I've been trying to search everywhere to find a bit of information on the first generation S8. Is this known as the D2? According to the wikipedia entry for it, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audi_S8 it was on sale from 98-2003?

Was it available in the US all of those years, or only after a specific time? Also, were there manual models? Everything I've searched has shown that they were available, but every S8 I've looked at has been an automatic.

Are there any FAQs or anything like that around that anyone could point me toward in my search for figuring out if this car is right for me?

 

Not to be rude or curt, but the vast majority of us here have S4's. The subforum says "S Car Model Line" because theres not enough members to have seperate forums for each S car. It really dosnt solve the problem though because we(s4 owners) still only know about our cars....

Having said that, manual transmission was an option ONLY in europe, and im pretty sure in the US they were 01-03. What i can tell you is that the 4.2 motor is generally very reliable. From an S8 you can expect a nice big AWD sedan with a luxurious interior and some ***** to go allong with it. I love the first generation S8's. If you search here you might find a smattering of S8 posts, no real substance though i dont think. maybe www.audiworld.com or www.audizine.com contains some of the information you seek. Good luck!