2001 Audi S8 from North America - Comments

Hey about my comment above. I bought a Ming Blue one and I absolutely love it. Not as fast as my 911 turbo was, but not a sweat-box either. I've been putting miles on it and aside from a minor glitch I can't seem to figure out (intermittent passenger headlight out) Replaced the controller still have an issue??

I do love flying along in ice cold a/c... I almost bought another saab for a family car... But so glad I went with the S8.

Thanks for the OBDII link above... One on order! That will be a lifesaver.

I recently purchased a 2001 S8 and I love it... however I am having a continued check engine light regarding "system too lean"...I have replaced vacuum hoses and now still get the same codes... someone tells me it could be the MAF filter or my gas cap could be faulty... with only 45,000 miles on the car I suspect the gas cap to be good as it also passed emissions here in Arizona. I am trying to find the problem and fix it myself with a handy car guy... I dread taking it to a dealer... ANY IDEAS?

I have a 2001 S8 with 56,000 miles on it. I've had brake issues ever sense I bought it 2 years ago along with a laundry list of other problems. I've always owned BMW's, and will be going back to one soon.

I am the proud owner of a 2001 Audi S8. The previous owner BABIED this thing to death and I swear it is like brand new. It was meticulously maintained by an Audi Dealer. Not a mark on it inside and out. The alacantara leather seats don't even have wear lines in them.

I love this car. It is fast, smooth and makes you want to drive it. The paint (finish) on an Audi is the best. It shines like no car I have ever owned before. The post that asked about the rough ride is correct. That is the way these cars are supposed to ride, kind of like a new vette. Stiffer suspension larger anti-sway bars for doing some serious spirited driving. This thing would make a great police car. "It ain't your Daddy's Grand Marquis!"

I agree that these cars are the BEST used car deal out there. No one seems to have ever heard of them before and they are an excellent value when buying them as a used car.

I recently e-mailed Audi of America and asked them how many 2001 S8's were imported into the US? They said only 531! This car is rare (no wonder I never see them on the road)

Buy one and you will love it. They are AMAZING! The best of both worlds, 360 HP for the road, AWD when you need it in winter and complete luxury. (The 200 watt 12 speaker BOSE stereo system is sweet too!) A true kick A$$ car.

I own an 02 S8 which I've had for 3 months. It has 66,000 miles on it. I had several mild heart attacks yesterday driving in very inclement MN weather on the Dunlop SP3000 (no sipes) which have only 4/32 of tread left.

I would like to replace these tires with an all season tire that will perform well during MN winters and will give reasonable handling in the summer. I am most interested in balanced all weather performance rather than the stiffest sidewall or stickiest summer performance.

Does anyone have any recommendations?

Thanks.

Hi everyone. I am in the market for an s8. It has been a dream of mine to get one of these bad boys since I've seen Ronin lol.

I recently seen one for sale that caught my interest, it's an 02' s8 with 71,000 /midnight blue.

To all the s8 owners, how has you s8's performance been when over 50k? I really don't care about price, I've been looking at cl55's, m5's, and e55's but the s8 has just always stuck out to me!

Any insight on these questions would be most helpful.

Thanks,

D, NY.

I owned my 2001 S8 for about a year, 1 year ago. I moved to it on an impulse from a 2001 Merc S320. My immediate impressions were that the ride was much harsher than the Merc, it was a bit noisier and that the performance was WAY greater (why I changed :) ). Potential owners should be aware that they are not so much buying a big luxury saloon with lots of power as buying a sportscar with 5 seats. It has the angry, snarling edge and the g forces to scare your parents.

This car makes a fantastic second-hand buy. 4.2L all alloy 40v V8 developing 360bhp at 7000rpm. Routed through a 5 speed intelligent tiptronic trans and Quattro 4wd from the people who pretty much invented it for road cars. All aluminium construction making it lighter than an A6... I'm sold.

The interior build quality was basically way better than the W220 Merc. It's also better than other Audis - Audi lost money on the S8 - they were trying to make a point and had to overcome a lot of heritage prerogative from BMW and Merc: it has a totally "built" feeling to it that you just don't get with S6/S4. I didn't have any creaks or rattles. There is pretty much no equipment it didn't have as you'd expect, including some stuff that you wouldn't necessarily expect like electric back seats and a solar panel in the sunroof to run the fans and circulate air through the car ad infinitum while it's parked at the airport so it doesn't get too hot.

The S8 is extremely dynamically capable on the road - almost to the point of boredom. I'm not sure what you have to do to get tyre squeal out of it - it's just so dynamically competent I don't think I had the skills to get near the edge of it's envelope. It's quite funny, for example, to loop round an intersection junction in a rental Nissan Sunny on the wing mirrors at 80kmh, tyres shrilling but to do that in the Audi you'd need some totally absurd speed like 180kmh. This does however make it a devastatingly effective point-to-point transport.

While we're on performance - the S8 goes fast. Truly, truly fast. I had my (derestricted) one up to 275kmh at one point with more to come. It was only when I later calculated this as 170 imperial mph - a speed it's not even common see in the back page stats sections of magazines that I realised exactly how fast this was.

Another enduring memory was of heading to a meal in town with some friends from work. We were cruising, early evening, on an urban highway coming into downtown through the skyscrapers. My boss - in the back - said "See, this is what I love about this car. We're basically here, doing 100mph through the town centre, in total refinement and leather seated comfort". That's one of the S8's strong cards. Yes it's a bit firmer and harsher than other big saloons, but it's just SO easy to go numbingly fast and the interior and accommodation (ie: where you are) is SO good that you can't help loving it. If you're even slightly petrolhead techy on top of this, then you're done or you should turn in your membership.

I used to do a fast 65km daily commute in mine at 180-200kmh out of traffic, and I used to get about 16litres/100km consumption. That's pretty good for that kind of performance. It's an efficient engine - I used to get very slightly worse from the S320 doing the same commute at about 160kmh.

The S8 has a 90 litre fuel tank which - while I understand would be heartbreaking to have to fill in the UK - does perfectly complement the car's remit as the ultimate point-to-point transport, meaning that your high speed play only has to pause once per country. In addition to the fantastic cabin the boot is vast - rivalling the engine in terms of numerical slack-jawedness. You pretty much can't see the far side of it from the back bumper.

I only had one service. I had a "pulsing" idle - like when the car was in gear creeping forwards on the brakes in traffic it would run a bit rough. It once actually stalled itself starting up after filling with fuel. This was fixed by replacing some kind of leaking breather hose under the bonnet, although the mechanic said that this is a common complaint even on perfectly functioning cars, as the high tune of the engine gives it a bit of a rough idle (ref: paragraph one). I had to get new brake discs as well and the whole deal including major service was about US$2000. Not cheap, but I justify maintenance on a heavily depreciated, older performance car like this by the savings that you are making by not having to make monthly repayments on a new BMW 323i or some other hopeless cartoon bauble.

All hail the D2 S8 then. I was forced out of mine by circumstances rather than choice. (I can note that they also crash well, totally protecting the occupants with their rigidity and plethora of airbags, and that sometimes brakes the size of turntables and 4wd can't save you if you're driving like a total idiot.)

If you're not sold already, there is also the fact that it's the pursuit car from Ronin. I mean PLEASE, why are you still reading and not on ebay?