2021 Audi S8
The 2021 Audi S8 is sold in the U.S. as a hybrid large sedan. The most efficient version, the S8, is EPA-rated at 16 mpg combined. NHTSA lists 8 recall campaigns for this model year, which gives it a Safety Signal grade of D. Owners have filed 1 complaint, most often about the electrical system.

Specs & fuel economy
Source: EPA fueleconomy.gov| Configuration | Powertrain | Drive | Engine / motor | City | Hwy | Comb | Annual fuel* |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S8 | Hybrid | AWD | 4.0L 8-cyl turbo + 48V Li-Ion | 13 | 22 | 16 | $5,150 |
*EPA estimate at 15,000 miles/year at EPA reference fuel and electricity prices. fueleconomy.gov record ids: 43004.
Emissions & certification
Source: EPA emission certificates| Configuration | Smog rating | Emission standard | Where it can be sold new | SmartWay |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| S8 | 3 / 10 | California LEV-III ULEV125 / Federal Tier 3 Bin 125 | All 50 states (federal, all altitudes); California and states following California standards | — |
Certified for all fifty states, so it can be registered new anywhere in the U.S. Gas-guzzler tax applies to S8 — a federal excise the manufacturer pays and prices in.
The smog rating scores tailpipe pollutants other than greenhouse gases, 1 (worst) to 10 (best), and is comparable only within a model year. The standard is the federal bin or California tier the configuration was certified to. Both come from the EPA certificate behind the window sticker.
Specifications filed with NHTSA
Source: NHTSA vPICDimensions Exterior
| Body style | Sedan/Saloon |
| Doors | 4 |
| GVWR class | Class 1D: 5,001 - 6,000 lb (2,268 - 2,722 kg) |
Engine Basics
| Cylinders | 8 |
| Displacement | 4 L |
Engine Output
| Horsepower | 563 hp |
Fuel Economy
| Fuel | Gasoline |
Seating
| Seat rows | 2 |
| Seating capacity | 5 seats |
Transmission
| Drivetrain | AWD/All-Wheel Drive |
| Transmission | Automatic |
| Transmission speeds | 8 |
Driver assistance
Standard: Anti-lock brakes, Automatic emergency braking, Backup camera, Electronic stability control, Forward collision warning, Lane departure warning
Optional: Adaptive cruise control, Blind-spot monitoring, Lane keeping assist, Rear cross-traffic alert
Filed by the manufacturer with NHTSA under the federal vehicle-identification rule and decoded from the VIN pattern — not a manufacturer press kit, so it describes one configuration rather than every trim (seen: quattro). Figures for the trim you are looking at may differ.
Dimensions & weight
Source: Transport Canada| Length | 203.9 in |
| Width (body, without mirrors) | 76.8 in |
| Height | 57.9 in |
| Wheelbase | 118.1 in |
| Track, front | 64.2 in |
| Track, rear | 63.8 in |
| Curb weight | 5,313 lb |
Measured by Transport Canada for its Canadian Vehicle Specifications database, which covers the North American versions of each model — here one configuration: 4-door Sedan. Where a range is shown, those versions differ. Width is the body without mirrors, which is why it can read narrower than a brochure figure. Before we used it we checked it against the US manufacturer press kits we hold (27 Sep 2026): wheelbase agreed within 1% on every vehicle we could compare, length on 98%, and the curb weight fell inside the manufacturer's range on 96%. Source dataset. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Canada. Licence.
Factory warranty running out?
The 2021 Audi S8 is in the years where transmission, electronics and drivetrain repairs land on the owner. What an extended plan does and does not cover is worth reading before a dealer quotes you one.
What to check before you buy →Affiliate disclosure: some links on this page are affiliate links. If you request a quote or buy through them we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Nothing on this page changes because of it.
Recalls (8)
Source: NHTSA recall databaseElectrical System
90VCBack Over Prevention
91DZSuspension
42L5Back Over Prevention
91CRSeat Belts
69CR, 69CSSuspension
42L1Engine
97EVThese are vehicle campaigns — the ones the automaker filed against this model. NHTSA also records equipment recalls, filed by a parts maker against a component (a tyre, a child seat, an aftermarket part), and those are not listed here or counted above. nhtsa.gov/recalls shows both for a VIN.
Whether any of this applies to one specific S8
A campaign covers a build range, not a model year, so two identical-looking cars from 2021 can differ. Both of these check a VIN against the manufacturer’s own list, free, in about ten seconds. Audi publishes its own lookup because federal rule 49 CFR 573.15 requires it to, and to keep it current to within seven days.
Hear about a recall before the letter does
The manufacturer’s letter is the last step of a recall: it has up to 60 days after filing to mail owners, at the address on the registration. We email you the day NHTSA posts a recall on the 2021 Audi S8, with what to do next. Nothing else, ever — no newsletter, no marketing, one-click unsubscribe in every message.
