Recently, my friend (Cayenne Turbo owner) and I decided to put our cars up against each other. Empty highway, pacing next to each other at 60mph... 3...2...1... Go! I was in Sport mode. don't know about him. But regardless, my A8 never lost or gained an inch. we were just neck and neck until we just thought it was enough (triple digit+ speeds easily obtained).

Stats: 450hp (CT) vs. 330hp (A8L); 457lbft of torque (CT) vs. 317 (A8L).

Weight: 5724(CT) vs. 4400 (A8L)

Length(inches): 188.3 vs. 204 - I love the fact that we have the longest sleekest car on the road

Power/Weight (higher numbers are better): .079 (CT) vs. .075 (A8L)

Conclusion: in everything other than length (which isn't even performance related), the CT has the upper hand. So what gives? Would i haved beat him if i took out my golf bag and spare tire? Cayenne has no spare. good thing b/c I can't imagine someone wrestling with 20" SUV tires.

He was surprised. And so too was I as I had been driving his car that night and found it to be a very fast car (SUV). I was expecting to get my a$$ spanked. Torque can be deceiving, however.

Anyway, I am in no means downgrading the Cayenne Turbo. To each his own. I prefer the A8L. He still prefers the Cayenne Turbo. But we, A8L owners, do have some pretty quick cars - we're so used to driving so smoothly and comfortably that we don't consider our cars to be about brute power. however, do one WOT run and you'll be surprised how damn quick our cars are. You just obtain speeds that much more comfortably.

15K miles on the clock now and still going strong... obviously :D

and what's this talk of a lambo v10 s8?!?!?!

All the Magazines have repeatedly tested it at 5.0 0 - 60 and low low 13's in the Quarter mile...compared to high 6 - low 7 sec for the A8 L. It would take some serious mods to make the A8 as fast. My ex drove a CT and it was just as quick as my M5.

Ludicrous is also in the form of a fairly well modified '89 Porsche 944 Turbo weighing in at 3000 lbs. and getting about 300hp to the wheels. No i will not pass emissions as there is no cat. But it will spit fire out the exhaust. hehehe


What the A8L can't do, this car does. Take him out for about 30 minutes/week. Then I bring him home, my head dizzy and hands shaking. With all that power to the rear wheels, there's no such thing as a 3 point U-turn. You don't know ludicrous until the boost kicks in on this thing.

And they are cheap! expensive to maintain but cheap to buy! so if you blow it up, you just start over from scratch.

0-60 may be a different story. however, 60-120 or so? who knows. that big front end could hurt the overall coefficient of drag on the car. i'm not a fluid dynamics engineer to know how much affects acceleration. also remember that not all cars will be geared towards 0-60. Our cars are cruisers. we belong more on long stretches of road vs. stoplight to stoplight.

being that your car is in the shop all the time. ouch!

perhaps your dealer should loan you a segway. or at least give you one with all that downtime.

how are things with your car?

when i first picked up my S4 in '99, the first person i came across was a 951 (944 Turbo). thing walked away from me. so much for brand new car feel. knew i had to get one (always wanted one since high school).

best interior and techno gadgetry factor.

If they had a misano red rs6 in the area, i may be hanging out in the rs6 boards. But fate has its way and i've never looked back.

The A8L is truly the best car i've owned.

Mrs. Ricco has yet to run me down when I leave to play golf.

tomorrow for the suspension ECM which, they claim, will settle down the suspension. Question. When you turn off your car and the wipers were on when you shut it down, do they start automatically when you "re-ignite"? Mine do not. This is the first car that Ive ever driven that does this. The wipers also have a tendancy to stop mid-swipe and sink to the bottom!

The car was a great performer on the track and easily the most balanced car I've ever owned, my current '99 M3 track car included.

But it was beginning to have age related niggles and in a hasty move, I gave up on it and still regret it.

but given the technology behind these cars, I kind of like the fact that it actually parks itself back into 'chill' mode again. how many times have you turned your other cars off with the wipers intruding themselves right on your windshield?

good luck tomorrow!

mine just sits outside collecting dust. i've considered selling it but i felt as though i would regret it. i don't know how many times people have asked why i don't sell it. i just can't - esp. after driving it.

i want to sell but can't. also have a '94 968 cabriolet. considered getting rid of it b/c it's too slow! but i can't keep my eyes off it! it's one damn sweet lookin' car. if only Porsche made a 968 cabriolet that was as fast as the 944 Turbo. well, they sort of did with the 968 Turbo S but we never got any here stateside! sheesh. just like our infamous satellite radios ;)

off the line and amazingly quick once rolling, especially once up to highway speed. The interval from 80-120 at WOT is a revelation of competent alacrity. Those elevated speeds just don't perturb the car in any dimension. I'm in love again. I'm only mildly surprised ( but admittedly pleased) at the outcome of your friendly competetion.

And with a 97 D2 weighing in at 3902 lbs and 300 HP/295 lb-ft of torque, it has a better power to weight ratio at 0.77.....I hope the SWB D3 is significantly less in weight than the A8L.

The 968 Turbo S was a car that should've been available stateside, or at least the 968 Club Sport.

If the CS was available, I'd be on the lookout for one for track work. As it is, I've begun itching for a 911 (964) RS America.

The D3 has surprised me. It's faster than the road tests and others give it credit for. But In general I don't consider them fast. I ve never driven an RS6, but as the owner of a 996 Twin Turbo with over 500hp, I don't consider many things fast.
Reality is always an eyeball flattening run to 120 or so in the TT. After that, most anything is pretty tame.


Robin

Next to the '04 GT3, that may be one of the best cars Porsche ever made.

Robin

I can offer a little comparative perspective, we own an RS6 and an A8L. They are two completely different cars. The A8 is more sedate, but has the get-up-and-go when you want it. I find myself doing 100 down the freeway and don't even realize how fast I'm going.

The RS6 is a BEAST - there's no other word for it - you stomp on it and everyone in the car has to peel their heads off the headrests. Good thing my husband is the primary driver of it, I'd probably have lost my license by now. It is fun to pick on those unsuspecting boys in their hondas with the big wing on the back =)