New Audi RS Q8 2024 review: a 2.5-tonne rocket ship

Verdict

As a technical achievement, the Audi RS Q8 performance is very hard to knock. It’s an incredibly rapid SUV that offers up grip, traction and straight-line speed to go toe-to-toe with the very hottest examples of the breed. However, like many of those cars, it feels like a lot of clever tech is at play to mitigate many of a large SUVs inherent flaws; even some of the biggest brakes on a production car struggle to keep up with such a huge amount of weight. It would be a very lovely thing to live with, but so is an RS 6 which is more fun, or a regular Q8 which is cheaper and even more refined.

Two-point-four tonnes, 631bhp and a £131,975-plus price tag. Wherever you look, the numbers of the latest Audi RS Q8 performance are pretty remarkable. 

Dive into more numbers, and some of them will make you start to question the laws of physics. Despite that kerbweight, for example, Audi Sport’s most extreme SUV ever is capable of lapping the Nürburgring Nordschleife in seven minutes and 36.698 seconds. That makes it the fastest roadgoing SUV ever timed there, and means a little intra-brand rivalry within the Volkswagen Group has gone Audi’s way, having pipped the Lamborghini Urus Performante’s Nürburgring lap time by roughly 2.2 seconds.

Clearly plenty of very clever tech has been thrown the RS Q8’s way to achieve that lap time, made possible by a range of mid-life updates. 

The changes start with some subtle cosmetic tweaks, including a new front apron and air intakes, plus uprated Matrix LED headlights. At the back, a new diffuser sits between the RS-trademark fat tailpipes, while OLED tech now graces the tail lights. If you want to fly under the radar, then a two tonne plus SUV isn’t the way to do it – but the RS Q8 doesn't stand out like a BMW X6 M, or scream for attention like an Urus.

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Here, all of the neck-turning is caused by the engine instead: a 4.0-litre twin-turbocharged V8. Thanks to its 631bhp output, plus 850Nm of torque, it’s the most potent series production engine that Audi Sport has ever produced, beating the Audi RS 6 and RS 7 performance models by 10bhp. Thank a new exhaust system, which reduces back pressure, for that. The exhaust is also a touch lighter than the old one, and makes a “more sporty, evocative sound” according to Audi. It’s easier to hear from the inside, because some of the sound insulation has been stripped away under the boot floor.

That significant slug of torque is sent via Audi’s quattro all-wheel-drive system. In usual conditions, 40 per cent of the drive goes to the front axle and 60 per cent to the back, but that can switch from anywhere between 70:30 and 15:85, depending on the demands placed upon it by the driver and the road surface.

Air suspension complete with adaptive damping comes as standard, while our test car was also equipped with active roll stabilisation. All-wheel steering turns the back axle the opposite direction from the front to improve the agility around tight corners (and reduce the turning circle), while at higher speeds it turns the same way as the fronts to increase stability. 

UK buyers get a choice of 22 or 23-inch wheels depending on trim level, with the larger items a lightweight design that trims 5kg of unsprung mass per corner. Further helping reduce weight in this area are the RS Ceramic brake discs, measuring 440mm up front and 370mm at the back. 

But how does all this feel? Well, fairly remarkable, in quite a lot of ways. The engine is phenomenal. Rolling out of the pits at the Parcmotor Castellolí track near Barcelona and giving it its all for the first time, the RS Q8 pins you to the seat like the most rapid supercars. The shove barely lets off even once you’re well into three figures, and all the while it’s accompanied by a thunderous, yet quite tuneful, soundtrack. 

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Through the corners, it’s clear that its Nürburgring lap time didn’t just come from straight-line pace. Grip is remarkable, with only a hint of push on the front axle when you lean on it hard through a long corner. On a dry public road, it’s near impossible to breach those limits unless you’re seriously committed or clumsy. The steering is precise and accurate, and while the turning rear axle makes the car feel almost hyper sensitive at times, the response is fairly natural.

Traction is unflappable, too, which means that, once a slight delay is overcome from the transmission, so much of that power can be deployed to launch the RS Q8 from the exit of one corner to the next.

However, as much as Audi’s engineers have achieved, there’s only so far they can go to disguise such a heavy car whose centre of mass is so high. Quick direction changes – especially when any braking is involved – become a little ragged. 

And it’s the brakes where that mass is hardest to disguise. After a few laps of Castellolí the left pedal became soft, as the vast energy going through the system started to take its toll on the discs and pads. You might argue that this is an extreme situation – few RS Q8 owners will have enough of a sense of humour to take one to their local trackday – but it’s worth noting that the brakes of the Range Rover Sport SV were completely bulletproof when exposed to similar abuse on track, even though they had to deal with an even larger, heavier car. The SV also offered a little more adjustability at the limits of its chassis without getting quite as flustered as the Q8. 

On the plus side, the RS Q8 would be easy to live with every day, because the ride is quite relaxing and overall refinement is excellent. The cabin, which has only very subtle changes from before, remains a wonderful place to sit. But the same can be said of another hot Audi, which to us makes more sense. The RS 6 might be a modest 10bhp down on its big brother, but it’s sharper and more exciting to drive, very nearly as spacious, and starts from £116,120 – more than £15,000 less than the least expensive RS Q8.