2022 Audi S8 First Drive Review | High-tech tour de force.
The most technologically complex S8 sure seems like it's going to be the last https://youtu.be/Uwz2__NPVzs
Though freshly updated, the 2022 Audi S8 actually has not been changed much. Its exterior has been nicely freshened, it has some fancy new lights, and there’s a couple of new colors in the palette. What has changed, though, since the D5-generation A8/S8 debuted for 2019, is just how rapidly the industry’s transition to electrification has progressed.
Since we last reviewed the then-new S8, Audi has announced the end of its top-end sports car, the end of internal combustion engine development, and parent company Volkswagen has declared the manual transmission officially dead. You didn’t have to be clairvoyant to see this coming, but here in 2022, the end of the traditional car as we know it feels a lot closer than it did back then. As such, the ever-present sense that this S8 would be the last Audi of its kind loomed over our test drive.
Since you asked, that “kind” is the big German sleeper sedan, a category Audi arguably ignited in 1996 with the D2 S8. The W140 S-Class Benz and E38 BMW 7 Series may have had similar output from V8s – or bigger V12s, even — but their performance credentials hardly extended beyond the engine bay. There was no AMG S-Class, and even the generally athletic 7 of that time didn’t extend as far into the performance realm as the S8. Besides its stiffened and lowered sport-tuned suspension, it was a technological powerhouse with its Quattro AWD system, aluminum spaceframe construction and recalibrated Tiptronic gearbox. It even had a solar sunroof to keep the climate control going when parked.
These days, the Merc and Bimmer have caught up in terms of tech, in the same way Audi has caught up to them in terms of badge snob credibility. AWD and aluminum bodywork are no longer exclusive to any one marque, nor are high-performance variants. Somehow, though, the Audi S8 feels truest to its original mission.
It has the most understated lines in the segment, which is proper for a large executive limousine with the moves of a much smaller sports sedan. The Mercedes looks almost too slippery, and who knows what’s going on at BMW’s studios these days. The S8 splits the correct difference between sleek and chiseled.
A redesigned — and yes, larger — grille thins out the chrome for a more high-tech look. Its L-shaped inlays do a much better job of adorning the twin-turbo 4.0-liter V8 than the 2020 model’s horizontal-barred HVAC-like vent. Brightwork throughout the car is made more delicate, a look that makes last year’s look instantly dated. Or, you could go with the Black Optics package as on our test car and remove any trace of glossiness whatsoever.
New headlights receive segmented accent lights and standard HD matrix lighting. An optional Digital Matrix Lighting system uses 1.3 million micro-mirrors each measuring less than a 10th of a millimeter that Audi says can adj
