Audi’s new S8 plus raises the performance bar with the 4.0-litre TFSI V8 now making 605 PS.
The world of the super-luxury saloon has never really been boring. True, there are some seriously ostentatious machines out there, and they pack the luxury of a more-than-decent hotel room with one bonus – well, this one’s obvious, you can’t drive a hotel room.
The 3,993-cc twin-turbocharged FSI V8 motor now makes 605 PS in the S8 plus, up from 520 PS in the S8, with peak torque getting a bump up to 700 Nm, with 750 Nm available using overboost. We’d like to think of this as an RS 8, but, like the M7, that nomenclature doesn’t exist.
So, the S8 plus. With the added 85 PS and up to 100 Nm of torque, it dismisses the 0-100 km/h sprint in a claimed 3.8 seconds – that’s super sports car territory! Then, there’s the derestrictor which lifts the 250 km/h limiter and raises it to 304 km/h. Even at 2,065 kg, it boasts of a power-to-weight ratio of 293 PS/tonne! Not only that, it’s still an A8 underneath it all, with the best bits of cosseting luxury, quattro intelligent all-wheel-drive, and the most powerful version of the 4.0 V8 TFSI yet.
At £97,700 (Rs 97 lakh) before duties and taxes, it’s surely something worth thinking about, if you’re in the market for said driveable deluxe hotel room. We hope to see it here.
