mgiannetto

Hi guys,

Have been reading about the 2014 S8 - looks like an "amazing" car. Currently have a MB AMG. Not sure I am crazy about the cylinder deactivation. So here's my question:

Does anyone who if this feature can be bypassed (let the car run 100% of the time on all 8 cylinders)? I'm not that worried about the gas mileage so I'd rather have all cylinder's in motion at all times.

One other question (off topic). What's the deal with the pop up nav screen in these cars? How long have they been designing the car that way? Any idea of they are planning to integrate it better into the dash or console. It's the only thing (other than the cylinder deactivation) that I don't like about the car.

Thanks guys in advance for any input that can be provided.

DeerHunter

I have an S6, but the engine family is the same so I'll put in my $0.02. As far as I know, there is no way to turn off cylinder deactivation. Have you driven an S6/8 yet? The deactivation is imperceptible to me (no extra vibration or noise) and it reverts back to 8 cylinders seamlessly (and instantaneously). It's a very slick system and I'm very happy to enjoy the benefits of better mileage with no drawbacks whatsoever.

RL371

Agreed, I've got an S8 and haven't been able to tell when the cylinder deactivation is on or off. I'll floor on the highway after cruising to see if I can catch a slip up. Nothing in 4,000 miles thus far.

Dr.Aronis

Ditto. 7000 miles. I can hear the sounds sometimes as the stereo noise cancelation is not perfect but it has no effect on performance. It's not in 4 cylinder mode that often. If you watch the indicator, even when cruising down the highway it goes in and out of 4 cylinder mode. I doubt there will be a significant uneven wear issue.

The pop up screens have been in the 8 for about 10 years or more.

Mike

mgiannetto

Thanks guys. Appreciate the perspective. Good to hear you are enjoying the technology and really like the S line of cars.

Let me follow up with a few additional comments/questions.

I guess my thinking is as follows. Why would Audi build this technology into the car in the first place? Is it to increase the stated MPG figures in response to the CAFE standards? Is it to reduce emissions? Is it to enhance the performance of the car?

The answer is obviously a clear yes to the first two questions. However, with regard to the third, the likely answer may be "well, it doesn't hurt/detract from performance".

So I'm just wondering if I'm considering dropping 125 large on the new S8, would I have the choice to forgo the benefit of the slightly higher fuel economy. After all, this is a world class performance (super) car and many of those with the means to buy it might not place a high priority on squeezing an extra few MPG - notwithstanding the comments that the car does not "appear to" give the impression that performance has been sacrificed.

So you might say, hey Mike, if the performance is the same for all practical purposes, why do you care if it drops down to 4 cylinders? A fair question. My response is two fold, First and foremost, I drive a high performance V8 AMG now and I could not be more pleased with the way the car responds to even the slightest throttle input. Even just tiny bit of incremental throttle on the open highway, and the car responds instantly (but not necessarily abruptly). If I want abrupt, I can mash the throttle and the car will shoot off like a rocket. However, I prefer a more smooth and linear application of the power.

So I would ask you folks this, if you are driving in 4 cylinder mode on the highway and just tip lightly into the throttle, does it instantly flip to 8 cylinders or do you need to give it a good push to reactivate the other 4 cylinders? And therefore when the other 4 cylinders come online, does that cause a more abrupt response? That's a very important consideration to me - and one where I would gladly trade off a few MPG. Another is the sound of the V8 on the highway. Tip into the accelerator in my AMG and I can hear the sound of the motor. If what I hear when I do that in the S8 (aside from flooring it) is what I hear from applying gas in my 6 cylinder Lexus, than that's another downside for me.

Lastly, the technology is new or relatively new so there is no way to know how it will play out over the long-term. If you are going to lease the car, then who cares - I get that. However, if you are going to buy the car with the intention of holding it for a long while, then maybe you care more. I'm in the latter camp.

Getting back to the question I originally asked, maybe the answer is that Audi does not allow the driver to select a driving mode where bypassing cylinder deactivation is possible. Perhaps a tuner with access to the ECU is able to change the settings and eliminate the coding which causes the cylinder deactivation to kick in?

I'll ask the same question on the AMG forum's as I believe MB is using similar technology in their 2014 E63.

Thanks and appreciated additional comments and perspective as this is a big decision and one I don't intend to make lightly.

Mike

DeerHunter

A few additional comments, based on other questions you have:

• If you want that angry V8 sound, you'll probably have to do an exhaust. Turbo cars are quieter than normally-aspirated equivalents because the turbo acts as a pretty good muffler. Regardless, I don't think you'll ever get the same quality of sound as you enjoy with the AMG.
• The mid-range response of this motor is incredible. You'll get more torque at lower revs than almost any normally-aspirated engine. This wave of torque is addictive in it's own right.
• Pretty much any throttle application kicks it out of 4 cylinder mode
• Shifting between 4 and 8 cylinder operation takes between 1 and 4-hundredths of a second. My "seat-of-the-pants" isn't calibrated that finely, so I don't notice any lag. Perhaps YMMV.

Phanthom S8

Stay with the AMG. I had one, traded for the audi, then sold the audi.
Nothing like the AMG for me. Especially now that they have spread out the torque curve. That kick in the pants at 2000 rpm, while exhilerating, was not always welcome.

mgiannetto

If you don't mind my asking, which AMG did you have (yr/model), which Audi did you buy (yr/model) and subsequently replace and how long did you own it, and what are you driving now? How do you compare the cars - pro's/con's of each?

L0U

I'm pretty sure its all v8 in dynamic mode, fulltime. I have played with it, and in the end "auto" is hard to beat in day to day driving.

mwar99

Doubt it - my S6 still goes into the green bar mode (4 cyl mode) in Dynamic.