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[SOUND] The Audi ES8 inspires the most sport and and luxury but can it do both well?
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At almost 17 feet long, I've got a lot of cabin room in this 2015 Audi ES8.
For luxury appointments, I'm riding on an air suspension.
I've got adaptive cruise control, Bang and Olufsen stereo with 19 speakers, and oh yes, massage seats.
But this is the S8, the sport version of Audi's A8.
But I've also got 520 horsepower, torque vectoring all wheel drive that makes this big sedan feel absolutely nimble.
Audi says 0 to 60 miles per hour in 3.9 seconds.
Calling something of this size with a sedan body a sports car would start a bar fight among some car enthusiasts.
But from the driver's seat, I'm feeling that sports applies.
The [UNKNOWN] twin turbo four liter V8 puts out 520 horsepower, 481 pound feet of torque.
And when I floor it, This thing really leaps forward [LAUGHS] and it makes a great noise too, but it's in the turns where the S8 really shows it's stuff.
The air suspension keeps the car really level [INAUDIBLE].
All wheel drive, kept all tires gripping.
And the torque vectoring actually puts more power to the outside rear wheel in a turn, so I can feel the back end of the car be pushed around those corners, it really helps the handling incredibly well.
Dynamic setting is really good, but it makes the SA pretty high tempered.
I don't wanna drive with it in stop and go traffic.
So let me dial it back to the comfort setting, and by dial I do mean dial.
This is using Audi's multimedia interface or MMI, and that suddenly loosens up everything.
It makes the car Just more manageable.
Even with 520 horsepower.
That power comes on a lot smoother from the throttle.
But even with this air suspension, I don't think Audi really has the ride quality dialed in for the comfort mode.
On an undulating section of freeway I can feel the car porpoising.
That's going up and down and was making me a bit Seasick.
But the massage seats go a long way to make up for that.
For navigation, I'm looking at satellite maps from Google Earth brought into the system over a 3G data connection.
Audi newer models have 4G, but the S8 hasn't been upgraded yet.
Audi innovates online destination search here really well.
I can enter any search term using this rotary controller or tracing letters on the touchpad and it gives me results from Google.
One problem here.
When I plug my iPhone into this adapter cable in the console, the car tells me I need to turn off Bluetooth before it can connect.
That's kinda stupid.
I've been in plenty of other cars that can switch between Bluetooth and a cabled connection seamlessly.
Why can't Audi?
This car has the Bang & Olufsen audio option and it sounds great.
19 speakers, 1400 watts, this is the true audio file system.
To expand on the comfort and convenience theme this S8 has a dapper cruise control which will automatically slow down for slower traffic ahead.
It's got a blind spot monitor and that flashes a warning when there are cars in the lane next And it's got a surround view camera that makes parking quick and easy.
I've also got a heads up display, but it only shows speed and rudimentary turn guidance.
Audi could do more with that.
Alright.
Let's price out our 2015 Audi S8.
Base price is 115,825 dollars.
And that's pretty well equipped.
But the [UNKNOWN] audio package, $6,300 and the driver assistance package for only $2,100.
And we're looking at a total of $124,225.
Back to the question of sport versus luxury, I was really impressed with the S8's handling for such a large car.
On the luxury side of things, the ride may not be as smooth as I would have liked, but the connected capital iconic, stereo systems, and those massage seats go a long way to make up for it.
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