s8 v10 or s6 v10
 

Hi I'm new here. But I've been reading all the great information and exciting stories of proud audi owners on here for a while. I owned a 98 Audi a that I eventually got rid of due to too many repair issues. I loved that car. Since then I have owned a beater 98 infiniti I 30 as I don't do much driving and work a lot. I have been looking to get back into an audi. I love the big v10 models. I just can't make up my mind if I should go with an S8 or s6. What do you think? Specially those that had owned or test driven both and know them well. I did test drive an 07 s8 last week and I loved it. Any info is greatly appreciated. Thanks

S8 is larger, more luxurious, has aluminum body, air suspension, a few horses more and more electronics. So maintenance of S8 is more expensive, any body repairs quite complicated and expensive. S6 is a bit sportier and in my opinion looks better.

[QUOTE S6 is a bit sportier and in my opinion looks better.[/QUOTE]

Oh way!!! Mishar lost his mind? Adulterer! ;-)

S8 for me or RS6
 

I love the S8 but if your tempted to the other chassis have you considered the RS6, its an absolute weapon and so easily remapped to scarey power levels.

There's a tuner in the UK that has them easily up to 800bhp and over 1000nm of torque.

I would go for the saloon over the wagon but each to there own.

Only RS6 that made it to North America was C5 2003 sedan...I wish...

RS7 has made it to the U.S. though. Kind of halfway between the RS6 sedan and Avant. Bit out of my price range at moment though :)

I think the 7 is ugly, but that may just be me :)

Stash away some money for repairs, then go for the S8. It is a true "Halo" car, and can compete with the very best sport and luxury sedans sold new today. I happen to like the look better than the S6 V10, as well as the new A8's.

And when you look at the specs, current S8 is pretty similar...
 

especially if you ever see the estimated actual output specs some of the enthusiast mags comment on when they deduce it from the recorded acceleration times. Invariably they say the S8 true specs are meaningfully above those on the official sheet, which puts it back with to the printed RS7 specs. Different tranny set ups between the two as well IIRC (still ZF 8 speed in D4).

Back to C6 S6 vs. D3 S8, it really is probably a personal choice thing. Having owned a C5 though, honestly I thought the C6 showed various signs of cheapening over the C5, as the D4 did in some ways over D3--like the door pockets that went away in favor of your typical appliance box tarted up open molded space. Never was a fan of the C6 Chevy S10 dashboard look either circa 1980--even more with the aluminum trim--and of course they deep "sixed" that with the C7 more toward the D series look. The D3 SWB isn't that much more roomy legroom wise in back than a C body (a bit), but you do notice the hip and shoulder type increase. C body does have the fold down seat flexibility and both have good trunk space. Perhaps translated to the motor, folks say the V10 stuffed in the narrower C body is really painful to deal with since that was the biggest possible motor they stuffed in that design, while on the D3 you have several inches more room with the wider body to start with, plus that it was designed for both the super wide W12 as well as the long stuff like both that V10 and some of the diesels already in mind.

I'm still a believer of "odd number numerology" with bigger Audis. Having owned all of the 1,3, 4 and 5, folks say the odd numbered ones were the big breakthroughs. Sometime with longer term reliability questions, but they took some chances pushing envelope. Now seeing the C7, that to me fits the 1, 3, 5, 7 pattern. Nice ride, and with pending C7 mid cycle refresh the S6 spec got upped, though now its really just a push to a 2015 A8 4.0T, not the S8 like it was in the D3/C6 comparo. Having owned a C4 by contrast, competent but quite forgettable. I am still hanging on hoping for similar every other generation vanguards with the D5 from D3, but we shall see. Seems casually like used D4 prices are coming down a fair amount and pretty fast now as the usual newer big Audi depreciation hammer falls hard. Anyway, personal choice, but I think D3 is pretty timeless and top drawer in its time. Not sure C6 will get its epitaph written as such. I think C7 has a good shot at it. D's probably take a harder, faster depreciation bath too, so if you want something of D3 S8 vintage it is down far enough that a lot of prior owners have taken the shellacking for you. Said another way, like most German road iron (Al), the big ones usually take the hardest hits, more so since the typical "kid" downstream buyer of a well used Audi or BMW or what ever is more prone to want an A4, 3 series, etc. If you can pay the luxury maintenance freight, you get a whole lot of car for the depreciated price. Audi S's do somewhat better depreciation wise with their lower production and always present fan base, though I'm not so sure that is still true since they were once closer to RS in terms of very limited production than they have been in last 15 years.

While I'm a huge fan of the recaros in that car, both the interior and exterior does nothing for me. Even with full leather, the dash is cheap as best.