S8 Technology

Bang & Olufsen

Pure listening pleasure

Have you ever arrived at your destination only to wait in the car, on your own, just until a certain piece of music has finished? If you opt for the superb Bang & Olufsen Advanced Sound System in your Audi S8, it might be prudent to get into the habit of setting off a little earlier.

Audio reviewers, test panels and conductors have labelled the Bang & Olufsen Advanced Sound System, quite simply, "the best automotive audio system ever." What they think of it is peppered with adjectives like 'revolutionary,' 'stunning,' 'sensational' and 'flawless'.

With the Audi S8 and the Bang & Olufsen Advanced Sound System you get the quintessential driving and listening experience combined.

MMI Touch

The new operating philosophy

Intuitive, intelligent and innovative - and that was our 'old' MMI system.

The new MMI touch, which is standard on the S8, gives drivers a new and unique way of operating the MMI navigation system, without the need to divert their eyes from the road ahead. By integrating a touchpad into the centre console drivers can simply write characters to enter addresses, phone numbers or even choose which album to play. The MMI Touch can recognise over a million characters, including Japanese, Chinese, Cyrillic and Korean to name but a few.

Of course the system can still be controlled by voice, however in the spirit of progress through technology town and street names can now be spoken in a single command.

HDD navigation for stress-free motoring

With the HDD navigation system, being lost becomes a thing of the past. Simply enter a destination using the MMI Touchpad in the centre console, or just say where you want to go, using the advanced voice recognition system.

The HDD navigation system has a hard drive meaning that maps load incredibly fast and there's an abundance of detail when you zoom in, including 3D buildings and topographical mapping. You can also specify modifications to the route such as avoiding or using motorways, toll roads and ferries. And you can recall favourite and recent destinations which are stored in your address book.

The system can also adjust the route you're taking dynamically based on the latest traffic situation. It receives RDS-TMC (Traffic Message Channel) automatically so it knows about hold-ups before you do and, if dynamic navigation is active, the system automatically recomputes the route.

DAB digital radio

Crystal-clear digital radio reception

DAB digital radio, fitted as standard to the Audi S8, not only brings phenomenal sound quality without interference but also a host of features to complement the listening experience. Alongside the audio, other data may be broadcast such as the title of the track and the name of the artist.

Other programme content can be received such as news, weather and traffic. All available radio stations are displayed and are accessible via the Multi Media Interface so you don't need to spend time programming separate buttons. If you leave the range of a radio station's DAB signal, the system will automatically switch to the analogue transmission.

The LED revolution

Full-LED headlights are standard on the Audi S8.

These headlights give the car an unmistakeable appearance during the day, but especially in the dark. With a colour temperature of 5,500 Kelvin's the light produced closely resembles daylight, vastly reducing strain on the eyes when driving at night.

The dipped beam is made up of ten single modules, forming an arc beneath the chrome contours of the 'wing'. Directly beneath it, in a secondary arc are 22 white and 22 yellow LEDs create the daytime running lights and indicators. Above the 'wing' is the full beam, generated by two powerful, four-chip LEDs and a free-form reflection system. An assistance function switches between the dipped and full beam whilst further high-performance LEDs produce the motorway and cornering lights. A dedicated fan and heat sink keep each headlight at exactly the right temperature.

All of this whilst being vastly more efficient than traditional headlights.

Rear Seat Entertainment

Digital television, DVD, music and much more; the Rear Seat Entertainment option gives the rear passengers a highly customised and very extensive selection of entertainment options.

Starting with two, independently controlled, class leading, 10.2" high resolution displays and two wireless Bluetooth headsets, each passenger can view their own content, whether it's watching digital TV or DVDs or listening to music from SD cards, the car's hard drive jukebox or through their individual music devices (using AMI).

To keep track of progress, rear passengers can also view a duplicate of the main navigation screen.

Audi Music Interface: your music goes with you

A very wide range of portable music devices can integrate with your car via the standard Audi Music Interface. Once installed, they can be controlled with the Multi Media Interface (MMI) or multifunction steering wheel. Supported devices include USB memory sticks, portable hard discs, mobile phones and Apple iPods.

And it's not just the audio signal that's transmitted. With compatible devices, detailed track information is displayed.

Your own personal jukebox

But the good news is, you don't actually have to take any of these things with you. With the new S8 20GB of its hard drive is set aside to provide a 4,000 track 'jukebox' which can download music files via SD memory cards. In addition to this the album artwork will be displayed on the 8" screen which can be browsed through using the MMI Touchpad.

Predictive route data

Integrated technology

Wouldn't it make sense if your car knew the road you were driving on and adjusted its setup accordingly?

Imagine if it could make the suspension adapt to a bumpy B road, ensure the gearbox was in the correct gear for a corner so it didn't have to change down mid-bend. Maybe it could even switch on the corner lights to better illuminate a T-junction.

Welcome to the Audi S8's integrated technology with predictive route data.

Pre sense

Integrated Safety

Audi pre sense is a comprehensive technical package for identifying dangers well in advance and intervening appropriately. It categorises driving situations as critical or as an impending collision, with the aim of preparing the vehicle and its occupants as thoroughly as possible. Pre sense does this by networking the various active and passive safety systems into a single, integrated safety system.