Audi S8 Plus Is Exactly What It Sounds Like: An S8, Plus 85 Horsepower

-We aren’t sure why Audi thinks its 520-hp S8 supersedan is catching enough sand to the face to warrant an even more powerful Plus model, but it went ahead and created such a variant anyway. Indeed, despite being down 57 horsepower on the Mercedes-Benz S63 AMG and 15 horsepower shy of the V-12–powered BMW 760Li, the standard S8 has them all smoked to 60 mph, hitting that speed in 3.6 seconds in our testing. So it seems Audi isn’t satisfied with accelerative dominance over the competition—it wants to destroy their whole worlds.
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So in addition to squeezing another 85 horsepower from the S8’s twin-turbocharged, 4.0-liter V-8 to create the Plus, Audi is throwing mad shade at those piddling executive expresses from Benz and BMW. According to Dr. Ulrich Hackenberg, Audi’s head of R&D, the automaker has “further sharpened [its] large sport sedan,” adding that “the new Audi S8 plus has a substantial gain in power and defines the pinnacle of sporty performance in the segment. That is why ‘Plus’ appears in its name.”

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Silly us—we had no idea what the Plus was there for. For those unfamiliar with Audi’s latest performance-car naming scheme, Plus represents the top of the sub-RS Audi heap. Previously, only the R8 received the Plus treatment, but the introduction of this S8 version tells us that the paucity of Pluses is about to change.

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The S8 Plus comes with lots of go-fast hardware, and also offers the option to remove the standard 155-mph top-speed governor to unlock the sedan’s full 190-mph potential. In Germany, at least, the S8 Plus will come with carbon-ceramic brakes, a sport exhaust system, Audi’s fancy Matrix-LED headlights (handy for seeing far down the road during late-night high-speed blasts), and a slick set of 19-inch wheels. Non-speed-related goodies include Arras Red seat piping and contrast stitching, a faux-suede headliner, gloss-black exterior trim, matte-black grille mesh, and the availability of Plus-exclusive matte silver paint.

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• 2014 Mercedes-Benz S63 AMG 4MATIC Tested: Power Nap

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• 2017 Audi A4 Prototype Drive: The Early Returns Are Positive

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• Audi S8 Research: Full Pricing, Specs, Reviews, Photos, and More

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Audi claims that the enhanced S8 can hit 60 mph in as little as 3.8 seconds, which is likely conservative given that 3.6-second time we clocked for the regular model. Available in only the A8’s shorter-wheelbase body style, the S8 Plus should bring a new level of crazy to the full-size luxury sedan space. Will it be sold in America? We don’t know, but we’ve reached out to Audi USA and await its response; the company has offered us the R8 V-10 Plus for some time, so there is precedent. In Europe, the S8 Plus will cost €145,200, which equates to $158,200 at current exchange rates.

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