Audi RS Q8 – performance and 0-60mph time

Sitting high in an isolated cockpit, the RS Q8 doesn’t feel as fierce as a similarly quick sports car, but it does give you a mighty wallop in the guts. The engine is a powerhouse, hitting its stride from 2200rpm and ripping through the revs with unstoppable energy. Launch from a standstill and none of that power is wasted – it feels like tarmac is rippling beneath you as you take off, and you’ll reach 62mph in 3.8sec. Keep it pinned and you’ll eventually hit a limiter at 155mph (or 190mph if you’ve specified the optional Dynamic Package Plus). 

The Performance is, predictably, even quicker, its extra power and torque trimming two tenths from that 0-62mph time. Even so, it’s not one of the absolute fastest SUVs on sale, with Lamborghini’s Urus SE packing a more powerful (but heavier) hybrid powertrain to reach 62mph in 3.4sec, and Aston’s DBX707 completing the benchmark in 3.3sec. And that’s not to mention the kind of intergalactic electric SUVs on sale these days, such as Lotus’s Eletre R. With 900bhp it’s nearly a full second quicker to 62mph than the base RS Q8. 

With that said, if you need the RS Q8 to be faster, you probably shouldn’t be looking at a 2.3 ton lump to start with. In normal driving the huge reserves of torque mean that the RS Q8 feels easy and effortlessly muscular, even if it does take a beat to wake up if you catch it off boost. It’s smooth and refined too (although with everything turned up the V8 blare is more muted than you might expect from inside the car). Helping the engine along is a mild-hybrid system, acting as an efficiency booster by extending the start-stop capability and facilitating engine-off coasting when cruising.