2008 Audi S6 - Review

The Basics:

The 2008 Audi S6 is a Frankenstein car, in the best sense of the word. Its capable chassis mates a V-10 engine bred for Lamborghinis with the hallmark of Audi cars past and present, quattro all-wheel drive.

The Audi S6 spits out 435 horsepower through a six-speed automatic transmission and pushes it to all four wheels through the quattro system. There's no manual transmission available, but the hard-edged engine and the sport-tuned suspension will give drivers plenty to play with, regardless. There's even a "sport" mode in the automatic that holds gears at redline, for the true racer, so you can hear that glorious, throaty, muffled roar.

Transmission, steering, chassis, and brakes are appropriately upgraded for such prodigious power. The steering is perfectly weighted and responsive, the brakes powerful and sure, the ride motions beautifully damped as the big tires grip, the suspension takes a set, and your thumbs call up exactly the right gear to power through each corner, whether slow, fast, or ruggedly rough.

The 2008 Audi S6 bears the lines of the lesser A6 sedans, down to the wide-mouth grille, which we think takes away from its dramatic silhouette--but the lower ride height and details give it a more menacing look. The interior's typically Audi, with fine function, but it's not as appealing as the dash in older Audis--and in the S6, it wears a shiny carbon-fiber trim that's not very rich-looking. Audi's Multi-Media Interface (MMI) system controls most major and lesser functions. We prefer individual switches and buttons, however many it takes, but find MMI less annoying and more user-friendly then BMW's infernal iDrive.

Elsewhere, the S6 wears fine leather and gray birch trim. A Bose Surround Sound audio system with a glove-box-mounted six-disc CD changer is standard, along with Bluetooth and Sirius Satellite Radio.