[arpad_m]

Hey OP, I'm not sure this question is a good fit for the Ask Al forum, and there's a lot of subjectivity to it either way. It should be moved to the general forum IMO.

Now, in my experience if you ask yourself the specific questions you do, basically "will I be happy with the I4 or the V6, after all, I don't need V8 power/torque, gas mileage will suck, it's more expensive etc.", the answer is invariably no, you should get the V8, if it's financially viable of course. Remorse is pretty likely. (I got this one wrong, too, and it cost me.)

Then again, I assume you already drove that SS vert, so you have firsthand experience and nobody else can make this call for you.

Also, with the amount of highway driving you do, if you are concerned about fuel economy, you can get the automatic transmission and AFM will keep you in V4 mode enough to attain 30+ mpg on the highway, I have done it in my 2SS repeatedly. However, I cannot wholeheartedly recommend the A8 due to the well-known shudder issue, but you can get lucky with a used one that has already been tuned or is out of warranty anyway and you can get it tuned, or you may be willing to void the warranty, get an aftermarket torque converter with a tune, or perhaps you can go for a 2019 with the A10 that may be fixed already... there are lots of choices, this is again your call, I'm just trying to give you info.