If you discount that Audi R8, the S8 is, for all intents and purposes, Audi’s flagship model. If you’re in the market for a six-figure sedan, the Audi S8 is essentially the cream of the crop. For 2022, Audi took an already awesome package and made it even better by executing some minor tweaks inside and out – something I’d be welcome to argue is just enough.

How Audi Made the Already Awesome S8 Even Better

The fourth-gen Audi S8, as awesome as it is, was starting to venture beyond its prime after a few years on the market. Having to compete with the Mercedes-AMG S63 is no easy task, so some updates were needed. It all starts up front where the grille is now just a bit wider than before (not by much, obviously) and no features a sportier honeycomb-like mesh as opposed to those horizontal bars that felt, well, dated. The LED headlights feature a new digital matrix , as do the OLED taillights that are now in line with most of Audi’s revitalized lineup. The quad exhaust outlets do carry over, though, which isn’t all that surprising as they looked really good from the start and is typical of all S-badged Audis anyway.

Moving beyond the exterior looks, we can confirm that the 2022 Audi S8 features all-wheel steering as a standard feature. It’s paired with Audi’s surprisingly good predictive active suspension and the sport differential. The latter has likely been tweaked to help improve the active torque split between the rear wheels and, as a package, this all leads to an impressive and dynamic handling profile – something that’s admittedly hard to say for a car as large and as heavy as the S8.

Under the hood sits the well-known and largely proven 4.0-liter V-8. As was the case pre-facelift, it delivers a cool 563 horsepower and 590 pound-feet of torque. So, there are no improvements in this department, but that’s okay because when you put the hammer down, you’ll sprint to 62 mph (100 km/h) in 3.8 seconds – yet another impressive feat for a car that weighed 5,302 pounds at last check and isn’t electrified. Unfortunately, Audi hasn’t announced the more powerful Plus model that we saw from third-gen Audi but it could still happen. And Audi RS8, on the other hand, probably won’t happen as Audi won’t take that route until BMW launches an M7, which isn’t likely.

2022 Audi S8 specifications

All of this said, the 2022 Audi S8 goes on sale in December of 2021 in Europe with a price tag of €144,800 or around $167,731 – a huge premium considering the U.S-Spec 2021 Audi S8 starts from $130,900. As for the U.S. Launch, we expect that to happen in mid-2022, probably as a 2023 model.