Audi revealed the flagship A8 sedan at the first Audi Summit last week. The A8 and A8 L will be joined by the more powerful S8 and S8 Plus guise next year. According to recent reports, the potent derivative of the A8 will have a Porsche sourced powertrain.
The twin-turbocharged 4.0-litre V8 engine developed by Porsche for the Panamera Turbo is up for the grabs by all the vehicles under the Volkswagen umbrella. And being based on the same modular platform as the new Panamera, the potent S8 will have the same power plant albeit with a slight detuning. This will brings down the total output of the Panamera’s 542bhp powertrain. But will be enough to catapult the luxury sports saloon to 100kmph from standstill in around four-second mark. The S8 Plus, on the other hand, will wear the e-Tron moniker as a part of Audi’s electrification push. For the S8 Plus, Audi will employ the plug-in hybrid powertrain from the impending Panamera Turbo S E-Hybrid. The Panamera E-Hybrid, with the motor attached to the V8, is expected have a combined output of a whopping 850Nm. When the same powertrain is plonked into the S8 Plus, the flagship performance sedan is expected to do a sub four-second sprint to 100kmph.
The S8 pair will likely be revealed sometime next year once the A8 goes on sale. The S8 will take on the likes of Mercedes-AMG S63 and Bentley Continental GT V8.
