No flashy looks or ground-breaking performance. Just pure German class.
Audi has always occupied an interesting niche in the luxury car market. It doesn’t project the same sporty edge as BMW, nor does it exude the same stolid prestige as Mercedes-Benz. Instead, Audi sits somewhere in the middle. Its modern offerings providing effortless pace alongside pleasant comfort and an air of stealthiness, all without asking too much of the driver. As the 2022 S8 proves, it’s that blend which Audi does best.
The $116,900 S8 is the big daddy of Audi’s sedan lineup. A spin-off of the company’s all-encompassing A8 “limousine”, the S8 uses the same dual-overhead-cam, direct-injected, twin-turbocharged 4.0-liter V-8 found in the rest of Audi’s big S- and RS- branded cars. Here the mill is rated at 563 hp at 6000 rpm and 590 lb-ft at 2000 rpm. The engine mates to an eight-speed automatic transmission that routes power through Quattro all-wheel drive. There’s also a 48-volt mild-hybrid system that helps with extended stop-start use, coasting, and powering the car’s trick suspension (more on that later). Beyond that you’ll find standard four-wheel steering and a torque-vectoring rear differential.
One look at the S8 and you’re reminded why so many people like Audis. At 196.7 inches long, this car is physically large, but even in this Ultra Blue Metallic paint, the S8 hides its bulk well. The black optic package selected on our tester—which includes black wheels, badging, and side mirror housings—meant a bit of brashness coming from the front end, but otherwise, the S8 looks elegant, never shouty. The only real giveaways to its performance are the small exterior badges, the red brake calipers, and the quad exhaust tips. Most people, even enthusiasts, won’t stop to take a second look at this thing. It’s a sleeper through and through.
Aside from a handful of carbon inlays and flashy badges, the S8’s interior is virtually identical to the A8’s. That’s not a bad thing, of course, seeing as how the A8’s cabin is one of the most pleasant places to spend time in this price range. Step into the driver’s seat and you’re greeted to a trio of screens: One for the gauge cluster, one for the infotainment system, and one for the climate control. The instrument panel screen is packed with useful info, enough that it can be overwhelming at first glance. But it’s easy to read and customizable, with two different cluster setups available. The infotainment and climate control screens, the two portions of glass that occupy a vast majority of the dashboard, are equally pleasant to read and simple to navigate through, though I wish there were more traditional buttons and knobs to control the HVAC, as having to use a touchscreen while driving isn’t nearly as intuitive as pressing a button.
Another downside of this particular touchscreen setup is the haptic feedback aspect of it all. These aren’t simple touchscreens, you see. You can’t just press something like you would on a phone or tablet, you have to press down hard enough to elicit a vibration response from the screen to get it to register your input. The act of clicking through menus or adjustments is therefore tedious, like watching Grandpa crane his neck over a new iPhone, pecking away at the screen with his clumsy fingertips.
Like all big Audis, the S8 shines on the open highway. As a cross-country cruiser, it’s tough to name anything better that’s not at least double the price, as I discovered on an 1100-mile trip from New York City to Portland, Maine and back. The S8 disappears under you, happy to operate in the background as you enjoy the scenery and listen to your favorite podcast for hours. Adaptive cruise control, part of a $3800 executive package, worked well while dealing with heavy traffic getting out of the more populated areas of the northeast. Lane-keeping assist, also part of the package, felt a bit more unnatural than I would’ve liked, but thankfully, all of the active safety stuff can be turned on or off independently, so you can pick and choose what you’d like.
Part of the S8’s unrivaled comfort comes from its predictive active suspension. At $6000, it’s a high-priced add-on, but the only must-have item on the options list. It works via four electromechanical actuators located near each wheel. Using the onboard 48-volt electrical system, the motors can raise or lower each corner independently by 3.3 inches in just five-tenths of a second. Paired with a camera mounted in the rear-view mirror cluster, the system can identify imperfections on the road ahead and signal the actuators with the correct positioning for the suspension. The camera reads the road 18 times per second, meaning the actuators are adjusting the suspension constantly, resulting in a cloud-like ride.
Smoothing out bumps isn’t the only thing this suspension system does. Whenever the S8’s door handle is operated, the actuators quickly raise the car’s body by two inches for easier entry and exit. And that’s not all. The S8 has side impact sensors that can predict when another vehicle is about to T-bone you. When it thinks a crash is about to occur, it uses the ultra-quick motors to raise the suspension on that side to its maximum height, directing the brunt of the impact to the side-sill area, where the car’s unibody is strongest. It’s a genius piece of tech that, thankfully, didn’t have the opportunity to present itself during the trip.
The hyper-active suspension means the S8 can handle… to a point, anyway. Pop it in its most aggressive mode, and grip from the Quattro all-wheel-drive system is immense, with the standard torque-vectoring diff out back putting gobs torque to the wheels without so much as a whimper from the tires. A light, ultra-quick steering rack and four-wheel steering makes the S8 feel smaller on the road than it is, and stopping power from the brakes is strong and consistent. The steering is largely devoid of feel, however, and the car is quick to show the weight over its nose if you really toss it around. A sport sedan this is not.
Highway on-ramps and the occasional high-speed sweeper is where you’ll find the most joy from the S8. Maximum torque comes in at close to idle, and thrust doesn’t die off as you head to redline. The transmission isn’t lighting quick, as it doesn’t need to be. At slow speeds the shifts are barely noticeable, and for most people, response from the paddles will be adequate. But don’t expect M5 levels of feedback or performance.
The S8 is the Audi brand distilled into a single vehicle. It is, above all, a pleasant driving experience that combines the latest chassis tech, an ultra-modern interior, and enough torque to displace a small building. It’s all wrapped in a handsome, understated package that can be driven year-round. Is it a pure enthusiast sedan? No. Will it grab as much attention as a new AMG-ifed S-Class? Probably not. The S8 is for the type of person that doesn’t care about Nürburgring lap times or having the latest, greatest gadgetry. No, the S8 is for the person that just wants to get where they’re going as quickly and as comfortably as possible, without no strings attached.
Brian Silvestro Road & Track staff writer with a taste for high-mileage, rusted-out projects and amateur endurance racing.
Keyword: The 2022 Audi S8 Is What Audi Does Best