How does Audi, the manufacturer of CAR’s current best thunder saloon (Top 12 best buys for 2007), top the RS4? It shoehorns a Lamborghini Gallardo derived 5,2-litre V10s into the A6 and the A8… Having attended the vehices’ launch in Mpumalanga, I can report that the S6 and S8 are nothing short of astounding, if altogether more civilised than the four-door RS!
Audi SA is building up a head of steam ahead of the local launch of its first supercar, the R8, later this year. The Ingolstadt-based brand recently unleashed the TT Coupé range, plans to introduce the TT Roadster, S3 and A5 sports coupé in the foreseeable future and there’s the twin-turbo V10-engined RS6 to look forward to… This barrage of performance products reminds me of the activities of Mercedes’s AMG division circa 2002, when Affalterbach wedged its 5,5-litre V8 into everything but the A-Class.
First of all, the S8 is clearly the most impressive of the two quattros, but at a cost of R979 000 (including a 5-year of 100 000 km Audi Freeway plan), the A8 flagship needed to be the grandest saloon of them all – and in terms of driver involvement, effortless performance and unflappable poise, there’s arguably no other luxury limousine on the planet that can touch it.
The S6, on the other hand, is probably the better real-world choice. Audi’s flagship executive saloon is also powered by a 5,2-litre V10 engine equipped with direct injection FSI technology and mated with a six-speed Tiptronic transmission, but whereas the S8’s engine develops 331 kW at 7 000 r/min and 540 N.m at 3 500 r/min (of which 90 per cent of torque is available from 2 300 r/min), the S6’s virtually identical powerplant produces 320 kW at 6 800 r/min, 540 N.m between 3 000 and 4 000 r/min and the manufacturer claims 500 N.m is available between 2 500 and 5 500.
Priced at R806 500, the S6 is claimed to dispatch zero to 100 km/h 0,1 of a second slower than the S8 (which is said to finish the dash in 5,1 seconds) and reasonable folk would suggest that such a small performance differential does not justify a premium R172 500 for the big daddy S8.
But figures do not paint the full picture. Both these models are supremely fast, but the S8 just does the job with the least effort and the most style. The S6 is somewhat more raucous and its S paraphernalia (especially the two banks of LED daytime running lights at the front) don’t quite gel as nicely with the conservative A6 garb as the A8’s tasteful aerodynamic upgrades (especially its beautifully understated rear treatment).
With its innovative aluminium ASF (Audi Space Frame) body, the S8 weighs just 1 940 kg despite the added weight of the quattro system, which includes a similar asymmetric dynamic torque differential to the RS4, and the V10 weighs in at only 220 kg. There have also been upgrades to the A8’s “adaptive air suspension sport” system (it features four driving modes – automatic, comfort, dynamic and lift – and the S8’s ground clearance is varied in three stages between 125 mm in the comfort mode and 95 mm at constant high motorway speeds), brakes (18-inchers) and the steering ratio.
On the road, the A8 may as well be called Audi’s widow maker. Such is the graceful, yet unburstable power delivery (the V10 will rev to a moderately sedate 7 000 r/min redline) of the S8 that one will often arrive at corners at much faster speeds than anticipated. Don’t accuse the S8 of understeer if you simply braked too late for a bend, sir or madam. Having said that, impressive as the grip from the S8’s 20-inch gumballs was, the A8 still felt like a (albeit well-handling) big car with excessively light steering. For maximum thrills, I felt compelled to switch the gear selector into Sport mode and change gears manually with the shift paddles located behind the steering wheel.
When that V10 nears its upper rev reaches, its roar is reminiscent of that of the distinguished leader of a pride, not its ferocious young upstart and resident hell-raiser. But so what if the S8 sounds (relatively) tame in comparison with the RS4? The S8’s brilliance is that it speaks the final word in Audi luxury saloons – it’s an adrenalised tribute to the A8 pedigree and strikes just the right balance between sportiness and opulent sophistication.
A single-frame grille displays the S8 emblem in platinum grey, and its vertical struts have a chrome finish. In addition to the 20-inch wheels and the special brakes, there are V10 emblems on the wheel arches, aluminium strips on the door handles and aluminium-look exterior mirror housings.
The interior of the S8 we drove had a tasteful two-tone colour scheme. The door armrest and the centre console in the S8 are upholstered in leather, as are sports seats, which come equipped with lumbar support and a memory function. The doorsill trims are adorned with S8 emblems, the inlays are in brushed aluminium or alternatively carbonfibre, the three-spoke leather multifunction sports steering wheel with the S emblem features colour-contrasting seams and the shift paddles have aluminium-look finishes.
Xenon plus headlights (equipped with static turning lights and dynamic cornering function), automatic air conditioning, the MMI operating system, the Driver Information System, electromechanical parking brake complete with starting assist function, air suspension, a navigation system with DVD drive and a surround audio system with CD changer are all standard equipment.
As superb as the S8 is, the S6 certainly deserves its due. Granted, the S6 is pitched between the top conventional BMW 5-Series and Mercedes-Benz E-Class models and the M5 and E63/CLS63 AMG and also serves as an unashamed forerunner to the eagerly awaited RS6.
