[V8] V8 vs A8

[Ben Howell]

Heck, I’ll chime in here…..

I am one of the ones that jumped ship from a V8 (’91 5 Speed) to a D2 (’02 S8). After Owning the V8 for 7 years, I was ready for something else and with the possible exception of the entry price (at the time), I wouldn’t hesitate to do it all over again. We bought it 2.5 years ago and it has been absolutely fantastic! Aside from normal maintenance, I have put a $17 thermostat and $290 worth of front brake parts in it. That’s it!

Considering the A8 replaced the V8 (1996 in Europe), the technological jump from the D1 to the D2 for more like LIGHT YEARS and not just ONE year! The D2 is (obviously larger) but it feels 1000’s time lighter on its feet. It’s 1000 times quieter and the interior space is absolutely staggering. I am coming up on Timing belt time with ours and having done the Thermostat in the past, I KNOW the job is going to be 1000 times easier that the D1.  We also get better fuel mileage by 10-20% (and the A8’s do better than that). On top of all that, most of the parts prices that I have looked up are cheaper than the D1 (except the body panels). 

The 3 drawbacks to the D2: First, No manual transmission option in this country and converting is expensive. Second, you must budget for a tranny rebuild. It IS going to happen eventually. Third, our insurance premiums are quite a bit higher than just about anything else going down the road (higher than even a Porsche 993). 

Given some recent prices I have seen on some really nice D2 S8s, I would be turning your search in that direction (as long as you can stomach the slushbox). $10k is going to buy a high mileage unit, but if you can afford to throw another $2-4k into your budget, you should be able to find a very nice car with well under 100k miles. You will also be pleasantly surprised at how DIY friendly the car is and the D2 forum over at quattroworld is filled with VERY knowledgeable people who are always happy to help.

Ben (BLT4SPD in the D2 forum)


-----Original Message-----
>From: Dave C <dconner at gmail.com>
>Sent: Feb 18, 2010 11:39 AM
>To: v8 at audifans.com, s-car-list at audifans.com
>Subject: [V8] V8 vs A8
>
>Howdy Q-heads,
>
>My fleet of Audi's consists of two 1987 type 44's.  I bought one of them in
>1992, and have been driving and maintaining these things for a very long
>time, doing all my own maintenance and know them inside and out.  But they
>are getting on in years and I find myself considering replacement with
>something newer.  The question is "how much newer?"
>
>I'm nervous about not understanding how a car works and maybe being unable
>to repair it when things go wrong, etc.  I recently drove a 2007 A8 for the
>first time and was in awe of the complexity of the cockpit with so many
>electronic gizzies.  I've never driven a V8, or even sat in one for that
>matter, but I'm aware of the loyal following they have.
>
>It looks like I could buy a first generation A8 (D2) for somewhere in the
>neighborhood of $10K but it would be a ten year old car with 100K miles on
>it, so I would need to anticipate repairs from the start.  I don't want to
>spend a whole lot more than $10 K on a car, but could go higher if I felt it
>was worth it.
>
>I'd actually like to have an avant, but choices are limited.  A 2002-3 S6
>avant would be very nice :-)  Maybe I should consider an A6 avant.
>
>Considering that I like to keep my cars for a long time and do my own
>maintenance, would I be better off with the more familiar technology of the
>V8 or an URS4/6?  I think there would be a benefit to getting something ten
>years newer than that (A8) but it would still be a 10 year old car.  Another
>upside re: the A8 is that there are a >lot< more of them available to choose
>from.  Most of the V8's and URS4's are pretty beat by now... clean
>low-mileage examples are quite scarce.
>
>So ...  should look for a clean V8 or URS4?
>
>Or should I look at something much newer and try to adapt to 21st century
>automotive technology?
>
>Decisions, decisions.
>- -
>David Conner
>Columbus, OH
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