Ask marketers what’s in a name and you’ll suddenly find yourself in a meeting where you’ll be informed that the future-proofing of a product’s rationalization cycle as it pertains to branding is at its core a consumer call-to-action activation and a mission-focused key-performance indicator factoring SEO key words from the global research of the monetization structure critical to ROI. Sit near the door, walk out like you’re going to the bathroom, don’t come back.
We writers have long understood a name isn’t that important, it’s the product that will come to define the name. Recalling who C3PO and R2D2 is easy, but now try to imagine an XT4 or a Q50. If they’d been in anyway interesting, you’d know instantly what they are.
We just spent a day with a 591-hp SUV good enough to be named Sue, but Audi will call it the the 2020 Audi RS Q8 when it arrives this summer. We like Q8 RS better, like the TT RS and not like the RS 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. Maybe we’ll get used to it, but RS Q8 doesn’t ring right. [Announcer] Watch RESCUE 8, this spring, only on Fox.
Our preference aside, it’s the product that matters, and this is a hell of a product. The RS version of Audi’s Q8 mid-size luxury ute is a hard-charging, 591-hp beast. Think Lamborghini Urus for the buyer whose investment portfolio is a little less yacht heavy.
Audi RS Q8 Is the Fastest SUV Around the ‘Ring
Audi RS Q8 Packs a 591-HP Wallop of V-8 Power
Audi’s new super SUV is the first non-car for the RS brand and the product is much more than sticking RS badges on a Q8. Built on the same MLB platform as the Urus, Porsche Cayenne, and Bentley Bentayga it out-sleeks them all. No fighter-jet cues, no ridiculous chrome grilles, no 911 affectations. Compared to the Q8, there are subtle exterior changes to the grille, the rear bumper, a longer spoiler coming off the roof, and available 23-inch wheels.
A Proper Big Gun
Thanks to the family’s 4.0-liter twin-turbocharged V-8 and eight-speed automatic combo, the 591-hp RS Q8 should run a 60 time of 3.6 seconds and hit up to 190 mph, according to Audi’s tests. That’s 50 horses up on the Porsche Cayenne Turbo and 50 short of the Urus. Punch the accelerator and the RS Q8’s turbochargers wake in an instant, the thrust hits, and the standard air suspension squats hard onto its hind quarters, the nose lifts, and hang on kids we’re going places. All-wheel drive assures the repeatability of this exercise and that the Q8’s horses turn to speed. It’s silly fun, a little ridiculous too. Size, mass, power, and the danger inherent in that cocktail are always crowd pleasers. If you go to the circus without the hope that the elephants will trample their handlers, I don’t want to go to the circus with you.
Tech-Savvy Chassis
To keep this big cutey from trampling anything, Audi throws all of its most advanced chassis gear. Ride-height adjustable air suspension and rear-axle steering are standard. Options include obscenely large carbon-ceramic rotors shared with the Urus, a torque-vectoring rear differential, and electronically controlled 48-volt anti-roll bars that flatten the curves and make you believe in SUVs that handle.
There’s a non-threatening attitude to the RS Q8 that makes speed easy. No untoward moves, no weirdness near the limit. We only found issue with the optional carbon-ceramics that are also available on the Urus and Cayenne. They’re huge, 17.3-inches in front and pinched by 10-piston calipers. But a light move on the brake doesn’t do much and if you’re in stop-and-go traffic you’ll creep alarmingly close to the car in front of you. Push on and you’ll send yourself into the belts.
A quick-ratio steering rack is nicely matched to the suspension’s ability to react and it lulls you into the belief that an SUV can be a sports car. At higher speeds, the four-wheel steering stabilizes the handling, so that 190 mph doesn’t seem like a bad idea at all. Those wide 295/35R23 tires keep hanging in there and test just how comfortable you are with approaching 1.00 g at SUV height. Audi pushed hard enough to make the RS Q8 the quickest production SUV to ever lap the Nürburgring Nordschleife.
Bits and Baubles
The interior doesn’t stray too far from the Q8’s. RS seats with an integrated headrest and puffier lateral bolsters are there to hold you in. The seats cushions are stitched in the characteristic RS lattice pattern that’s also on the grille. A digital gauge cluster is standard and has an RS mode that gives you a digital tachometer whose shape reminded us of the strip tachometer on the 1984 Corvette. A head-up display shows the same information.
Even though the RS Q8 will only come with an automatic, the clear tachometer is a nice touch since we found that the transmission isn’t as aggressive with downshifts as it is in the Porsche Cayenne Turbo. Under braking for a corner, it often selects too high a gear despite being in Dynamic mode and the automatic in Sport mode. We reached for the paddles for better control and so the hockey-stick-shaped tachometer became relevant for upshifts since the power from the V-8 charges right into the redline and the engine never sounds like it’s under any sort of duress.
No official pricing yet as the RS Q8 is about a half year away from dealers, but we’d wager that the experience will start at about $125,000. That’s about where the Porsche Cayenne Turbo starts too. The Audi is the prettier beast, but some shoppers might value the Porsche name more. But really, what’s in a name?
Source: Reviews - aranddriver.com
