RED HORSE

Just returned from my first long trip in the new S8, about 1,400 miles total. A few comments:
The car is very comfortable and quiet both on two lane rural roads and the Interstates.

I find the diameter of the steering wheel a little small to my liking. I would prefer a little bigger wheel.

I didn't find the lane assist to be much use, and drove with it off the majority of the time. It is very annoying on the interstate when it tries to take you down every exit ramp it comes to.

The adaptive cruise control on the other hand is absolutely great. I don't know how I ever managed long drives on the interstate without it. I found it to work very good. However, 5 or 6 times during the trip while driving down the interstate it shut down with a warning message that there was no sensor input. The weather was good, and there weren't any bugs to speak of and when I stopped I couldn't find any trash on any of the sensors on the grill. I don't know if I have a problem or if this is common?

The Google Earth is nice, but not sure it will be worth the extra cost once the complimentary subscription expires.

I love being able to set the cruise control to the desired speed even when it isn't engaged.

I averaged 24 mpg for the trip which is much better than the LX 570 I'm normally driving on long trips.

Acceleration while at speed on the interstate is truely amazing..

All in all I've very happy with the car at two months and 4,000+ miles into ownership.

derfA8L

I've had the ACC shutdown occur a few times on my previous 2011 D4...probably 4 or 5 times in total within the 3 and two-third years I had the car. Most of those were sporadic and not reoccurring with any close-in pattern. Interestingly, it did happen twice in consecutive weeks on the same roadway, at the same time of day, at about the same section of the road, at the same duration point of the trips---which was enough for me to have it looked at; originally thought to be a defective radar camera, but turned out to be an alignment issue (the system's cameras were apparently sensitive to an uphill incline on that particular spot of the highway I suppose). After that all was fine for a couple of years, and then had the system shut down once or twice for about ten minutes on different unrelated occasions. I guess the ACC radar cameras can get a bit hinky if the alignment is off just a tad; or perhaps the system just may be sensitive to some fluctuation in electrical voltage level. Who knows?

But if it happened that many times in relatively quick succession, I'd have it checked.

jro

A few thousand miles into my S8 and all has been good with the possible exception of squealing brakes. I noticed it about a month ago and chalked it up to some frozen brake dust, but it didn't stop (only happens at slow speeds just before coming to a full stop). Took it in. Dealer looked at brakes and said indeed there was some brake dust and a tiny bit of rust. Cleaned up to calipers and put some anti squeak lubricant on. Quiet as a mouse for a week and now back to that slightly annoying squeal.

It is just the price of such large powerful calipers in the middle of winter?

BigBoy11

Mine squealed for about the first 5000 miles and put off a ton of brake dust onto the front wheels especially. Stopped after the 5k service and never had a problem since.

jro

good to know. thanks.