An A8 makes Shed Of The Week on Pistonheads!
 

http://www.pistonheads.com/news/defa...?storyId=26940

It's only a 2.8 but most comments are generally positive, apart from the clowns who last knew someone that owned one a decade ago and somehow think its reliability then reflects what they're like now.....

Once again with the "only a 2.8!" typical v8 driver response :P think they also have the spec wrong, the 30v 2.8 is 190 odd hp and similar torque, the old pre 30v v6 was the 170hp 10.1 sec to 60, the later one is a different and considerably perkier animal.

Typical V8 driver response! In fairness, a friend of mine with an S reg BMW E38 728i gets about 25mpg from his straight six on similar roads as I drive whereas I average about 23mpg in my 4.2 V8. In for a penny, in for a pound...might as well live a little with the V8! I can confirm a 4.2 A8 will blow a 728i into the weeds. Hardly likely to make the news, but still! ;)

I was in a 535 V8 and my friend in my A8 4.2 at a few years back, and the 4.2 A8 pulled from the 535 V8 like it was a Fiesta, even the 740's of the D2 year are 20 BHP short iirc.

they are, but more importantly, they are also significantly heavier, about 300kg, this is the reason I went with an 8 rather than a 7 in the first place

A lot of the BMW fans pull the line that the x40i engine (in the 540i and 740i, possibly appearing in the same state in the E31 840i?) under-performs on paper. That it feels a lot stronger than it's figures would suggest. I don't think it does, I think it feels about right. And comparing that to a facelift 4.2 A8 shows how good the A8 is! A decent turn of pace for a 13 year old luxury car!

Ooow i never thought i'd see the day that happened mate BMW getting the shi77y end of the Audi stick. I got taken apart by a 535 Derv :o a couple of years ago. I'm saying it had been mapped, but i was nuts out and hit the limiter in 1st 2nd and 3rd and that Bimmer jut pulled on me. I know my 8 is an old girl now but it would have hit Ollie up the trumpet had i not backed of one day so she can hold her own (4 speed vrs 5 speed)

After the last month or so nursing my girl it's becoming a reality that it'll need replacing with something soon, and i was toying with a 7

A 535d will show most things a clean pair of heels - they're properly quick, aided by a good auto box

The old 4.0 BMW petrol engine needs revving to perform (I used to drive a 740 for work occasionally) and never feels super quick, more adequate to me

Whilst the BMW x35d engines can produce very quick cars when they are given the obligatory remap, they are as dull as sin. Choking, grumbling exhaust note like a Massey Feguson with a misfire and uninspiring to drive. Give me a large petrol any day, preferably naturally aspirated for maximum throttle response and effortless punch!

E34 540 manual was a tiny bit faster then S8, I blame it on gearbox. I could exit roundabouts faster as BMW could not get get power to the ground through 2 wheels and make a bit of gap but beemer was closing in later.

Not really a fair fight though, given that the E34 540i was fairly lightweight, because it was made before all those dire EU regs came into force and turned new cars into bloated, overweight bubble shapes. It's also a class size down from the S8!

A fair comparison would be an automatic S8 vs E38 740i contest, or a manual S8 vs E34 540i comparison. Like for like in terms of transmission I doubt there would be much (if anything) in it. And at higher speeds, the S8 would win out, I expect.

One thing not much mentioned on the D2 A8/S8 is the aero (or lack of obvious aero). But it seems to 'slip' through the air very well. Little noise which I am guessing means little resistance. That low stance, gently raked windscreen and general smoothness in design was probably another under-appreciated engineering masterstroke in the D2 A8 design.

Oh yeah, a x35D will pull on a D2 S8, I know, as I drove up to A8 Parts in a standard 335D M Sport, and drove back in my S8 and raced the 335D on the way home. From about 30-130kph and it was a few car lengths ahead.

I took delivery of a brand new, rather throaty sounding and surprisingly rapid 2.8 A8 in '99, I thought it was a superb baby 8. Too good to be true in fact. Further investigation in the engine bay showed that it had grown into a V8 4.2 :D It seems that our fleet manager was having a little chuckle at our cost, he 're-badged' three other 4.2's as 2.8's just to wind us up. We had our revenge. One of us (I can't remember which one:rolleyes:) got a large fork lift truck and put his BMW M5 on an office roof. For some strange reason he never played any more pranks on us, I can't think why;)

As for the 2.8 A8 I've driven quite a few, ok they're not as rapid off the mark as their V8 rellies, but so what? Still a very refined motor, and stand up very well compared to other similar cars from other makers.

Paul

haha excellent! +++

love this one from Andrew in the states . . . . . :D

http://forum.a8parts.co.uk/attachmen...1&d=1358189663

^^^:ROFL:^^^

That one takes some beating:D