Audi has bigger plans than anybody expected with the next generation of the S8. It using the same engine as the Porsche Panamera Turbo is logical, but an S8 e-tron rumor has come out of nowhere.
According to the British magazine Evo, the S8's 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 will be de-tuned from the 550 PS of the Panamera to "around 530bhp." That ballpark figure isn't as important as underlining this as a brand new engine, not the old one.
Audi is well known for collaborating on its performance products. For example, the S8 from about a decade ago had a twin-turbo version of the Gallardo's 5.2-liter V10. After that, they came out with the 4.0 TFSI that was co-developed with Bentley.
One quick and easy way to tell the new 4.0 TFSI apart is the bore and stroke: 84.5 x 89 on the D4 and 86 x 86 on the D5 and Panamera Turbo.
Wider cylinders with a shorter stroke usually mean a better response and worse fuel consumption, but the S8 D5 should have cylinder deactivation and coasting with the engine off, so no problems there.
But from here on out, things really get interesting. The new A8 and Panamera were designed from the outset with parts sharing in mind. And it seems even the flagship Turbo S E-Hybrid system will be donated to Audi Sport.
The resulting car will be the S8 e-tron, a direct replacement for the current 605 PS S8 Plus. We're told to expect around 630 combined electric+V8 horsepower and a 0 to 100 km/h sprint time well below 4 seconds.
We're told to expect both of them at the beginning of 2018. However, we can't forget that the S8 Plus came out a long time after the regular S8. So maybe our source has got that part wrong, particularly since no Nurburgring prototypes had a charging port.
Audi is well known for collaborating on its performance products. For example, the S8 from about a decade ago had a twin-turbo version of the Gallardo's 5.2-liter V10. After that, they came out with the 4.0 TFSI that was co-developed with Bentley.
One quick and easy way to tell the new 4.0 TFSI apart is the bore and stroke: 84.5 x 89 on the D4 and 86 x 86 on the D5 and Panamera Turbo.
Wider cylinders with a shorter stroke usually mean a better response and worse fuel consumption, but the S8 D5 should have cylinder deactivation and coasting with the engine off, so no problems there.
But from here on out, things really get interesting. The new A8 and Panamera were designed from the outset with parts sharing in mind. And it seems even the flagship Turbo S E-Hybrid system will be donated to Audi Sport.
The resulting car will be the S8 e-tron, a direct replacement for the current 605 PS S8 Plus. We're told to expect around 630 combined electric+V8 horsepower and a 0 to 100 km/h sprint time well below 4 seconds.
We're told to expect both of them at the beginning of 2018. However, we can't forget that the S8 Plus came out a long time after the regular S8. So maybe our source has got that part wrong, particularly since no Nurburgring prototypes had a charging port.