ASTONISHING POWER
With luxurious touches and high performance, this SUV has the feel of a sports car
TENERIFE, CANARY ISLANDS From its position as the top model in the Q lineup to its physical presence and power output, the Audi RS Q8 is a standout. The vast majority of vehicles on this island of 930,000 inhabitants are compact hatchbacks, and this uber-speedy, mid-size performance crossover presents an imposing counterpoint, as does the throaty thrum from its twin exhausts when even a portion of its 592 horsepower is released.
RS is to Audi what AMG is to Mercedes-benz and M is to BMW. This fortified version of the Q8, a new model itself for 2019, has little to do with any off-road bona fides. All the engineering that goes into the RS Q8 — and there is a ton of it — is designed to take a five-passenger SUV weighing approximately 2,300 kilograms and turn it into something approaching a sports car — one with premium content and numerous posh touches inside. It also helps to know that the Q8, whether an RS or not, shares its version of the VW Group’s MSB platform with not only the more family oriented Q7, but with the Lamborghini Urus, Bentley Bentayga and Porsche Cayenne. Among these SUV siblings, there is much re-engineering and tweaking of common technologies to give each its own character.
The RS Q8 best balances a more formal and tailored look with the raw muscularity needed to stand out. The gloss black, Rs-specific octagonal grille is striking. A sloping roofline flows into the forward-canted D-pillars and blends into the fender blisters above the wheel arches. Optional 23-inch wheels fill the RS Q8’s arches, and a roof spoiler, Rs-specific rear skirt with diffuser clip and the oval tailpipes add definition to the back end.
That’s all window dressing to motor heads, though. What matters is what’s under the hood. And that would be a twin-turbo 4.0-litre V-8 — with a 48-volt belt/alternator/starter mild-hybrid system — the same engine as in the RS 6 Avant recently tested.
With 590 pound-feet of torque, there’s huge amounts of thrust on tap, enough that the big SUV can accelerate to 100 km/h in 3.8 seconds and top out at 250 km/ h — or 305 km/h when equipped with the formidable RS ceramic brakes.
In September, the RS Q8 became the fastest production SUV to lap the Nurburgring with an official time of seven minutes and 42.2 seconds. I spent a morning riding in the actual vehicle with Audi test driver Frank Stippler, the pilot of the record-setter. He demonstrated more of the RS Q8’s prodigious abilities than I could hope to achieve. Key among them was the Audi’s astonishing grip, no matter how tight the turn — you could feel the lateral Gs as the weight transferred while we blitzed corner after corner, but the big P295/35ZR23 Continental rubber would not let go.
Power flows to the Quattro allwheel-drive system via an eightspeed automatic transmission. Wheel-selective torque control helps enhance handling by ensuring additional traction across each axle through individual wheel braking application. During what Audi likes to call “dynamic” cornering, the Quattro sport rear differential distributes torque between the rear wheels as required, helping improve traction and stability. Then there’s the standard all-wheel steering, which further enhanced the RS’S agility and stability, and adaptive air suspension with controlled damping — the electromechanical active roll stabilization minimizing body roll.
Drivers can ramp up or dial back their driving experience through the drive-select system. There are seven profiles — Comfort, Auto, Dynamic, All-road, Off-road and the individually configurable Rs-specific modes RS1 and RS2, which are activated directly via a button on the steering wheel. I shifted into Comfort when we merged onto the coastal highway back to Adeje, and the RS Q8 provided a tranquil environment when moseying along at the highway’s civil 120-km/h speed limit.
The cabin mixes business with pleasure. Leather and piano-black panels and satin trim bits set the tone, but it’s the RS monitor display that keeps things in check. When called upon, it will present an overview of the temperature status of the drive components; the maximum G acceleration figures, along with tire pressure and temperature. In the virtual cockpit, special RS displays provide information on tire pressure, torque, power output, engine-oil temperature, boost pressure, lap times, acceleration measurements and G forces. Shades of Speed Racer!
The RS Q8 does demonstrate a measure of everyday usability with a sliding three-seat rear bench. With the seat backrests folded down, the luggage area has 1,319 L of space.
Audi will not divulge pricing until closer to the SUV’S launch date sometime next summer.