Audi of America, Inc. 2001 Audi S8 3800 Hamlin Road, Auburn Hills, Mich. 48326; www.audi.com List Price: $72,500 Price as Tested: $80,675 Price as tested incl std equip. (ABS, front & head curtain airbags, side airbags for front & rear, all-wheel drive, Torsen center diff, yaw control, sport steering wheel w/Tiptronic control, anti-theft alarm, foglamps, AM/FM radio/cassette/CD, Bose sound system w/6 disc CD changer, 14-way power seats, leather interior, cruise con- trol, remote keyless entry; pwr windows, mirrors & door locks), luxury Alcantara pkg (replaces leather upholstery) $3500, premium pkg (heated rear seats, expandable ski/storage sack, power rear-window sunshade, rear side-window sunshades) $700, gas-guzzler tax ($1700), luxury tax ($1700), dest charge ($575). BMW of North America, Inc. 2001 BMW 740i P.O. Box 1227, Westwood, N.J. 07675; www.bmwusa.com List Price: $62,900 Price as Tested: $69,994 Price as tested incl std equip. (ABS, front & side airbags, yaw control, dynamic brake control, heated outside mirrors, nav system, anti-theft alarm, keyless entry & coded driveway protection, Premium 14-speaker AM/FM radio/cassette/CD changer; pwr windows, mirrors & door locks), sport pkg (sport suspension, M alloy wheels, per- formance tires, limited-slip diff, Steptronic suspension, sport seats, exterior trim, Vavona redwood interior trim, sport steering wheel) $2800, heated front seats ($500), gas-guzzler tax ($1700), luxury tax ($1524), dest charge ($570). Mercedes-Benz of North America, Inc. 2001 Mercedes-Benz S55 AMG One Mercedes Drive, Montvale, N.J. 07645; www.mbusa.com List Price: $98,000 Price as Tested: $105,355 Price as tested incl std equip. (ABS, front & side airbags, semi-active suspension, brake-assist system, yaw control, emergency calling & communications system, xenon headlamps, cruise control, auto. climate control, 10-speaker Bose premium audio system, keyless entry, anti-theft system, 14-way heated power seats, leather upholstery, multiifunction steering wheel, AM/FM radio/cassette/CD changer; pwr sunroof, windows, mirrors & door locks), climate-controlled rear compartment ($1840), parktronic system ($995), heated rear seats ($620), luxury tax ($3255), dest charge ($645). Audi S8 BMW 740i Mercedes-Benz S55 AMG General Data Curb weight ............................. 3815 lb 4275 lb 4110 lb Test weight.............................. 3990 lb 4450 lb 4270 lb Weight dist (with driver), f/r, % ............... 57/43 53/47 54/46 Wheelbase .............................. 113.4 in. 115.4 in. 121.5 in. Track, f/r ............................... 62.6 in./62.6 in. 61.6 in./61.6 in. 62.0 in./61.8 in. Length ................................. 198.2 in. 196.2 in. 203.1 in. Width.................................. 79.0 in. 73.3 in. 73.1 in. Height ................................. 55.8 in. 56.3 in. 56.9 in. Chassis & Body Layout ................................. front engine/awd front engine/rear drive front engine/rear drive Body/frame ............................. unit steel unit steel unit steel Brakes, f/r .............................. 13.6-in. vented discs/ 12.8-in. vented discs/ 13.6-in. vented discs/ 11.0-in. vented discs; vacuum assist, ABS 12.8-in. discs; vacuum assist, ABS 12.4-in. vented discs; vacuum assist, ABS 1 Wheels................................. cast alloy, 18 x 8J cast alloy; 18 x 8J f, 18 x 9 ⁄2J r cast alloy; 18 x 81⁄2J f, 18 x 9J r Tires .................................. Dunlop SP Sport 8000, Michelin Pilot SX; Dunlop SP Sport 9000; P245/45ZR-18 P235/50ZR-18 f, P245/45R-18 f, P255/45ZR-18 r P275/40R-18 r Steering ................................ rack & pinion, power assist recirculating ball, power assist rack & pinion, power assist Overall ratio........................... 15.7:1 16.9:1 17.8:1 Turns lock to lock....................... 2.7 3.7 2.8 Suspension, f/r .......................... multilink, coil springs, tube shocks, anti-roll MacPherson struts, double-pivot lower arms, upper & lower control arms, coil springs, tube bar/trapezoidal link, lateral control arms & track coil springs, tube shocks, anti-roll bar/multilink, shocks, semiactive suspension/multilink, coil rods, coil springs, tube shocks, anti-roll bar coil springs, tube shocks, anti-roll bar springs, tube shocks, semiactive suspension Accommodations Seating capacity.......................... 5 5 5 Head room, f/r........................... 36.5 in./36.0 in. 37.5 in./36.0 in. 37.0 in./36.5 in. Front-seat leg room ....................... 44.5 in. 42.5 in. 46.0 in. Rear-seat knee room ...................... 26.0 in. 26.0 in. 28.3 in. Trunk space ............................. 