Audi S8 2000 News

The lineup looks like the regular A8. That's until you catch the bigger brakes and wheels, hunkered-down suspension and quad-tip exhaust that always point to Audi's S cars. The S8 is rumoured with a 4.0-litre, twin-turbo V8 engine later this year.

Their objective is to build a luxury car with real punch, and worthy of the S8 badge it will eventually wear.  Testing is in top gear for a public unveiling later this year, most likely at the Paris Motor Show, with sales early in 2011. As yet there is no confirmation of the car's engine, but it is most likely to be a 4-litre twin-turbo V8 with more than 375 kiloWatts and 600 Newton-metres of torque.  The Carparazzi crew caught this S8 prototype during tests and, although it looks like a blacked-out standard A8, there are plenty of ways to pick it from the luxury limousine. There is no S-type body tweaking but it has giant brakes, six-caliper pistons and a four-tip exhaust system exiting beneath the back bumper.  The car also rides lower on bigger wheels.  Look for more details in Carsguide as they arrive from Europe.

Providing a backdrop was Mike Seymour from Hunters and Collectors, who performed the band's hit single Holy Grail. The S8 features a massive V10 engine built with help from Audi's subsidiary company Lamborghini. The new powerplant delivers 331 kW of power at around 7,000 rpm. Due for local launch around November this year, the S8 will be priced from around $250,000. Audi also unveiled its new Q7 SUV, to be available from September and the $170,000 RS4, available from April.