A Slovenian philosopher, Slavoj Zizek, talks about love as an example of cosmic imbalance, going so far as to say that the way we single something out, elevating it and diminishing all other things, is a form of evil. If that's true, then no doubt all Audi S8 owners must be more nefarious than other car owners. After sitting in the S8 for a few days I could easily understand how they might diminish the importance of other things. Yes, maybe love is evil, because while I was behind the wheel with the stereo up I completely forgot that others don't have it so good. Of course it did occur to me at the end of the testdrive that I don't have it so good either, since I don't own the car.
The Audi S8 has a lot to love. Under the hood is a 450hp, 5.2-liter V10 FSI engine with Audi's Quattro all-wheel drive. The 0-60 is 4.9 seconds, plenty fast for a luxury vehicle. Combine a powerful engine (weighing less than 500 pounds) with the sophisticated suspension system and you have a dream ride. The driver has terrific control over that ride by accessing the suspension options on the "Multi Media Interface" (MMI) screen. Choose "Automatic," "Comfort," "Dynamic" and "Lift" to determine ride height. In "Automatic" mode the suspension sensors "read" the road and dampers adapt accordingly. In "Comfort" the Audi is pure luxury, just coasting on air and in "Dynamic" the S8 definitely feels sportier than a four-door luxury sedan has a right to. As for interior design, the S8 is hands down the most attractive, eye-popping vehicle of the year. It's no overstatement to say that the combination of carbon fiber, metal and Alcantara suede throughout the interior is genius, perfectly thought out. The designers were careful not to go even a hair overboard. Then you add the B&O system and you have something that is just so artistic in its juxtaposition.
Bang a Drum
We could go on for pages swooning over the mechanics and performance of the S8, from the aforementioned engine to the six-speed transmission and paddle shifters to the lightweight aluminum chassis to the braking system and so forth. But while we really fell for the entire car, it was the Bang & Olufsen system in the S8 that was more like love at first sight. The Advance Audio System (an optional upgrade over the standard Bose system) is exactly what you would expect from B&O. Incredible design without compromise. Speaking of not compromising: According to an article in Fast Company, during the development of a new product the company's president wanted to change a small part of a design, but was overruled by the chief designer who just happened to be a "freelancer." The president backed down. Most designers can only dream of having that kind of veto power. From their point of view, executives usually meddle too much with their input and in the end undermine a design. Not with B&O, and not with the Advanced Audio System.
The 14-speaker setup (including a center channel) in the S8 is not just beautifully finished but has B&O's impressive technology behind it. Of course when you first start the car and see the tweeters on the top of each corner of the dash rise up automatically (while the monitor on the front of the dash flips up and out revealing a sophisticated looking graphic display) you can't help but focus on just that. And the aluminum grilles on the speakers will dazzle you visually - you'll need a couple of minutes before you can pay attention to the sound. However, there's more here than just looks. B&O has employed its Acoustic Lens Technology (ALT) in the Audi. ALT uses high-frequency lateral reflections within a specific playback space, in this case a car's compartment, to enhance the reproduction quality. The engineers at Sausalito Audio Works knew that the technology would work well in a car. By placing the lenses on the dash they could use the windows as reflective surfaces to make for a proper soundstage. I found that while the coated silk diaphragm domed tweeters did exactly what they were supposed to with some recordings, with others I perceived a very narrow soundstage. Listening to a Diana Krall track I was surprised to hear how the song seemed to be coming from a small mono speaker box in front of me. But then with some of the test tracks, like "Boxenkiller" which we utilized on all the vehicles, the Advanced Audio System was quite good at reproducing the feel of the live drums as well as the space in which the drums were recorded. Overall, though, it could be hit and miss. I looked to the built-in DSP to see if I could find a setting that would make the system play more consistently; but whether you chose the "Driver," "All," "Front" or "Rear" settings the result was short of sufficient. In fact, the system sounded best almost all of the time set at "All."