I've been playing the car testing game for so long that I can usually get into a car, drive it up the road and identify if it has any appeal almost at once - and then, if it does, what it might be.

Of course, I don't leave it there. I may spend many hours confirming these early suspicions, but even after a couple of days on the road, those first thoughts are rarely far removed from those that end up in print. I'd like to say it's because I'm sublimely skilled at my job, but it's not - it's just that the job ain't that hard.

Every so often, however, one catches me out. Take the Audi S8, for example: no car in recent memory has forced me to think harder about why I liked it quite so damn much.

Cont' ... http://www.channel4.com/4car/road-te.../s8/index.html