Being the top-of-the-range models offered by Audi, the A8 and S8 models pack the best technology the brand has to offer. Because of this, it comes as no surprise that even after almost five years since its first introduction, the fourth generation Audi S8 offers features that are truly impressive and not seen on any other car.
The A8 has always been a display piece of the most advanced tech, and the S8 brings it even further with a performance tune to it. Here are the 7 most impressive features of the 2021 Audi S8.
The Engine
Let’s start with the most obvious. As an S model, the 2021 Audi S8 packs a mean punch under the hood. Audi has chosen a turbocharged 4.0L V8 that sends 563 hp and 590 lb.-ft of torque to all four wheels using the famous Audi Quattro system, and is paired to an 8-speed automatic transmission.
With such an engine, the S8 is no longer the subtle, under-the-radar-sedan. Instead, it now grabs attention with more than just its aggressive, yet classy design. The car sounds somewhat like the Audi RS6, only quieter (this should still be an executive sedan, not a full-on sports car). The noisy heart of this luxury sedan tells you that you’re not sitting in a standard A8. Instead, you’re dealing with its evil twin that doesn’t mind taking things to the extremes in more ways than one.
Although equipped with a 4.0L V8, Audi has still tried to make the S8 a bit more efficient. With the use of a 48-volt system, the car can run most of its electronics from power generated by recuperation during braking.
The Suspension
The active suspension on the Audi S8 is really a revolutionary piece of technology. Of course, as on other cars, you can adjust the suspension setup either for more comfort or better handling for sporty drives with just a press of a button. But the Audi S8 has something a lot more impressive.
Equipped with active suspension, each wheel can be raised or lowered independently. This gives way for a number of use case scenarios. First, the system improves the ride quality. The S8 is equipped with predictive damping, which senses bumps and potholes in front of the car and prepares the suspension for impact beforehand. The suspension can even raise the car before a speed bump, and keep it perfectly leveled.
Second, the suspension can make getting in and out of the S8 much more comfortable. When the doors are opened, the suspension instantaneously raises its ground clearance by 1.6 inches.
Probably the most important trick that the active suspension can do, is to raise one side of the car before a side impact. T-bone accidents are one of the worst and most demanding on the structural rigidity of any car. To fight this, when the S8 senses an incoming side impact, it will quickly raise the impacted side of the vehicle by more than 3 inches. Because of this, most of the impact force should be absorbed by the bottom of the chassis and not the side of the car. The lower rail below the doors is more rigid than the doors themselves, so it can serve better in protecting occupants from the impact.
Remote Self-Parking
As the 2021 Audi S8 is quite a large car, parking it in tight spaces can sometimes be tricky. Of course, Audi expected this which is why the new S8 is absolutely loaded with features designed to help you park the car. Not only that the car is equipped with Park Assist, front and rear parking sensors, and Curb Warning, but it also has a remote self-parking feature. It is easy to use and makes both perpendicular and parallel parking a breeze.
Via a smartphone, you can activate the self-parking system, which means you can stand outside of the car while it maneuvers itself into the parking spot. Of course, the car can also park out automatically, so you no longer have to worry about not being able to get inside your car in tight parking spaces. Furthermore, this Audi can even pull into your house garage and drive close to bikes and pillars without a single issue.
Level 3 Autonomous Driving
Audi has made sure that its most luxurious sedan has the perfect equipment for long drives. For this reason, it was equipped with a plethora of driving assists, which allow the S8 to drive semi-autonomously. Using ultrasonic sensors, cameras, and a laser scanner, the 2021 Audi S8 is always perfectly aware of the surrounding situation. Combined with adaptive cruise control, active steering, and other systems such as Traffic Jam Pilot and Garage Pilot, this Audi manages to drive completely by itself in quite a few scenarios.
At speeds below 37 mph, the Traffic Jam Pilot can entirely take over the steering, braking, and acceleration. Compared to other systems, there is no need for an intervention from the driver even after the car comes to a complete stop.
Even at higher speeds, the S8 manages to drive by itself on highways, while using a lane guidance system and adaptive cruise assist, which helps to maintain a preset distance between the vehicle ahead of it. While using this system, the S8 only needs slight inputs from the driver at pre-defined time intervals, in order to ensure that a driver is still paying attention to the driving situation.
