My Audi S8 started acting possessed, until I found the culprit in the back...
Our Audi S8 was showing signs of being haunted, but the mystery has finally been solved
It’s reasonable to expect a £125,875 luxury car to not behave like Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, but for the last few months on multiple family trips, strange things have been happening in our Audi S8. Back windows opening randomly, radio stations changing unexpectedly, rear sun shades going up and down on a whim, heated seats switching on without warning, and strange fragrant pine smells suddenly appearing from nowhere.
Thankfully, before I made a fool of myself by ringing Audi or seeing a psychiatrist, the mystery was solved: in the back, nestled between the seats, is an iPad-shaped tablet that can control many of the car’s myriad different functions. Its operator? My 14-year-old son Oliver, who finally dropped his guard and showed me the source of his handiwork, like a shady fairground-worker villain coming clean in a Scooby-Doo episode. He’d have gotten away with it if it wasn’t for those pesky kids… (Well, me anyway.)
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As impressive as said tablet is, the manual has been consulted and it’s now been locked down, much to Oliver’s annoyance. But the S8’s plethora of technology really does make it a very special – and fun – car to live with. It’s a true experience and I fear that, when it eventually leaves us, it’ll be quite a comedown returning to life with the kind of features found in more ordinary cars.
The same may be true on the driving side, too. KY73 OTZ continues to mop up the miles effortlessly and simply makes time fly. You forget it’s such a massive car most of the time and its level of performance never ceases to astonish.
Oh, and that random smell of Badedas Pine? Turns out the S8 has a ‘perfume selection’, offering separate fragrances for winter and summer that can be pumped around the cabin at the push of a button. Whatever next…?
| Total mileage | 5770 |
| Mileage this month | 812 |
| Costs this month | £0 |
| mpg this month | 22.3 |
This story was first featured in evo issue 320.
