Here's a battle of German sport sedans, and they even share the same corporate parent. CarWow puts the Audi S8 up against a Porsche Panamera Turbo S.
The Audi S8 in this clip is a particularly attractive spec. The body is a dark green shade that evokes the olive-drab color of military vehicles. It looks like this sedan should be transporting generals.
Gallery: 2022 Audi S8
In the US, the S8's 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 has a rating of 563 horsepower (420 kilowatts) and 590 pound-feet (800 Newton-meters) of torque. The power routes through an eight-speed automatic with a torque converter and goes to an all-wheel-drive system. It also has all-wheel steering and an adaptive suspension. The big sedan is still fairly quick by reaching 62 miles per hour (100 kilometers per hour) in 3.8 seconds.
The Porsche Panamera Turbo S also wears an interesting color. It's a very dark shade of purple.
This sedan also packs a twin-turbo 4.0-liter V8, but it makes 620 hp (462 kW) and 604 lb-ft (820 Nm) of torque. The transmission is an eight-speed dual-clutch box with all-wheel drive. The Turbo S can hit 60 miles per hour (96 kilometers per hour) in 2.9 seconds. The recently updated model has tweaks to the steering tuning and adaptive dampers.
Gallery: 2021 Porsche Panamera Turbo Setting Record At Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta
With an extra 57 hp (43 kW) and 14 lb-ft (19 Nm), it's not too surprising that the Panamera Turbo S turns out to be the quicker vehicle in these races. Going from a roll points out something intriguing about the S8. The Audi's gearbox is slower to downshift when the driver gets on the throttle. This might be because the transmission tuning prioritizes occupant comfort over absolute acceleration.
There's not much information available about how Audi intends to evolve the A8 in the future. However, Porsche reportedly has a Panamera replacement in the works. The model is allegedly an electric sedan that would fit above the Taycan in terms of size. The underpinnings would be the Scalable Systems Platform that's also underneath the brand's upcoming seven-seat SUV. The launch date for the new Panamera is still a mystery.
