrete terms, it’s an A8 – Audi’s flagship limo – with plenty of muscle and the fighting spirit to match, which is to say it’s an iron fist in the most velvety of velvet gloves.

A facelift gives it a flashy new grille and redesigned bumpers, but what counts is that the S8 still has a V8 engine that makes all sorts of creamy, wuffling noises, along with 571 horsepower sent to all four wheels.

It also has titanic brakes, air suspension and just about every creature comfort known to modern man inside, barring a kitchen sink (although I didn’t look inside the glovebox so I can’t be sure).

The big Audi is also overflowing with understatement, which I know isn’t exactly a selling point in Singapore, but forms a huge part of its appeal.

Ultimately, the S8 is a product of an honourable tradition. The Germans seem to have a thing for ballistic versions of their luxury saloons – think BMW’s upcoming M760e or the Mercedes-AMG S63 – but if you ask me, the coolest take on the breed has always been Audi’s.

Its first general attempt to build an S-Class killer wasn’t called an A8 but a V8. That car was a sales manager’s nightmare, and naming it after its engine smacked of trying too hard, but by gum did Audi make good by taking the V8 racing.

Not just any old kind of racing, either, but the gladiatorial German touring car championship, where the V8 — complete with polished wood on the dashboard — kicked butt and took names, collecting the scalps of cars like the BMW M3 and Mercedes 190E while picking up back-to-back titles. When was the last time you saw a BMW 7 Series win a race?

Then the first actual A8 came out in 1994: large, perfectly-proportioned and plush inside, with an intriguing all-aluminium structure. But what really floated my boat was 1996’s S8, with 340 horsepower and a six-speed manual. It was the most powerful, most expensive Audi of its era, and driving it early in my career was the first time I thought I would end up in serious trouble with a carmaker (long story, involving a smoky clutch).

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The second S8 was even more subversive, owing to the fact that it had a Lamborghini engine, while the third generation’s genius suspension meant that it mixed a supple ride with superb handling in a way that won it a place in my dream garage.

That gives this current S8 huge shoes to fill, but it’s certainly fast enough to do the job. The sheer size of the thing might give you a bit of pause, but the first time you really go for a corner in the Audi, you find out that you’re more limited by your bravery than the car’s abilities.

There’s nothing but reassuring grip from the tyres, while the engine’s well of torque seems bottomless. If the S8 leaves you wishing for anything, it’ll be more drama — more rumbling from the engine, perhaps a few pops and crackles from the exhaust, that kind of thing.

It’s by no means a nimble sportscar, but on a set of twisty roads the S8 could probably keep up with a pack of exotic machines without embarrassing itself. Perhaps more to the point, it’s also not the kind of frenzied supercar that might embarrass its driver.

Yet this is still an Audi flagship, so it’s still about cosseting its passengers. Between the massage chairs and the opulent if business-like cabin, there were times you couldn’t have pried me from the Audi with a crowbar.

You’d expect all that from a car that costs — you might want to sit down for this part — all of S$739,546. That sort of money could buy you anything you could ever want from a thing with four wheels, so the S8 clearly isn’t a straightforward choice.

The speed forms the core of this Audi’s appeal, but the target buyer has to be the sort of chap who takes quiet satisfaction in owning something no one else drives, with a bit of racing pedigree thrown in.

It’s also not a bad way to face rush hour traffic. That much is true for the other big German sedans, but while any of them would put you in the lap of luxury, the S8 is a car for those in the know.

Audi S8 4.0 TFSI Engine 3,996 cc, V8, turbo Power 571 hp at 6,000 rpm Torque 800 Nm at 2,050-4,000 rpm Gearbox 8-speed automatic 0-100km/h 3.8 seconds Top speed 250 km/h (limited) Fuel efficiency 12.0 L/100 km Agent Premium Automobiles Price S$739,546 with COE Available Now