AvusTT

I thought some of you might be interested in this car. It's unique and took quite a bit of effort.<ul><li><a href="http://www.eisenlohr.com">http://www.eisenlohr.com</a</li></ul>

SP767

How did you get all the parts? The interior, for instance...

AvusTT

Lots of trips to Germany and some help from good European friends. For instance, the sport seats were new when I received them. The detail of this car would be very difficult to duplicate.

SP767

Hi there!

Your car looks fantastic!

I would very seriously consider it for purchase,
but I just bought an excellent condition 1997 A8.

I am interested in refurbishing/upgrading my car
as you have done with your 1998 A8.

I want to put in new sport seats and a new steering wheel.

I have talked to a dealer and some bodyshop friends, and no one is optimistic about changing the steering wheel.

I am interested in getting the sport steering wheel that you have in your car... is that a 1998 steering wheel?

The people that I talked to seemed to think that I would have trouble crossing model years on the wheel.

I think that the 1997 S8 in Germany had a sport steering wheel available like the one you have now on your 1998. Do you think this is true?

I have a very good friend who is German and in the auto business over there. He can source one for me, but I was just wondering what kind of issues that you ran into regarding the steering wheel and the seats and any other refurbishment issues that you might have run across.

thanks for any help!!

steve

AvusTT

Yes, it's 1998 sport Wheel. I don't know if will work on a 97. You will need, the sport wheel, the integrated center piece and airbag, the canceling ring for the turn signal and a lower profile switch for wheel position adjustment hope that helps.

If your friend in Germany is a tuner, the one thing I haven't found is a replacement program for the American A8 transmission CU. The S8 transmission program is phenomenal and helps make the car. It's not a drop in replacement however, because the A8 redline is 6250 and the S8 is 7000. I think a lot of people in the US would be interested in this sort of modification.

KjellA

Steve,

The options on the *great* A8 shown by JCE are available for your '97 A8.

Take a look at my '97 (produced late 1996), pictures at:
http://home.c2i.net/kas

Everything is factory original, S8 interior, 18" wheels, and S8 suspension/undercarriage. All part of the european sports version of the A8, which at least was offered from model year 1996. What you won't get is the tiptronic buttons on the steering wheel, I'm even surprised that steering wheel was available in '98. I do think it came on the '99 model for the first time.

Besides, the other parts you would need to do a full '97 S8 conversion is available, since the S8 first came as a '97 model in europe. So there should be no reason to cross model years for you. Of course, if you should do it correctly it would mean changing to a six-speed manual, since that was the only choice for the '97 S8.

Regards,
Kjell A.
Oslo, Norway
'97 A8 4,2 qt sport

SP767

Now I need to source the parts.... I have a friend in Koln.. so I'm hoping we can figure this out.

steve

s4wood

I emailed you about other stuff.