this d2 S8, the XJ and the E38 are effortlessly cool, sleek and mature in their design language. man the late 90s and early 00s are unmatched, without a doubt the best era for the automotive industry

I remember wanting one when the movie Ronin came out.

So now what's left is LS400, E38 and W140. Please test them all if you can! And thank you for recording sound of these beauties in so high quality. Much appreciated😎

Unreal - I grew up there and my Dad only bought 90's Audis. My brother and I use to drive around town in '94 A6's. This is pure nostalgia

I owned one of these; absolutely fantastic cars. They are known for having weak transmissions, I only had issues once I reached 200k miles. Great video, not alot of community around early 2000s audis.

In 2014 I had a 2001 A8L. I was in love with that car. Decent power. The interior at night is so unique and a LOT OF RED LED LIGHTS. I’ve owned a 2004 and 2006 A8L as well, I want a 2012 4.2 A8L But in the future I need an S8 maybe the V10, but this one is very special too. Thanks for your videos. 👍🏼

Gotta love the ac vents. There are so many. Main luxury feature of this vehicle!!

If you can you should also try the V10 S8 👌

Absolutely one of my favorite cars of all time. The design has aged soooo well

Not just peak Audi. It was peak Car, period. After this, drive-by-wire systems proliferated quickly (and this car may have had throttle-by-wire). Yes, the cars of today are faster, technically handle better, and are more efficient...and I don't give a flying you-know-what, because cars like this are immensely more enjoyable to drive, mainly because you are still generally *actually driving* them, as opposed to today, where you're basically just telling the computer what to do.

In two years this s8 will be eligible for vintage plates in many jurisdictions. Enjoy modernish tech and comfort and 'vintage' Cannonball touring. If YT is cogent, they will now recommend Csaba Csere (deposed editor of Car and Driver) 's video drive along one take review of the s8.

I love the S8. All of them really, but this one specifically is just amazing. That interior reminds me so much of the 2005 A6 I grew up with

I personally love the videos when you take cars from the 90s/2000s out for a POV drive! Very cool to see the difference in car quality and production and comparing it to today. More of these videos please! 🙏 🔥

Watching this as I sit in my garage next to my broken b5 s4. 🥲

That car seems so calm and autobahn ready. ❤

I've got one of these but it's the 1997 S8 with 340 BHP. It's just having all the suspension and brake components replaced right now including all bushes and linkages as well as shocks, springs, calipers and discs. I've seen it stated on a few forums and YT videos that the D3 A8s and S8s didn't have quite the same quality plastics inside as the D2s. Mine is 27 years old and there's not a single squeak or rattle or oink from any interior plastics at all, it's just a beautiful, smooth, silent drive until you floor it. It has a fully stainless Milltek catback exhaust that allows the engine to breathe better and unleashes a mighty roar when acceleration is called for. The model you're driving in this video is an absolute beauty and sounds amazing. If I didn't alrady have my own I would be suffering from extreme S8 envy right now. Thank you for a great video.

Love the reviews of the older cars!

Hopefully one day, you’ll be able to review a 02 CLK 55 AMG!! The early 2000’s produced some of the best sports cars!

One of my favorite Audi’s ever build amazing car and amazing video as always!

One thing that really impresses me with Tedward is his vocabulary, I mean Surreptitious? What a word.

finnally the legend

What a crazy Audi 😊😊

I had an '03 A8L. The thing was a nightmare. Thing had low miles on it when I had enough. Beautiful, very advanced car for its time. Great motor, just little issues that added up over time

God, i love beautifully kept old full size luxury sedans. it's got that old money flair while remaining invisible on the road, especially next to modern sedans with big s-line m pack amg body kit huge rims and such...

Man , you got a great job driving all those amazing cars. cheers to you 🍻

Thanks Ted, right up my alley.

3 years ago both a 05 audi s4 convertible with a six speed manual and i love it the hydrological steering is awesome.

Drop a #628 Servotronic relay in it from the 605 that is in there now. It will tighten the steering up just a bit. The relay lives behind the passenger kick panel.

welcome to Ronin world

What a sweet car ,but I'm loving that I can put my old cassette in this baby. Great review. It's nice to see an old school car getting some love. Count me as a new subscriber.

I'd LOVE to see that 205 featured on the channel.

