It’s the end of 2001. The Millennium Bug has buzzed off and the Millennium Dome will soon be sold on. Meanwhile, the coolest super saloon on the block is the original Audi S8.
Despite starring in one of Hollywood’s most epic car chases (1998’s Ronin, where it served as a battering ram for a hapless Citroen XM), the subtle ‘D2’ S8 flew under the radar.
Today, it’s a bit of a unicorn, garnering respectful nods from the sort of car geeks you’d avoid at parties. We absolutely loved it.
A slow-burner
Among the over-styled and over-sized new cars of of 2021, the S8 looks modest: perfectly proportioned and effortlessly tasteful. It’s a collector of double-takes, as onlookers realise this low-slung saloon isn’t a typical old Audi.
Seeing it rumble into the office car park was enough to eke a wistful ‘oooh’ out of several MR staffers.
The first S8 was launched in 1996, some 10 years before the R8 supercar arrived to drag Audi’s music-video appeal up by the scruff of the neck. Big alloys and those signature shiny mirror covers complement flashes of chrome on the grille and window trims.
Today, that sounds like a paint-by-numbers Audi S model. Back then, it was uber-cool.
Seeing red
Our S8 – on loan from Audi UK’s extensive heritage fleet – is no spring chicken. In our month-long stewardship, its mileage ticked over the 157,000 mark. As such, some of its paint is a bit faded, and the leather a touch tired.
No matter, we love a bit of patina. And this, after all, is a car designed for crossing continents.
Getting inside, it couldn’t be more ‘2001’ if Ricky Martin was blaring from the stereo. The leather chairs – yes, these are chairs, not seats – absorb you. The tiny infotainment screen is dim in daylight, and outdone in the dark by quintessential Audi red backlighting.
A sense of space
The electric rear blind is perfect for shielding back-seat passengers from the sun. Or hiding Justin Timberlake from prying paparazzi lenses, perhaps.
Plentiful wood also shows that even this most modern of premium marques was chasing old-school luxury tropes back then. And there’s no sign of the stylish sloping centre console of subsequent A8s just yet.
For its comparatively slight proportions – it’s not much larger than a current Audi A4 – the S8 is nicely spacious inside. The control weights are heavy, the buttons make a satisfying click and the shifter for the automatic gearbox has a hefty clunk that today’s drive buttons could never hope to replicate.
Once your seat and mirrors are adjusted, it’s one of those cars that feels so right – an effect that’s amplified when you hit the road.
Twist and go
No start button, no keyless go: the key goes in the column, kids. Turn it, and a nondescript hum fills the cabin as the 4.2-litre 40-valve V8 coughs into life. In time, this engine would inform the unit found in the middle of the R8.
Here, it’s no 420hp screamer, putting out 355hp. That goes to ground via a five-speed automatic transmission.
Engage drive, release the manual handbrake and the waft-tastic regression session begins. At the risk of outing myself for bad driving habits, the S8 is a car that inspires a spot of ‘palming’. That is, flat-handing the top of the wheel and guiding it round as you slither through urban streets.
Teutonic Transporter
Gear changes are a bit lurchy, exacerbated by the eager-to-rev engine. Make the V8 sing, however, and a reputation forged by Ronin is quickly justified. This is perfect early-2000s car chase fodder, as evidenced by the fact that Jason Statham swapped his BMW 7 Series for an A8 in sequels to The Transporter. What Ultimate Driving Machine?
Beemer-beater, the S8 isn’t, though. The Quattro all-wheel drive is faithfully grippy and the chassis feels balanced if not pushed too hard. Its damping is compliant, but there’s just a bit more body-roll than you’d want.
If the driving gets any more exciting than a swift hustle, the fact that the engine sits almost completely beyond the front wheels becomes obvious. It’s a super saloon rather than a sports saloon, if we can make that distinction.
What the S8 has in spades (and which we sorely miss in modern cars), is a bit of tyre sidewall. It rides beautifully when pressing on, making light work of rutted British roads.
Big distances, big bills
What the S8 is best at is chewing miles. Sorry, chewing fuel. Sorry, both at once.
The beautifully refined cabin, with its double-glazed windows, is the perfect place to forget that you’re getting, at best, 24mpg. If you’re exercising that V8 at all, it’s more like 15mpg.
The S8 on a long run is absolutely delightful, as reported by all at team MR. Tim took a family trip to Norfolk in it, Richard did some commuting and I ran it for miles in-between. As soon as you fall in love with the delicious bubble the S8 provides for a long journey, so too you worry about its voracious thirst.
Past times, fast times
The Audi S8, like the Millenium Dome, is of its time. Both represent the era from which they originate giving itself a hearty pat on the back. And both live on in 2021, with equally strong arguments for and against their suitability.
You love it from afar, you enjoy it up close, but sooner or later, the novelty wears off. Almost.
You hand back the keys, quietly nursing your superleggera wallet, then you immediately have second thoughts. You’d take 10mpg if it meant you could go for one last blast. Boy, do we miss it now it’s gone.
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