This is where another trick of this technological spectacle comes into play. When the car senses the driver is not responsive, it will try to get his attention by playing a warning sound. If this does not help, the car will firmly apply the brakes numerous times to get the driver’s attention. If even this fails, the car will turn on the warning signals and stop the car in the emergency lane, all by itself. It can also call emergency services.
Rear Seat Comfort
Even in the performance S model, the A8 is a truly luxurious car in the back. While being chauffeured around in the standard variant is for sure a perk, owners of the S8 might be presented with a dilemma. While offering the utmost comfort and luxury for traveling in the back seats, the S8 is also heaps of fun to drive. Should you drive and enjoy the sound of the 4.0-liter V8 and the car’s surprisingly good handling, or sit in the back and relax while enjoying the perks of rear infotainment, a refrigerator, and massaged seats?
Of course, materials are a large part of the luxury experience, and so the S8 uses either finely finished wooden, or carbon fiber decorative panels, soft premium leather, aluminum, and soft-touch materials to cater to the most luxurious experience throughout the cabin.
The S8 offers an optional Four Passenger Rear Seat Comfort package, which gets you a fixed center console in the place of a rear middle seat, heated armrests, executive seats, a footrest for the rear passenger-side seat, the ability to control the front passenger seat from the back, thus creating for even more legroom, additional airbags, and folding tables. You get all the amenities you might think of.
Fully Electric Door Handles
Electrically operated door handles might seem like a small detail. However, there is no such thing on the 2021 Audi S8. All four door handles, both interior ones and exterior ones, react to a very gentle pull, so opening the doors is extremely easy. That said, the handles have a tactile feel that makes them more satisfying to use than regular “old school” handles.
Now, you might worry that if the battery dies, there will be no way of getting inside or out of the car, but Audi has that covered. A manual-opening mechanism is still present and actuates when you pull on the handles further. To unlock the car, there are also hidden keyholes in the driver’s door and in the trunk. For this reason, every Audi key has an emergency key fob hidden inside of it.
Now to the promised practical use of the electric door handles. This Audi is equipped with a safety system called Exit Assist. When parked parallel to a road, there is always the danger of not seeing, or even forgetting to check for incoming traffic, whether in the form of a car or a cyclist. That can be extremely dangerous for both sides, which is why Audi has developed a system that prevents these situations from occurring.
With the use of the blind spot monitor, the car can sense the situation behind it, and in case that the driver or any of the passengers attempts to open doors into incoming traffic, the car simply won’t allow it. The door’s ambient lighting will start to flash red as a warning, and the electric door opening system will delay the doors from being opened by 0.8 seconds. The eight-tenths of a second should prevent any accidents from occurring. Quite a genius solution!
Rear-Wheel Steering
While the 2021 Audi S8 is certainly not the first car to feature rear-wheel steering, it has brought that system to perfection. The Audi S8 allows for the rear wheels to turn by up to 5 degrees, which is far above what the competition offers. It makes the car feel more compact while maneuvering in the city or tight spaces. In fact, the turning circle reduces by three feet with this system.
Not only that but rear-wheel steering is also supposed to make the car more stable and improve cornering. Depending on the speed, the rear wheels turn either in the same or opposite direction to the front wheels, thus always ensuring perfect handling and dynamic turning.
2021 Audi S8 — Miles Ahead of the Competition
Audi’s motto “Being Ahead through Technology” really shows on the 2021 Audi S8. Every A8 and S8 model, starting with the first generation D2 in 1994, introduced exciting new technologies to the automotive industry. In the 1990s, the most advanced solution was the use of aluminum on almost the entire chassis, which made the A8 the lightest car in its class.
Then, in 2002, the second generation of this luxury sedan was the first car to use a driver identification system with a fingerprint scanner. Of course, the D4 generation, introduced in 2009 also had something special. It came with a revolutionary collision avoidance system using a combination of sensors, radars, and cameras. Based on the previous generations, it’s no wonder that even the latest Audi A8/S8 has loads of revolutionary features.
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