Test drive Audi S8 plus

It seems that the southeast of France is not the place for expensive and sports cars. They look like strangers here and the roar of the engine makes lazy birds break away from their homes.

Almost everyone knows that Provence is famous for its spicy herbs and that you can eat deliciously there. Slightly fewer people are aware that this area gave its name to the style of the same name, characterized by darkened wooden beams, pastel colors, minimalism, coziness and, perhaps, even slight naivety. Finally, absolutely everyone understands that defiantly expensive, shiny cars do not fit into this style. However, it was in Provence that Audi brought the most expensive part of its model line for a little test drive.

Stretched out like a parabola on a winding thin path among vineyards, RS7, RS and S8 seem to compete in who will break the transparent peace and quiet of the surroundings faster and into the smallest fragments. People are rare here, but with every sharp jump in engine speed, a flock of frightened birds breaks loose from the bushes - they are not used to such a fuss.

Initially, I really wanted to get behind the wheel of the RS6. Probably mostly because of the incredibly beautiful matte gray color. However, quick colleagues managed to pick up the keys to this car earlier, the same story repeated itself with the RS7, and I got the leftover S8, which, frankly, was the last on the list of personal preferences.

On the other hand, the new A8 will be released soon, which means that of all the existing modifications, only the S8 will sell well for a while - the new sports version will traditionally appear later. Besides, as it turned out, it was not a regular S8, but a plus version. It does not have an electronic "collar", and the power is higher - 605 horsepower. The Germans have slightly modified the four-liter V8 and equipped it with a new, more efficient twin turbine - it is already installed on the RS6 and RS7 in the Performance version. The torque has also increased - up to 700 Nm, and with the "gas" pedal pressed to the floor for a short time it can reach 750 Newton meters.

As a result, acceleration to "hundreds" takes only 3,8 s (versus 4,1 s for the regular version), and the maximum speed is 305 km per hour (250 km / h for the stock S8). Even the R8 sports car has a lower limit - 301 km per hour. By the way, a potential client will have to pay a lot for a significant increase in dynamic characteristics. While the S8 can be purchased for at least $ 106, the S567 plus starts at $ 8.

And yes, this car seems like a stranger in the French province. His style is definitely not Provence, but rather something in between Art Deco and hi-tech. Gray body, like the RS6, with a matte finish, jet-black exhaust pipes, expensive carbon bodywork, matrix headlights that still look like aliens from the future. Not an ounce of calmness in the image - only anger and indefatigable energy.

However, Provence is not just a piece of land, and not only a style, but above all a way of life. And inside the S8 plus - complete Provence. And, of course, I'm not talking about the design - it is too pretentious, pretentious for that. Not a single “antique” detail: aluminum and patterned carbon fiber panels with red thread reign all around.

The peculiarity is different - it is very calm inside. Life in Provence is not like Moscow, New York, or, say, London. There is no fuss, no one is in a hurry, not afraid to stop for a second and admire how the shadow of low-growing trees fancifully falls on evenly trimmed bushes, sees nothing shameful, so that at dinner with a glass of wine you can bring not a polite-quick, but a drawn-out conversation.

So in the executive sports car, despite all its hundreds of horses, it is very calm and does not want to rush anywhere. Here, unlike the overwhelming majority of sports cars, it is equally comfortable to feel both the driver and the passenger. From behind, you can take a reclining position, push the front passenger aside by pressing a special button, stretch your legs. Not as far away as the Long version (the S8 plus is only available with a standard wheelbase), but that's more than enough to make you feel very comfortable.

But the main element of the puzzle that disconnects from the hustle and bustle is absolute, even some kind of viscous silence in the cabin. Thanks to the active noise cancellation system, not a single extraneous sound gets inside the sedan. And so you go behind the wheel, surrounded by two tons of sleep-like comfort, occasionally torn apart by impulses of carbon-ceramic discs. There are speed limits and immodest fines all around, and you, it turns out, exceed three times, although you don't even feel like you are crawling.

This is because up to 260 km / h the speed in the S8 plus is impossible to understand. This will only work if you track changes in the height of the air suspension, through which not a single pothole or hole is forced through, as sensitively as the transfers of your favorite football club. After 100 km / h, the suspension drops by 10 mm, after 120 km / h - by another 10 millimeters.

But this only applies to normal driving. However, finding a sporty one is still a mystery: it is hidden deep in the car settings menu. In it, the suspension becomes much stiffer, especially on winding roads. Clamped shock absorbers, an active differential and a variable-ratio steering gear together make the sedan turn filigreely into corners, and the driver forget that the car is five meters long.

The S8 plus also has one more mode - individual. In it, the driver can configure all the systems himself. Feels like all parameters can be played, but the active differential is best left in sport mode. With him, the car rides more lively. The sound of the engine in this case is also good for me: it is deeper and more penetrating, although it may seem a little unnatural. By the way, it is not the audio system that is responsible for controlling the "music" of the motor, but special valves in the resonators.

It is unlikely that all these individual system settings will be of great interest to potential car owners, as well as the ability to save on fuel: at low revs, the engine turns off half of the cylinders, and it does this completely imperceptibly. No, they will certainly accelerate sharply, perhaps even go to Europe to check the maximum speed on the Autobahn. The owners will also certainly try the S8 plus on the race track, appreciate the manual control button for the 8-speed ZF automatic transmission on the steering wheel, and praise it for its imperceptible and precise work. And yet the main thing is the price of the fastest Audi and its exclusivity.

Calmness should be added to this list though. At first, it may, perhaps, enter into dissonance with the Moscow rhythm, but, perhaps, it will help to reconcile with it. At least on the second day it seemed that this car was created for Provence, and the birds no longer shy away from the sound of its engine, but take off in order to fly alongside just as calmly.

	Body type		Sedan
dimensions (length / width / height), mm		5147 / 1949 / 1458
Wheelbase, mm		2994
Curb weight, kg		2065
engine's type		Gasoline, 8-cylinder, turbocharged
Working volume, cubic meters cm		3993
Max. power, l. with.		605 / 6100-6800
Max twist. moment, Nm		700 / 1750-6000 (peak 750 / 2500-5500)
Drive type, transmission		Full, 8-speed automatic transmission
Max. speed km / h		305
Acceleration from 0 to 100 km / h, s		3,8
Fuel consumption (mixed cycle), l / 100 km		10
Price from, $.		123 403