2013 A8 & A8L 4.0T V8 Order Guide

[derfA8L]

Originally Posted by Christopher Marino That 2.7T A6 remains the best car I've ever owned ... I miss her dearly. I'm not that big of a turbo fan, what with all the needed plumbing and extra sensors, etc...But yeah, my 2001 A6 2.7T and 2004 allroad (also 2.7T) were both loads of fun when pouncing on the gas pedal---I really hate turbo lag, but when those twin turbos spooled up and took charge, you really felt the head-snap and kick-in-your-pants feeling :^)) With the A8's NA V8, you don't get the same excitement on take-off; you just get to some ridiculous speed very quickly without knowing how you got there ;^)

[Audis or VWs 4Life]

I really thought for a while the NA V8 was going bye bye with the intro of the SC V6 and it would be SCV6, W12 and TTV8 in the S8.

This makes a lot more sense now in terms of market segments, SCV6 base, Twin Turbo 8 with 420HP, W12 and finally the S8 with the TTV8 and 520hp.

I guess the S8's two door brother from another mother is the Bentley CGT with the V8.

The big question is whats the differece from an engine perspective between the 420hp and the 520hp? Is it strictly boost from the turbos or do the 520hp variants get a bigger turbos? Like B5 S4 K03 vs B5 RS4 K04?

I can understand why Audi wanted to keep a lid on this, they are going to have fun trying to sell D4.1 with the NA V8 with the SCV6 nipping at its heels, and the Twin Turbo V8 with 420hp around the corner which I am sure they won't push the price up on the base by more then 5-6k. (buys headroom for the SCV6 and give some separation in terms of price) Also the jump to 133k for a W12 doesn't look as crazy.

After spending a month in the B8S4 I have to admit the NA V8 is obsolete in the Audi lineup. Even in 6th gear passing stuff on the highway is a joke, I pretty much downshift when I get off the highway and thats it. I have actually merged on to the highway already in 6th and didn't really need to dump to a lower gear and was passing people by the time I was at the end of the off ramp. This is on the PA Tpke NE extension which for those of you in SE PA know that road is fast. 80mph is the norm. While there is a 500lbs weight different between the two cars, its nothing that can't be made up with the D4's buttery 8spd.

Whoever wants to bag a left over D4 A8 with the NA V8 now is the time to score a nice deal.

[derfA8L]

Originally Posted by Audis or VWs 4Life

I really thought for a while the NA V8 was going bye bye with the intro of the SC V6 and it would be SCV6, W12 and TTV8 in the S8.

This makes a lot more sense now in terms of market segments, SCV6 base, Twin Turbo 8 with 420HP, W12 and finally the S8 with the TTV8 and 520hp.

I guess the S8's two door brother from another mother is the Bentley CGT with the V8.

The big question is whats the differece from an engine perspective between the 420hp and the 520hp? Is it strictly boost from the turbos or do the 520hp variants get a bigger turbos? Like B5 S4 K03 vs B5 RS4 K04?

I can understand why Audi wanted to keep a lid on this, they are going to have fun trying to sell D4.1 with the NA V8 with the SCV6 nipping at its heels, and the Twin Turbo V8 with 420hp around the corner which I am sure they won't push the price up on the base by more then 5-6k. (buys headroom for the SCV6 and give some separation in terms of price) Also the jump to 133k for a W12 doesn't look as crazy.

After spending a month in the B8S4 I have to admit the NA V8 is obsolete in the Audi lineup. Even in 6th gear passing stuff on the highway is a joke, I pretty much downshift when I get off the highway and thats it. I have actually merged on to the highway already in 6th and didn't really need to dump to a lower gear and was passing people by the time I was at the end of the off ramp. This is on the PA Tpke NE extension which for those of you in SE PA know that road is fast. 80mph is the norm. While there is a 500lbs weight different between the two cars, its nothing that can't be made up with the D4's buttery 8spd.

Whoever wants to bag a left over D4 A8 with the NA V8 now is the time to score a nice deal.

IMO a dead-on analysis of the pricing/segmentation strategy. I was told AoA is putting trunk money into the A8 right now, so I guess the pressure's on to make way for the 2013 models. The 4.0T for the A8 is being kept quiet at present. The 2013MY Order Guide for all models was issued last week, and the only pages not included were for the A8 4.0T (which dealers received earlier under separate cover).

[Victoryroad]

I appreciate concerns about boosted engines. However, reviews of the D4 S8 do not mention turbo lag. Our 3.0T (supercharged) engine in our A7 has no obvious impact on the torque curve to me and I can only assume that the 4.0 TT in the D4 A8 will be similarly engineered to will deliver a relatively smooth power curve. Such was certainly not the case with earlier turbo charging or supercharging. My '03 CL55, for example had a very annoying and obvious boost at 1750 rpm, but newer electronics will likely reduce the perceptible boost. For that matter, even newer NA high performance engines have relative flat torque curves. Some might recall that Carreras of 15 years ago or more developed peak torque at relatively high rpm, but the new ones do not.