Parts & accessories for the 2021 Audi S8
Search by fitment on eBay Motors — OEM take-offs, aftermarket, and the trim pieces dealers no longer stock. The listing and the price are the seller's.
Find parts for this S8 →Owner complaints
Source: NHTSA complaint database0 involved a crash · 0 a fire · 0 injuries · 0 deaths reported
Filed per year: 2022: 1
Most-cited components
In owners' own words
Filed with NHTSA by the people who own these cars, one per problem area. Quoted as written, with anything identifying removed.
When started up on 11/17/22, multiple warning lights came on in rapid sequence advising of an electrical system & battery malfunction. Warning was to not drive the vehicle and contact service. I shut off the vehicle and re-started it. The same warnings were displayed.
Complaint counts are raw owner reports to NHTSA, not verified defects, and scale with how many were sold. Use them to spot patterns, not to rank.
Crash ratings
Source: NHTSA NCAPNHTSA has not published 5-Star crash ratings for this model year.
Service bulletins & campaigns
Source: NHTSA manufacturer communications- 15 years or 125,000 miles, whichever comes first · Audi warranty extension U79For applicable vehicles, the New Vehicle Limited Warranty will be extended to repair the Virtual Cockpit by an authorized Audi dealer for a period of 15 years or 125,000 miles, whichever occurs…
The term and the vehicles it covers are the manufacturer’s, as NHTSA’s summary of each filing states them; a dealer checks one particular car by its VIN. Every warranty extension on file, all makes →
Most often about: Electrical System, Equipment, Engine, Unknown Or Other, Structure.
- TSB_2083409_1 Service bulletin2026-09-25 · Unknown Or Other
- This bulletin states that technicians are required to report to the manufacturer when a vehicle has flooded, and specify the height to which the vehicle has been flooded.
- TSB_2052680_2 Service bulletin2026-09-25 · Unknown Or Other
- This bulletin provides information for reporting safety related information to the manufacturer.
- TSB_2076396_3 Service bulletin2026-09-23 · Electrical System
- This bulletin provides information regarding driver assist systems; Audi adaptive light, Audi pre sense system fault, adaptive cruise assist inop (DTC C12D5FA).
- TSB_2063336_5 Service bulletin2026-09-23 · Electrical System
- This bulletin provides information when DTC C12BFF0 is stored in the lane change modeul or the radar sensor; intersection assist/lane change assist are inoperable.
- TSB_2074846_5 Service bulletin2026-09-22 · Steering
- This bulletin provides information about vibrations and rotational steering vibrations.
- TSB_2065871_4 Service bulletin2026-09-22 · Steering
- This bulletin provides informaiton when DTC B200FF0 is stored.
- TSB_2020552_15 Service bulletin2026-09-22 · Visibility/Wiper
- This bulletin provides service information regarding exterior glass cleaning.
- TSB_2068573_6 Service bulletin2026-09-18 · Electrical System
- This bulletin provides information when the rear parking sensor sometimes does not work, rear parking sensor loose, rear parking sensor fault message.
A service bulletin is the manufacturer telling its dealers how to diagnose or repair a known condition. It is not a recall, not a finding that the vehicle is defective, and the work is not automatically free — though a bulletin is often what a dealer works from when you describe a symptom, so quoting the document number can save a diagnosis. The count is every communication filed; the list shows the most recent, one entry per campaign, because a single campaign is usually filed as several documents on the same day. The summaries are NHTSA's; the full documents come from the manufacturer.
S8 by model year
all years, side by side →Common questions about the 2021 S8
Source: EPA, NHTSA and manufacturer press kitsDoes the 2021 Audi S8 have any recalls?
NHTSA has posted 8 recall campaigns for the 2021 Audi S8. The most serious on file is 21V606000, covering Seat Belts. Check your own VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls; a recall applies to specific build ranges, not every car.
How safe is the 2021 Audi S8?
NHTSA has not published a crash-test rating for the 2021 Audi S8 yet. On the recall record WhichTrim grades it D (69/100), which measures open and severe recalls rather than crash protection.
What is the fuel economy of the 2021 Audi S8?
For the 2021 Audi S8, the best EPA combined figure is 16 mpg. Figures are the EPA's own, per configuration, and every one is listed above.
What are the dimensions of the 2021 Audi S8?
Transport Canada measured it at 203.9 in long, 76.8 in wide (body, without mirrors), 57.9 in tall, on a 118.1 in wheelbase. Curb weight: 5,313 lb. Those are its measurements of the North American versions; every figure is in the table above.
What do owners complain about on the 2021 Audi S8?
