Steering is responsive and provides excellent communication between the tires and the driver. The A8 feels light and agile for a car of its size. The key to its excellent handling and ride quality is its rigid aluminum space frame. The frame resists flexing and lets the suspension do all the work, which is how it's supposed to be. That's why the A8 delivers a nearly perfect balance of fine handling and ride comfort. Driven to the limit in a corner, it understeers a bit, tending to push toward the outside edge of the pavement. To counter this, the driver simply lifts a little from the throttle, and the front end tracks right through the turn. It works beautifully.
The A8 leans a bit during a rapid left-right transition, but its weight shifts smoothly, never abruptly. Its ride is smooth, supple, yet without the slightest sensation of floating or wallowing. The A8 feels like it's bolted together more tightly than any car in production. It is also exceptionally quiet. The only sound that intrudes on your solitude is the occasional crack of the tires over pavement joints. You hear that more than you feel it. There's nothing remotely resembling a squeak or rattle, and there is no vibration. At idle, however, the S8 engine seemed rough and noisy for this class.
The A8's 4.2-liter V8 delivers power on demand, responding with a muted roar to every poke at the gas pedal. No matter how fast the A8 is already going, the driver can tap into a deep well acceleration-producing torque.
The A8 comes standard with a five-speed Tiptronic automatic transmission that allows sequential, clutchless manual shifting. Upshifts are silky smooth in full automatic mode, and downshifts relatively quick. For 2002, Audi has added a "Sport" mode: Just slide the gear selector to the "S," and the transmission holds lower gears longer on acceleration, and downshifts more rapidly on deceleration, for a racier driving experience.
Audi's Electronic Stabilization Program, or ESP, monitors vehicle behavior against driver input, and uses the antilock brakes and traction control to correct a skid or slide. Electronic Brake Distribution re-proportions braking force from rear to front as weight inevitably shifts forward during braking. An Electronic Differential Lock (EDL) assures directional stability while accelerating. For 2002, Audi has added Hydraulic Brake Assist, to maximize braking force in emergency stops. We found the A8's brakes excellent.
We also drove the $72,500 S8, whose body is identical to the A8 save for small S8 badges. That makes it a stealth bomber. It featured the Alcantara leather seats (like suede, in gray, and a $3,500 option), plus heated rear seats with rear window sunshades ($700). Add $575 in freight and a $1700 guzzler tax for this high-performance model, and the sticker topped out at $78,975.
Audi builds the S8 for people who find that 310 horsepower is just not enough. It develops 360 horsepower, the additional power coming from modified breathing. Around town, we had to open the throttle c-a-r-e-f-u-l-l-y to pull smoothly away from a stop. At least the U.S.-edition S8 is geared a little shorter than its German cousin, which is even more difficult to drive in traffic. Ours is capable of accelerating from 0 to 6- mph in 6.3 seconds and finishing the standing quarter-mile in less than 14 seconds.
Still, the S8 really belongs on the Autobahn; it feels most at home at very high speeds. Accelerating onto a freeway, it's difficult to imagine a smoother car. The S8 is so fast that you're already speeding before you even merge into the slow lane. But you don't want to hold back. The growl of the V8 is sublime.
Unfortunately, we can't say the same about the manual mode of the five-speed Tiptronic transmission. Too many Teutonic overrides spoil the fun, second-guessing the driver's decisions at all the wrong times. As a result, the Tiptronic is only truly manual part of the time. Driven hard, it often shifted when we didn't want it to, and didn't shift when we wanted it to. It can be operated with either the lever on the floor or by two buttons on the steering wheel, but the buttons are poorly designed. There's one thumb indent, with upward pressure upshifting and downward pressure downshifting, which is far from foolproof; plus, the location of the indents places your palms below 9 and 3 o'clock on the steering wheel, and this is not good. We simply found the buttons ergonomically unusable. It also seemed slow to shift at times in the automatic mode.
The stiffened suspension definitely works in the corners, virtually eliminating the A8's body roll. The S8 sticks so well that the lateral support of the seats, in the torso and especially the thighs, can't keep up; your body rolls more than the car during aggressive cornering. The S8 is not uncomfortable over bumps, but it is seriously firm, more than some folks might appreciate. This is a big, high-performance sedan; don't confuse it with a luxury car that happens to be fast. Fuel economy drops from the A8's EPA-estimated city/highway 17/25 to 15/21 mpg.
No matter the model, the A8's mechanical systems are first rate. This car is quick, quiet and comfortable, making every drive a pleasant experience or an invigorating one, depending on your disposition.