17.6 cu ft 13.0 cu ft 15.4 cu ft 102 ROAD & TRACK Audi S8 BMW 740i Mercedes-Benz S55 AMG Engine one-armed push-ups at the Academy Type .......................dohc 5-valve/cyl V-8 dohc 4-valve/cyl V-8 sohc 3-valve/cyl V-8 Awards. Displacement ................4172 cc 4398 cc 5349 cc Even without the S8’s performance Bore x stroke .................84.5 x 93.0 mm 92.0 x 82.7 mm 97.0 x 92.0 mm bits, the A8 is a pretty intriguing ma- Compression ratio .............11.0:1 10.0:1 10.5:1 Horsepower (SAE) .............360 bhp @ 7000 rpm 282 bhp @ 5400 rpm 354 bhp @ 5500 rpm chine, with its aluminum space frame Torque......................317 lb-ft @ 3400 rpm 324 lb-ft @ 3700 rpm 391 lb-ft @ 3000 rpm as the technological centerpiece. Co- Redline.....................7000 rpm 6000 rpm 6000 rpm developed with Alcoa, it’s an assem- Fuel injection.................elect. sequential port elect. sequential port elect. sequential port blage of both straight and curved extru- Rec. fuel ....................prem. unleaded, 91 pump octane prem. unleaded, 91 pump octane prem. unleaded, 91 pump octane sions joined by thin-wall die-cast junction boxes, to which exterior panels Acceleration stamped from alloy sheets are attached. Its longitudinally mounted engine Time to speed, sec drives all four wheels through a Quattro 0–20 mph.................1.3 1.1 1.4 0–40 mph.................3.3 3.1 3.2 IV system whose Torsen center differ- 0–60 mph.................6.1 6.1 5.7 ential apportions torque to electronical- 0–80 mph.................9.8 10.4 9.0 ly lockable front and rear differentials. 0–100 mph................14.7 16.5 13.4 Its side glass (actually, each pane is two Time to distance pieces laminated together with a solar- 0–1320 ft (1⁄4 mile)...........14.5 @ 99.2 mph 14.6 @ 94.7 mph 14.1 @ 102.7 mph reflective film in between) anchors to the B-pillar with a pin, allowing a near- Braking flush fit and helping to achieve a com- Minimum stopping distance mendably low CD of 0.29. From 60 mph ..............122 ft 125 ft 121 ft But the S8 is nicer, by precisely 50 From 80 mph ..............217 ft 224 ft 215 ft bhp—its flywheel now sees a full 360 Control .....................excellent excellent excellent bhp at 7000 rpm. Although its 4172-cc Brake feel ...................very good very good very good displacement and 11.0:1 compression Overall brake rating ............excellent very good excellent ratio remain the same, the V-8’s intake Handling paths have been optimized; a new 3- stage variable manifold is employed; Lateral accel (200-ft skidpad): 0.87g 0.88g 0.89g and new roller-tipped followers ride on Balance...................moderate understeer mild understeer mild understeer more aggressive camshaft lobes that Speed thru 700-ft slalom: .......62.3 mph 62.4 mph 62.8 mph Balance...................moderate understeer mild understeer mild understeer help move more air into and out of the cylinders. A less restrictive exhaust system that terminates in a dual pol- ished tip completes the changes that Drivetrain also see peak torque improve to 317 Transmission .................5-speed automatic 5-speed automatic 5-speed automatic lb.-ft. at 3400 rpm, an increase of 15 Gear/Ratio/Overall/(Rpm) Mph lb.-ft. at only 100 more revs. 1st, :1 ....................3.57/13.32/(7000) 37 3.57/11.25/(5750) 38 3.59/10.12/(5900) 44 A scan of the nearby data panel will 2nd, :1 ...................2.20/8.21/(7000) 60 2.20/6.93/(6000) 64 2.19/6.17/(6000) 74 show that this Neckarsulm, Germany- 3rd, :1....................1.50/5.61/(7000) 88 1.51/4.76/(6000) 93 1.41/3.98/(6000) 115 4th,:1....................1.00/3.73/(7000) 132 1.00/3.15/(6000) 141 1.00/2.82/ est (5750) 155* built sedan is downright rapid: 6.1 sec- 5th, :1....................0.80/2.84/est (6600) 155* 0.80/2.52/est (5300) 155* 0.83/2.34/est (4750) 155* onds to 60; the quarter mile in 14.5 Final drive ratio ...............3.73:1 3.15:1 2.82:1 sec. at 99.2 mph. The S8 is a few Engine rpm @ 60 mph in top gear 2400 rpm 1900 rpm 2000 rpm blinks quicker than the BMW and a *Electronically limited. few more blinks slower than the Mer- cedes, yet all three are near the top of Fuel Economy the performance-car food chain. Con- sider that this roomy, 5-passenger, 2- Our driving................... 15.3 mpg 16.3 mpg 15.0 mpg ton sedan with all the luxury trimmings EPA city/highway ..............15/21 mpg 15/21 mpg 16/22 mpg Fuel capacity .................23.8 gal. 22.5 gal. 23.2 gal. will pace a standard Porsche Boxster to 60 mph and beat it to the century mark by two full seconds. No doubt, that Interior Noise same Boxster would show its pop-up Idle in neutral ................48 dBA 44 dBA 45 dBA rear spoiler to the Audi when tight Maximum, 1st gear ............71 dBA 70 dBA 68 dBA bends start outnumbering straight- 70 mph...................70 dBA 68 dBA 68 dBA aways, yet I’d bet the S8 wouldn’t lag far behind.