Next Audi S8 May Have Lambo-Sourced 620 HP V10

I was wondering when this was going to happen. Magic 8-Ball says that the next iteration of Audi's S8 flagship will have a big, Lamborghini V10 sitting 'neath the bonnet and it will be cranking out, gulp, 620 horses. Since both Audi and Lambo are owned by the same corporate parent (Volkswagen) I always thought something like this was going to take place.

One of the main reasons given for Lambo's jump in quality was the fact that they are being managed by former Audi guys. Also, there was that Audi R8 show car for a while back that had a Lambo V10 in it. So, it makes a whole lot of sense that Audi could write up a request via inter-office mail and ask for a few hundred extra plants to be sent over from Sant'Agata, poste haste.

The upcoming S8 is particularly good news given that last year that model was missing from the automaker's lineup. Sad, I know. But it seems that now that the latest A8 has been rolled out and is (more or less) a success, Audi has begun work on an S-upped version of its handsome saloon.

And like the RS6, the upcoming S8 is rumored to be motivated down der bahn via a Lamborghini Gallardo-derived V10. Oh, and Audi also saw fit to hang a couple of turbochargers from the exhaust manifolds. What could possibly go wrong with that?

The output of the upcoming S8 will leap from the outgoing model's 444 horsepower (not bad, really) to somewhere north of 600 hp (which is totally bad ass!). Torque? Oh, that goes up from around 400 pound-feet to upwards of 550 lb-ft of grunt. Did I use the phrase bad ass already? Why yes I did.

Stylistically, it's hard to tell what sort of upgrades the S8 is going to get, but it looks like there will be a more chiseled front fascia, lower ride height (of course) and modified rear diffuser. The quad tailpipes suggest that there's a 5.2-liter twin-turbo plant cuddled up inside, and it also looks like there's huge brakes to be framed by 20- or 21-inch wheels. Expect the S8 to make its debut sometime later this year or early in 2011, with sales beginning in the middle of next year. No prices as of yet.

Source: Auto Blog