2023 Audi S8: Mortgage the house, empty the 401(k), but you must have this car

2023 Genesis G90 3.5T E-Supercharger AWD vs. 2023 Audi S8 Quattro: Going in style.

This week: Audi S8

Price: $135,595 as tested. (The Genesis definitely has the price advantage here, at $35k less.) The $1,000 Gas Guzzler tax — a fee assessed on cars that don’t meet fuel economy standards — would hardly be an impediment. More noted below.

Conventional wisdom: Car and Driver likes the “high-output V-8 powertrain, feature-rich interior,” and that it “handles like a smaller sports sedan,” but not that it “guzzles gas,” or that the “design could use more flourish,” and there’s a “high cost of entry.”

Marketer’s pitch: “High performance meets high-end luxury.”

Reality: The S8 does everything really well. For this price, it better.

What’s new: The S8 was last redesigned for the 2020 model year, making it the fourth generation of the large sedan. Why mess with success?

Competition: BMW 7 Series, Genesis G90, Lexus LS500.

Up to speed: Rowr! The Audi S8 really wants to move. No chauffeur mode in this baby; the driver gets to enjoy power and speed with their luxury.

The 4.0-liter V-8 engine with 563 horses gets the large sedan to 60 mph in 3.2 seconds, according to Car and Driver. That’s EV-level fast.

Shifty: The 8-speed TipTronic transmission features a chrome T-bar shifter. Tap up for Reverse, back for Drive, and slide to the right for shift mode. It’s comfortable for shifting on your own and feels and sounds delightful doing it.

On the road: One expects Audis to hug the curves and the S8 is probably the biggest hugger around. This huge sedan grips and grabs with a low center of gravity on par with high-priced EVs, where the heavy batteries resting near the chassis give them a greater hold on the road. That $6,000 predictive active suspension option must be working.

Steering feel is also Dynamic — Audi’s name for sport mode — and the S8 is easy to point through city streets, tight winding roads, and everything in between. In contrast, the G90 felt especially weavy on highways, but the S8 did well on I-95 south to Washington and then later north to New York. (What a great week to have so many trips planned.)

Even ponding on wet roads didn’t distract the 21-inch tires from their mission, probably thanks to the Quattro all-wheel-drive system.

Driver’s Seat: The stark differences between the S8 and the G90 come into clear focus even before firing them up from the moment you step inside. The interior of the S8 is not plush and luxurious but sleek and classy. Black and silver are the color themes here, and the clean dashboard lines don’t distract.

Sturgis Neighbors 1.0 pointed out the little HVAC covers that open when you fire up the engine, and we found that to be a neat touch.

The Valcona leather sport seats are not as firm as some Audi saddles (I’m glaring at you, Q5) and a day trip to Washington left Mr. Driver’s Seat feeling happy enough to annoy the neighbors by roaring past in second gear at 10 p.m. (“Honey, I’m home!”) A later trip to New York City also had the same result. Massage seats that heat and cool — the armrests also heat — made for a comfy environment.

Friends and stuff: Neighbors 1.0 immediately enthused over the S8′s spacious rear seat, something that I thought would seem wanting after the G90′s reclining and stretching out like first class. But the legroom coupled with the separate control panel were enough to keep everyone amused. A lack of massage for the rear seats did elicit some cranky noises, but the seats are heated, thanks to $4,700 Comfort Plus Package. So pipe down and don’t make me turn this S8 around.

Like the G90, the S8 also offers soft-close power doors.

The Neighbors 1.0 and I all grew up as the youngest in our families and groaned in unison at the size of the floor hump — bigger than I’d seen in a long while. This renders the center spot for child-seat users only.

Cargo space is 12.5 cubic feet, which is larger than the G90 (which actually had 10.5 cubic feet, not cubic inches, as I mistakenly wrote last week. It was small, but not that small.)

Play some tunes: The Bang & Olufsen 3D Premium Sound system provided some of the clearest playback I’ve heard in a while, definitely an A, leaning to A+. (No surprise chords jumped out at me this time. Maybe I’ve found them all now, thanks to the Honda Odyssey and Mazda CX-30.)

Control of the system is fairly simple, even though almost everything happens through the touchscreen. The screen requires a heavy push — more than just a tap — so you’re not going to make too many accidental moves. A volume-control knob is the only concession to analog.

Keeping warm and cool: The S8′s HVAC was among the most set-it-and-forget-it units I’ve experienced. In auto mode, it just did its job without any input from me. The controls are found on a diagram on the second screen and they’re pretty easy to follow.

Fuel economy: The S8 averaged a tick over 20 mpg, which seems pretty good for a large race car. And it matched the G90 and lots of vehicles I’ve tested that are not charged the Gas Guzzler Tax. Go figure.

Where it’s built: Neckarsulm, Germany

How it’s built: Consumer Reports predicts the Audi A8 to have a reliability of 3 out of 5. (The A8 is the cheaper and less souped-up stablemate to the S8. So S must be for Soup.)

In the end: Mortgage the house, empty the 401(k), but you must have this car.