Audi RS e-tron GT
Its Porsche EV underpinnings ensure true supersaloon performance, but is it RS enough?
THIRTY YEARS AGO AUDI’S FERDINAND Piëch turned to his family’s business, Porsche, to build him a car that would redefine Audi and shake off its dowdy image. The RS2 was a project only Piëch could sanction and the result was an 80 Avant with so much Porsche knowhow thrown at it that it felt more of a fully fledged Zuffenhausen car than the 924.
Now Audi has taken a new generation of Porsche underpinnings to create a brand new EV in the same factory where its R8 supercar is built and where it assembled 924s and 944s for Porsche all those decades ago. Taking the J1 platform that underpins the impressive Taycan, Audi also utilises the same electric front and rear motors and their respective single- and twospeed gearboxes that Porsche has put to such good use in its Taycan Turbo and Turbo S models. The resulting Audi is the RS e-tron GT.
Despite the supersaloon power and torque figures – 590bhp in normal mode, 637bhp on overboost, and 621lb ft in either state – Audi talks about the e-tron very much in terms of the ‘GT’ part of its name, that is to say as a grand tourer rather than a rival for its other RS products or AMG and BMW’S big-hitting, circa 600bhp saloons, coupes and wagons.
For a GT car the e-tron is still bloody quick. Not that this should come as a surprise because performance, specifically the off-the-line type, is every electric car’s party piece. The paperwork suggests only 3.3 seconds is required to reach 62mph when launch control is engaged, which is rapid enough to feel uncomfortable, both in terms of the forces put through the slab of meat behind the wheel and for a car weighing 2347kg (the battery accounting for around 900kg of that). On a damp road, even with the electronic aids switched on, the rear tyres lose their fight with the surface and get a couple of over-
rotations in the bag before the RS gets off the line. Once hooked up it’s up the road and hitting indecently high figures at a rate that would embarrass an R8. And yet this is the e-tron GT’S least engaging feature; after the second run it’s all a bit ‘So what?’
So where does it impress? As with the Taycan, the RS e-tron GT is a very fine grand tourer, with a far broader bandwidth of ability than you’d ever expect, whether you’re an electric car sceptic or admirer. It’s the serenity behind the wheel that defines the e-tron GT. Audi fits what it calls ‘e-tron Sport Sound’ – a fake noise generator – to mask the sounds that are normally inaudible because there’s a twin-turbocharged V8 running at a couple of thousand rpm. So where early EVS provided a stage for wind and road noise, the GT smothers them with a soft, slightly muted bass filled grumble. It sounds a little too ‘industrial hoover’ from the outside, but in the cockpit it’s a
background sound that’s borderline white noise and certainly inoffensive.
Also on the GT’S side is a ride quality that your preconceived ideas of an Audi running on 21-inch wheels wouldn’t have you believe possible. There’s a multi-link set-up for the rear of the car and double wishbones at the front, with the VW Group’s three-chamber air-suspension system fitted as standard and accompanied by active dampers. Together they provide an exceptionally compliant ride with sophisticated levels of body control and impressive reactions to poor surfaces, smothering them to near obscurity.
On a dual carriageway or motorway the combination of near silent running and high refinement puts the GT in its element, conveying a calmness many would consider only a Rollsroyce capable of achieving. It’s the biggest USP and most appealing attribute of this type of EV: an ability to smooth and soothe on journeys that deliver zero thrills. The obsession with how quickly these two-ton cars can accelerate misses the point, deflecting from the wider, more welcome talents of grand touring EVS.
On rather more interesting routes, this four-door coupe – not Mark Lichte’s finest work, especially so the front that looks out of proportion (too long) to the rest of the car – is no less impressive. The electromechanically assisted steering is unexpectedly good in terms of its linearity and lack of kickback, giving the RS an incredibly accurate and predictable front end. There’s a very natural feel to its weighting, and while there isn’t anything to work with in terms of feedback, the way you can be very precise with the amount of lock you need to apply feels very Porsche-like. Funny that.
The combination of strong body control, supple ride and precise steering means you soon find yourself covering ground at a rather serious pace, but with a feeling of being detached by a layer or two from what the car is doing beneath
‘You soon find yourself covering ground at a rather serious pace’
you. With the performance available and the sheer weight of the vehicle, it does get your senses on a higher level of alert than they might be in an equivalent ICE car, which despite also suffering from a similar lack of feel would still deliver a more organic sense of connection.
Rather perplexing is Audi’s decision not to showcase a next-generation cockpit inside the GT. Yes, there’s a unique design to the interior, the swathe of carbonfibre that runs through and around the cabin providing the e-tron with an identity all of its own, but the Virtual Cockpit and multimedia interface are as per the majority of today’s Audi models, which seems like an opportunity missed to present tomorrow’s new interior design and technology to accompany the hardware underneath.
In terms of range, our car had a predicted 228 miles available when we collected it, and it chewed through this at a similar rate to an RS7 drinking V Power when driven in the same manner. Of course, the RS7 would be easier to refuel due to the infrastructure working when it comes to selling petrol.
And that’s the rub once again. Like the Taycan, the e-tron GT is one of the best electric cars of its type but it’s let down by a poorly managed recharging infrastructure and the inability of such cars to cover 300-plus miles in one go, as you can in, say, an RS7. Although I think I’d be prepared to sacrifice the RS7’S superior touring capability and go for an RS e-tron GT on the grounds that it’s the better and more interesting car.
Motors 175kw front, 320kw rear Power 637bhp Torque 612lb ft Weight 2347kg (276bhp/ton) 0-62mph 3.3sec Top speed 155mph (limited) Basic price £110,950
+ Refinement and ride; a fine GT
- Range not up to grand touring
evo rating ★★★★ ☆