Owners have filed 1 complaint with NHTSA about the 2021 Audi S8, most often about electrical system, engine, power train. Complaints are unverified owner reports, so treat the pattern as a signal and the individual report as an anecdote.
How clean is the 2021 Audi S8?
The EPA smog rating for the 2021 Audi S8 is 3 out of 10. That score covers tailpipe pollutants other than greenhouse gases, and it only compares vehicles within the same model year. It is certified for all fifty states, so it can be registered new anywhere in the U.S. Its configurations were certified to different standards — California LEV-III ULEV125, Federal Tier 3 Bin 125 — which the table above lists per configuration.
Are there service bulletins for the 2021 Audi S8?
The manufacturer has filed 1149 service bulletins and related communications with NHTSA for the 2021 Audi S8, most often covering electrical system, equipment, engine. The most recent is dated 2026-09-25. A bulletin is not a recall: it is the repair procedure a manufacturer sends its dealers for a condition it knows about, and the work is not automatically paid for. It is still worth knowing — if the symptom matches, quoting the bulletin number at the service desk can save a diagnosis. The document numbers and summaries are listed above.
What we hold, and what an empty row means
Paid vehicle-history reports will not tell you the difference between “nothing happened to this car” and “we never received that record” — both of the big two say as much in their own help pages. Most of what is on this page comes from complete federal registers, so we can tell you which is which, row by row.
| Data | Held | Source | What it covers — or what empty means |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fuel economy & configurations | 1 configurations | EPA certification records | Every configuration the EPA certified for sale, with its own test figures. |
| Emission certificates | 1 configurations | EPA emission certificates | Smog rating, standard and the sales area that decides where the car can be sold new. |
| Recalls | 8 | NHTSA recall campaigns | A complete federal register: every campaign covering this model year, with severity and advisory flags. |
| Owner complaints | 1 | NHTSA complaint database | Also complete, but unverified: these are reports owners filed, not findings. Counts scale with how many were sold. |
| Crash ratings | none | NHTSA NCAP | NHTSA has not tested this model year. Cars are selected for testing, so untested is not unsafe. |
| Service bulletins | 1149 | NHTSA manufacturer communications | Everything the manufacturer told its dealers about a defect or malfunction, short of a recall. |
| Investigations | none | NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation | No defect investigation has been opened. |
| Driver-assist crash reports | none | NHTSA Standing General Order 2021-01 | No report has been filed. Only entities named in the order report, and only crashes they hear of — so this is also what an unequipped car, or a manufacturer without telematics, looks like. |
| Specifications filed with NHTSA | 12 fields | NHTSA vPIC, decoded from VIN patterns | What the manufacturer filed under the federal VIN rule — a configuration, not the full trim ladder. |
| Measured dimensions | 7 fields | Transport Canada, Canadian Vehicle Specifications | Length, width, height, wheelbase, track and curb weight, measured on the North American versions. |
| Trims, pricing & equipment | none | Manufacturer press kit | We have not transcribed a press kit for this model year yet. This is our gap, not the manufacturer's — the one row here where an empty cell means we are behind. |
Rebuilt nightly; this page was generated 2026-10-26. Every figure above is traceable to the source named beside it, and the JSON for this page carries the same values with their identifiers.
Sources & method
Safety Signal starts every model-year at 100 and subtracts points per open NHTSA recall campaign by severity: critical 15 (fire risk, park-outside or do-not-drive advisories), high 8 (brakes, steering, airbags, loss of drive power, structure, battery), moderate 6, minor 3 (software, labels, lighting fixed by an update). The most serious recall counts in full and each further one counts 85% of the one before, because a vehicle sold in millions is recalled more often than a rare one without being more dangerous — and because a flat subtraction bottomed the scale out, scoring a vehicle with 22 recalls within a point of one with six. A ≥ 90, B ≥ 80, C ≥ 70, D ≥ 60, otherwise F. Read it as what it counts: recall campaigns on the federal record, weighted by severity. The damping reduces the sales bias by roughly 40% but does not remove it: like our complaint counts, this is not normalized by how many were sold, so a best-seller still scores somewhat worse than an obscure model with the same real risk. NHTSA crash ratings, do-not-drive and park-outside advisories, and the crash, fire, injury and death counts in owner complaints are reported separately on every page and never blended into the letter — a vehicle can hold five stars and a poor letter at once, and where that happens we say so rather than leave you to notice. Because the scale subtracts from a clean sheet, a model year too new to have been recalled, complained about or bulletined scores full marks on an empty record; we label those grades provisional rather than present them as earned.
EPA figures come from fueleconomy.gov vehicle records. Recalls, complaints, investigations and crash ratings come from NHTSA's public flat files, refreshed nightly.