In Love Again...

[briang9]

I had kinda fallen out of love with my S8 last year, seemed to have a number of issues that made driving it less enjoyable than normal. It probably came to a head during the journey down to Wales for last years annual meet, I had problems with wheel wobble which no amount of balancing seemed to fix, I had problems with severe wobble under braking and I also had a strange noise and separate vibration from those mentioned above at times.

Now some eight months on I seem to have solved all the issues and I have been out driving it the last couple of weekends in an uncharacteristically sunny Scotland. Those of you who attended the Annual Meet in Scotland will appreciate how wonderful the roads and scenery can be. It has reminded me yet again what a wonderful car it is. I know that it is now almost 14 years old and newer models have more “tech” but I really do feel this is one of the finest cars ever made. They are not cheap to run but they are bloody good fun to drive when spot on.... which mine seems to be again

[tintin]

Glad to hear it Brian - patience is a virtue, which you've clearly got. And a good time of year to fall in love again

[HPsauce]

Great to hear. What was the solution to the wobble problem?

I was reminded how good they are after an awful day on Friday, with over 6 hours driving the S8 (plus an hour test driving a Volvo) , much of it in traffic jams and diabolical weather.
I got home surprisingly not stressed or aching thinking that of all the places to be in on a ****ty Friday with traffic hell there were few better.

[The_Laird]

I was out on the sunny weekend in my S8 too. We stayed over in Ballachulish and did the 2014 Annual Meet drive again!

There was a lot more snow on the hills, and a lot more sunshine this time around.

[moltuae]

They are bloody fantastic cars to drive when everything is working perfectly but it's surprising how something like a little vibration or rattle can spoil the enjoyment.

My S8 gets booked into the garage every 2-3 months (I'm due to book it in again very soon in fact) in an attempt to keep on top of any faults and to prevent any new ones occurring, partly because I want to keep the car in good condition, but mainly because even minor faults spoil the driving experience for me. I make a list of repairs and preventative work that needs doing. Once the list is long enough, or a fault becomes more serious or annoying, it gets booked in.

The thing is, I hate leaving my car at the garage but it really makes me appreciate it again when I collect it, especially after a couple of days driving around in some awful courtesy car. Driving something else, no matter how new it is, really makes you appreciate how good these cars are.

[briang9]

Originally Posted by HPsauce

Great to hear. What was the solution to the wobble problem?

I was reminded how good they are after an awful day on Friday, with over 6 hours driving the S8 (plus an hour test driving a Volvo) , much of it in traffic jams and diabolical weather.
I got home surprisingly not stressed or aching thinking that of all the places to be in on a ****ty Friday with traffic hell there were few better.

The wheels were "out of true" Andrew, had them straightened and the tyres balanced, never heard of that before, but the chap who did the wheels also has a tyre balancer which shaves the tyres. Also had new discs and pads all round a new rear caliper

[Architex_mA8tey]

Glad you got it sorted Brian, its really horrible when you have always enjoyed driving your car then something like that spoils it and you cant get straight to the bottom of it. I think the worsening condition of all of our roads has a lot to do with all these new issues

[Singh]

The D2 A8/S8 is still, by far, the finest Audi ever made in my opinion. I'm jealous of anyone that gets to run one as a daily.

[M-A8]

Glad to hear it Brian
Had same problem last year, but when the love was back it was back for good

[Norretal]

Great to hear Brian, that's a lovely 8 you have, driving it should be a pleasure