Just last month I picked up 2000 A8. Pearl. 84k miles. All ppwk and keys & extra mats still in their plastic! D2 rules 🏁

This looks so good, oh my god

In 2003, the last year of the D2, Audi sold 300 in the U.S. - 3 colors at 100 cars each. I have one of the black with caramel interior. The other colors were Avus Silver/Burgundy and Ming Blue Pearl/Platinum.

the ultimate sleeper car

Amazing ride. I love everything about it this S8. I’m waiting for you to upload a S5 V8 next!!

9:05 I feel this in the new MB C-Class as well. My friends who had the chance of driving my car have sometimes complained they are a little "long" as far as pedal travel. But I like that, because like you said it's what gives you the chance to do nice, smooth stops without any unpleasant weight shifting every time. And at the same time, though, if you really get into the pedal it stops pretty quickly and firmly.

I have a 2000 a8 same color with blue interior. It looks just as good. I love it. I have owned it for over 22 years. I have spent a lot of money on her. Runs and drives like new.

Love those in manual without the exceptionally weak slushmatic. It certainly is the 5 valve V8, manual is available for both pre and facelift cars. The US just didn't get them. 96-02

Awesome car! Those mirrors are solid aluminum like the C5 S6. Looks great!

I had a -94 A8 4,2 v8, 300hp winter beater. It was a fun car but thirsty for the work commute

Oh man these are soooo damn cool! In Europe we even got it with a manual. They're rare but they're out there. There are facelift manuals as well.

Had one. Mine was 2.8 30v engine with manual gearbox 5 speeds. It was running like a train. Great car.

gorgeous cars. this was right up there with the e38 7 series imo

I fell in love with this car when i watched ronin as a kid, that movie also had some really good car chase scenes

The S8 D2 was built from 1996 up to 2002 and the pre face-lift cars came with a 6 speed manual on the S8 from 1996 to 1998. The face lifted version was built from 1999 up to 2002 which was also offered in manual the difference was the front look and dash and 20 more horse power over the pre face-lift.

Ahhh remember the car phone days................"call home"............CALLING MOM........"NO, cancel".............CALLING KEN BELL........."NO" ehh forget it

THAT'S A GREAT BOAT, ÉRP, AND I REALLY LIKE THAT AUDI AHHHH, THE OLD TIMES, SALUDOS AMIGO.

I'd say you're welcome to drive my 6-speed manual-converted one if you ever come to Colorado, but alas, it is going on BaT in the next couple months! The S8 is so good at gobbling up highway miles, and really enjoys high speed sweepers, too! A highly underrated Q-ship with lots of impressive technology for its time - it weighed less than a 7-series despite having AWD and had more power, too! I wanna say a little over 1,200 total D2 S8's came to the USA or North America on the whole. On the transmission, I think the S8 was sold in Europe with a manual for both pre-facelift and post-facelift versions, albeit in small numbers.

Have a low mileage 1st Gen 300c 5.7 hemi and it's a great family hauler. Hope to keep it in the collection for a long time.

Late 90s was peak car. The W140, E38, D2, X300, etc. will never be surpassed again.

very pretty car!

Funny you said that. I had a B5 S4 and took a coworker for a ride, and he was shocked at how fast it was. At that time, that car was very quick. Another coworker didn't know anything about the car and kept saying his Dodge Stratus would smoke it. The one I gave a ride to just shook his head and laughed 😀

I also in Mass and have one of these in my garage - Ming Blue 2003 S8. Great car. Very little to none original parts available :(

I love this car!!! Friend of mine had one back in the day!!! There is a reason why this engine was in production almost 20 years with minor changes! There is s reason…..

In europe we had those facelift ones with 6speed manual

What a great car.

Very cool car! 😎👍

3:40 Look at the size of that trunk… you can put three bodies in there!

Awesome car

Tedward knows the colour of the boat house in Hereford!

a lot of vents on the dashboard, very cool car

I spy a white L322 in the first few outside shots. This truck is having a renaissance and should be revisited

Very cool car. I had a similar vintage S6 wagon. Same engine. Cool cars but such money pits. Hence the depreciation king crown. Please do a review of the D4 S8. One of the all time great large sport sedans. Especially the 605hp S8 plus.

Peak Audi for me - UR Quattro & S2 Coupe. I owned a 4.2 A8 (non S) and it cost me dearly in repairs and failures. Maybe I was unlucky… Sticking callipers, leaking gearboxes, electrical issues, sensors etc. The engine was bulletproof though, one of Audis best.

