FIRST DRIVES
AUDI S8
TESTED 23.5.22, SURREY ON SALE NOW
Clever active suspension gives 563bhp V8 a unique selling point among limos
TESTER’S NOTE
Audi’s Comfort seats are superbly soft, broad and supportive, and there’s plenty of space in the rear even without the extended wheelbase. MS
Imagining a customer for the Audi S8 is a slightly complex exercise, but the car apparently now accounts for 20% of UK A8 sales, so there must be plenty of them.
This car’s sheer size, its particular comfort and luxury tuning, its reserved performance styling and its unambiguous limousine classification all seem to mark it out as one not to drive but rather be driven in, which is a little at odds with its Audi Sport badging.
So is this the A8 for the CEO who travels in the back and just wants the car park status it confers? Or, as a more understated fast saloon, is it bought by someone who doesn’t actually want people to notice it?
Might its owner be driven in the week but drive themselves at the weekends, perhaps? Or are they just an A8 ‘patron’ who wants a car with as much Audi-brand ‘Technik’ as they can get?