The Audi S8 Plus does 0-62 in 3.8sec

“Something very fast – something that can shovel a bit.” That’s the description of the original Audi S8 in Ronin, the film that cemented the cool factor of the sported-up limo.

This, though, is the new S8 Plus. It will shovel a lot. It keeps the twin-turbo 4-litre V8 engine you’ll find in the regular S8, but ups its power and torque outputs from 516bhp and 479lb ft to 597bhp and 553lb ft.

That’s as much power as you’ll find in a Ferrari 458 Speciale or Nismo GT-R, but with a shedload more torque than either. And all in a car that looks like a posh airport taxi.

Performance? 0-62mph takes 3.8 seconds, though Audi is infamously pessimistic when it claims acceleration times. So the Plus should be quicker than another twin-turbo V8 you might have heard of. The Ferrari F40…

It’s not far off the ‘80s supercar icon for top speed either, for you can raise the S8’s electronic limiter from 155 to 190mph. Handy if your car chase is likely to extend out onto an autobahn.

The vmax hike comes part of a ‘dynamic package’ that also brings with it a set of carbon ceramic brakes and a Quattro-fettled sports exhaust. If you’re questioning how appropriate such things are on a two-tonne saloon car, you’re doubtless not its target market. Indulgent frivolity is the order of the day here.

As such, the S8 Plus also comes with matrix LED headlights and the option of matt silver paint, while it’s only available with the A8’s shorter wheelbase option. This is a car for driving like your life’s a Ronin remake, not lounging luxuriously in the back of.

Objectively, this is a car that doesn’t serve much of a purpose. Subjectively, though, it’s chuffing cool. Sales start in October for the princely sum of £97,700, around £17,000 more than standard. Are you as smitten as we are?