I loved my 2000 A8. Of course I would have loved the S8 but it was a lot more money. I drove my A8 pretty much trouble free although it liked to eat up front suspension pieces but other than that it was great until 276k miles when the reverse gear went out. I almost fixed it because liked the car so much but ended up selling it. I have a D4 A8L 4.0tt now and its amazing too!!

I think the US got these facelift D2s only. The pre-facelift available in other markets in 1997-1999 had a 340hp 4 valve per cylinder 4.2. The pre facelift is what features in the Ronin film. Europe had a manual option.

The engine is actually in front of the front axle due to how Audi packages them. B Sport has a video on it called "AUDI's Package Problem" and it explains some Audi and VW-group quirks.

Although the 1999 W140 Grand Edition is my favorite big German sedan. These have always been right up there due to that low key style...

Seems like the ultimate sleeper Also might just be me but those gauges combined with the steering wheel kind of make the interior look less premium

So classic.

In Europe the S8 D2 was available with manual transmission as well.

i had a 1997 a8 4.2 with the abz engine. thing hit 281kmh GPS proper fast

This generation of S8 is (in my opinion) one of the last stylish and subtle fast Audis out there. In 2006, the single grille up front spoiled the subtleness of the design. It is really amazing to see one in this good condition! The spaceframe technology was, well, space-age technology back then. And overall quality and finesse was one of the best you could get. The red triangle in the trunk lid was a great safety thing. Those triangles are mandatory in every car in Europe, so every car gets one on delivery. Audi and Mercedes went just one step further by incorporating it in the design of the trunk lid. That lid opens with a clever hinge design by the way, which also was one of the advancements of the time. Other brands (Toyota, Cadillac, Jaguar) got just the old fashioned curved steel bar instead.

According to the display underneath the tachometer 14:08 - 14:20 the car thinks that it is currently 1999 😂

0:25 is that a Safari A4 in the background? :D

Great video. It really is too bad that these were plagued with the tiptronic transmissions that love to slip when they age. Otherwise, great engine and debatably one of the cleanest looking cars of its time. Thanks for sharing!

I always loved so much how the big power German cars back then were so understated. Today they look cool of course but i always prefered this unobtrusive look.

Hahahhahaha so fun to see how the rev counter on that s-8 is almost the same as my 1999 golf TDI

Current owner of an 01, 269k miles still Running thing is a tank honestly !

The stock Audi Bose system can be upgraded, but it requires a complete re-wire, since there are amps at each speaker. I had upgraded my 1985 5000S turbo to a Sony system with component speakers.

Love it so much! I have an Audi A6 C5 with the same engine and it is awesome. I have some videos on my channel aswell. Lately I was thinking about swapping the tiptronic automatic transmision with a 6speed maual from the 2.5 TDI engine. That would be really cool.

Modern looking car even in 2024 ❤

"Look at that size of that trunk, you could fit three bodies in there" "Just kidding, just trying to levitate the situation.."

Gorgeous!!! 😍😍😍

Owned and drove one for a few years in Ming Blue - one of my favorite cars of all time. Issues included the ZF transmission and the fuel pump…had to let it go.

There is an A8 abandoned in a city nearby and it crushes my heart when a see it there getting dust and dirt. But a car like that is almost impossible for o fix or refurbish here in Brazil because parts are hard to find and way to much expensive.

sold my 2005 A8L for more than I paid for it , still miss it to this day, not any better than my 7 series but different in a fun way.

I'm surprised you didn't use the Tiptronic feature, on the steering wheel or the gearshifter. The quattro was 50/50; no rear drive bias nonsense the car magazines regurgitates.

my dreamcar is a black on black s8 6 speed manual.

more big luxobarges!!!

Ronin was so great.

Didnt this set the stage for the Phaeton? (Much like a Maybach 57 S set the stage for that era Mercedes S class?)

Icon.

Please, we want a video for the red bmw m5 e39 😊. (I know you had one for the black)

Could you review a D3 Audi A8 or S8? I think those cars have aged really well and have crazy powertrain options like the 5.2 V10 or 6.0 W12

Remember one of my professors in college used to drive one of these.

The Top Gear Caravan Train "locomotive" :P

Always wanted this generation of the S8 in silver to channel my inner James May pulling the train of caravans (including Scum Class).

I usually don't comment but when Ted said that this was before rear steering, That's not quite accurate I feel because my 92 3000 GT has rear steering. So yeah it was around before then