What design features do you wish the A/S8 had?

[HPsauce]

Originally Posted by tonupkid

A "Windscreen washer low" warning. OK we all have on of those, but I'd like it to wake up and remind me when I'm parking up, rather than when setting off and got to be somewhere.

Funny you said that, my Volvo reminded me yesterday and I like the way it does it.
When starting the car a reminder flashes up for just a few seconds on the dashboard - nice legible polite message with words, not an unintelligible symbol.
Then when you turn the ignition off it reminds you again.

It was dark and raining hard when I arrived home and got that second reminder yesterday, but when I got inside the house the first thing I did was fetch my big container of premixed screenwash and put it by the front door.

[27litres]

Originally Posted by MikkiJayne

The factory harness does indeed have a function for this. The 13-pin Euro socket has a switch in it which disables the car's own rear fog light (in favour of the one on the trailer) and turns off the PDC when a plug is inserted. Its a single wire in to the PDC module in the boot, I forget which pin. If you have a 7-pin socket I'm not sure how you would do it automatically.

Well, as I have no intention of wiring an electronic trailer brake module into this car, I could potentially use the blue wire to ground through the trailer harness... Depends on whether the PDC needs a ground or live on whichever pin it is. Or I could just put a toggle switch near the plug. Or I could use the reverse wire (don't use that either)...

[RICKY D]

I’ve had more time to think and I’ve got a couple more.

1) I wish the D2 came with a 6 speed auto box ( forgetting manual transmission for now) the gearing is so long on the 5 speed I feel it hampers the cars performance. Closer ratios would be lovely. Is it possible to fit one from a D3?

2) I wish Audi would make an RS8 like they do for the A4/5/6 etc

[MikkiJayne]

Originally Posted by RICKY D

I’ve had more time to think and I’ve got a couple more.

1) I wish the D2 came with a 6 speed auto box ( forgetting manual transmission for now) the gearing is so long on the 5 speed I feel it hampers the cars performance. Closer ratios would be lovely. Is it possible to fit one from a D3?

Do you mean the in-between gears? I find 5th too low and revvy on the motorway and wish it had a 6th for cruising. The S8 is lower geared than the A8s in order to make it quicker, but closer ratios with a slightly higher 6th would be nice. Interestingly, the 6-speed manual does actually have closer ratios - 6th on that is the same as 5th on the auto, but Goran put a TDI 6th in his for better cruising.

In the TDI 6-speed I'm using for the manual swap 1-5 are about the same as the auto 1-5, plus 6th for cruising. That should be an interesting setup. I also have a B5 S4 6-speed for the biturbo project which is a fair bit lower than even the original S8 'box.

The D3 6-speed won't work as it has a completely different architecture to the D2 5-speed, with the front diff in between the engine and torque converter. The 6HP19 is similar to the 5HP24, but probably wouldn't take the torque even if you could figure out the electronics.

[RICKY D]

Originally Posted by MikkiJayne

Do you mean the in-between gears? I find 5th too low and revvy on the motorway and wish it had a 6th for cruising. The S8 is lower geared than the A8s in order to make it quicker, but closer ratios with a slightly higher 6th would be nice

I want both. Closer ratio for better acceleration/drivability around town, and a longer 6th gear for cruising.

It’s like the D2 has the worst of both. It reminds me of my old Golf VR6 which had rediculously long gearing which they addressed when the MK4 4 motion and R32 came along along. Never driven a D3 but I’m assuming the ratios are closer to what I’m wanting.

[tonupkid]

Originally Posted by RICKY D

I want both. Closer ratio for better acceleration/drivability around town, and a longer 6th gear for cruising.

It’s like the D2 has the worst of both. It reminds me of my old Golf VR6 which had rediculously long gearing which they addressed when the MK4 4 motion and R32 came along along. Never driven a D3 but I’m assuming the ratios are closer to what I’m wanting.

They make what your asking for. Its called D3 S8

[RICKY D]

Originally Posted by tonupkid

they make what your asking for. Its called d3 s8 :rofl:

lmao :rofl:

[Norretal]

Originally Posted by tonupkid

They make what your asking for. Its called D3 S8

I like the S8 gearing but I'd like a "longer" 6th gear for motorways, it always feels like it's constantly "ready to go" when in top gear. First five gears ala Sport mode and a 6th that drops the revs down to less than 2000rpm at the legal limit would be my ideal scenario

[RICKY D]

Interesting - so what rpm is the D3 S8 at @ 70mph? From memory the D2 is about 2700 to 2800 I think!

[Norretal]

Originally Posted by RICKY D

Interesting - so what rpm is the D3 S8 at @ 70mph? From memory the D2 is about 2700 to 2800 I think!

Around the same from memory, too high for my liking. The D2 I had felt like more of a cruiser than the D3, despite having one gear less.