From A8 to S8. Opinions?

[Sir WIll]

No

[homer simpson]

Personally I think there is nothing wrong with an A8 having some nice upgrades and looking similar to an S8. However I would rather de-badge it rather than up-badge it

[kele]

And then there is insurance to consider. Declaring all modifications with many insurers not wanting to quote for modified cars.... Don't declare the modifications and then risk non payment in the event of a claim.

[Goran]

I think we came down too hard on a new member.
Really you should make your car look however you want, it doesn't matter if its different from stock as long as you are happy.
In case I was hypocritical, I am actually working hard to make my own car look and feel how I want and I don't care if it is not going to look stock.

[The_Laird]

I think I made a similar point. I debadged my 2.8 A8, but was very happy to keep the 20" wheels, the 'chrome' door mirrors and so on.

As to the mods and insurance, if the mods were just cosmetic (i.e. not engine, box and diff), would an insurance company ever know? If they noticed (which I very much doubt), how would they know that they weren't factory-fitted options?

I've not declared any of my mods (see list in signature) and I'm sure that an insurance company would never know!

[Norretal]

Originally Posted by The_Laird

I've not declared any of my mods (see list in signature) and I'm sure that an insurance company would never know!

And don't forget your age Jim, that would throw them off the scent also

[V8man]

Cheers for all your opinions and suggestions. I like Goran's down badging. From S8 to A8! Classic. I will just tidy up this, my first A8. New quieter exhaust going on tomorrow. Still some noise under load but more friendly to neighbours when I start it in the early hours. Also going to get rear windows tinted. And maybe front bumper painted. And aircon regassed and cleaned. Plus 4 new tyres. Looking to spent 80/100 per corner. Kumho, Hancook, or Maxxis?

[Conquistador]

I suppose I'm qualified to add my bit to this post. I had this 'S8' for 3 years. Underneath it's a 3.7 V8.





I probably wouldn't have another 'replica' car though, whether it be an Audi/S, Mercedes/AMG or something else. It would have to be the full fat version and nothing less. I admire all the hard work and £thousands that went into accurately upgrading mine to look like an S8 but at the end of the day I never liked coming clean to admirers and showing them under the bonnet and explaining why it 'only' had a 3.7 V8 rather than a 5.2 V10.

As for declaring insurance modifications, I've worked in car insurance and marine insurance before and trust me, an insurer will leave no stone unturned to try and get out of paying a claim, they're not stupid. Luckily for me, a benefit of my job is that my personal car can be insured through the company and they will pay the premium. So I took them up on that offer and truthfully declared every mod the car had. Different rims, brakes, bumpers and lights, grille, mirrors, bootlid, exhaust, tints, even the fact it was lowered ever so slightly too

[sarg]

Originally Posted by Conquistador

As for declaring insurance modifications, I've worked in car insurance and marine insurance before and trust me, an insurer will leave no stone unturned to try and get out of paying a claim, they're not stupid.

^ this ^

You absolutely 100% must declare them.

A lot of insurers will allows a certain number of modest mods without any premium increase, others will rinse you.

A certain insurer (think Winston... ) wanted to charge me extra for my 4.2 QS because I had FACTORY-FITTED xenon plus lights and upgraded leather seats, apparently these were an added "theft risk"

Needless to say, I promptly changed insurers to one with some common sense.

My current insurer, LV+, don't charge me extra at all for factory fitted options, and will allows something like 5 aftermarket mods, replacement wheels for example.

But, back to the OP, no, don't do it, there is nothing worse than mutton dressed as lamb, and nothing wrong with an A8 being badged as an A8.

If you want an S8, buy an S8, it'll be much much cheaper than trying to convert an A8, and much much better too.

[Dezzy]

Deffo not for the purists then eh? Ha ha

Car modding is in the eye of the beholder i personally think a VW Bora sat on it ass with negative camber on the back wheels looks pants but to some it's awesome. Very often you'll never get back what you invest into your car but then if you like it who cares.

As for the legalised insurance criminals thats another story. If there are any doubts then an assessor should look at it in the first instance. To willingly take someone's money with the intention of not covering them in the long run is theft, plain and simple. A lot of people can’t even change a spare wheel let alone know if their car has been modded or if it left the factory like it. Let’s be honest even the build sticker in the car differs to the car it’s stuck to a lot of the time. So even the manufacturer doesn’t really know. It’s just insurance bulls*** to flip you over and push it in hard.
You could argue that unless genuine windscreen wiper rubbers are used or the tyre choice you choose is different to that the car was first delivered with then these are also modifications that vary from the manufacturer’s original equipment and therefore a modification, and the car more nickable as it has Audi wiper rubber as apposed to Chinese copies so either way it'll be an extra premium.
The windscreen that was fitted via the insurance company I use but through a national windscreen fitting company didn’t use a Audi genuine part as it was too expensive, they also didn't follow Audi's procedure for fitting sa they used old bits to save the cost to them. That is a modification to the original design intent for the car but that mod is fine. I’ve seen no proof that it is fit for purpose and if I asked for that sort of evidence to prove it is to the exact same design, material specifications and testing to compare that to Audi’s specs they’d say something like Audi won’t share that sort of information or the data the we use is confidential to the insurance company blaa, blaa, blaa.
Insurance crooks should be shot in the face.

And rant over. Wow haven't done that for a while.