They did a comparo in this month's "Bimmer" magazine between the 740i and the A8. Although they preferred the 740i performance wise, guess which one they looked forward to driving the most.....

Yeah, that was great. And can you blame them? I have driven both and the A8 does feel better to spend time with. As far as performance goes, the A8 is quicker and has a more powerful engine. The BMW brakes and handles better though. This is easy to remedy though, I put 245/45/18 SP9000 tires on my A8 and also added the Porsche brake kit so I believe that my car will handle and brake right along with the 7 series.<ul><li><a href="http://www.isomedia.com/homes/bartlane/brakes">My brake upgrade.</a></li></ul>

do you know if the new 'long' version of the A8 has the same underperforming brakes as the standard 2000 A8?

The brakes would void any warranty on the brakes but that's it. The OE brakes can be put back on in less than an hour if that is a concern.

From what I have read that same brakes are on both cars. The S8 has different brakes, not great, but better.