IN THIS FEATURE Thinking hard Weighty issues S8 appeal Figuring it out

And then there's the way it handles. Audi loves to say what a sporting brand it is and that the A8 is the most sporting car in its class. But saying it is doesn't necessarily make it so and - while I applaud the steady but slow advances Audi has made throughout its classes towards the levels of driver entertainment so effortlessly provided by BMW - there is still some distance to go.

The S8 is no different. It has lowered, stiffer suspension, quicker steering and vast 20in wheels but, while I would never quibble about the genuinely impressive levels of available grip, it never really engages you as a driver. Indeed, there is something of the cinema show in the way it goes down a good road: you get to sit in comfortable, peaceful surroundings, while watching an objectively impressive demonstration of technical and dynamic fluency. But you never lose that sense of being a spectator when all you really want to do is get involved in the action.

You can see why I was starting to question my own sanity. Yes, the V10 motor makes a great noise and, if you thrash it through the gears, it will move the S8 very smartly indeed. But none of this even began to explain why, despite all that it had done to disappoint me, I still felt indomitably well-disposed towards it.

Not engaging to drive

I was on the plane home before I figured it out. For all its exalted specifications, the S8's appeal has very little indeed to do with its performance on the road or on paper. It's much more subtle than that - which may explain why it took me so long to twig - but no less compelling. What the S8 does, through myriad different processes, is make you feel simply fantastic merely to be in its company.