Has the soul of a sports car
When you put an RS badge on an Audi, it has to live up to a higher standard. During development, the RS models have to complete 8,000 test kilometers on the Nürburgring Nordschleife. That’s a big burden on tires, brakes and cooling systems, especially for a heavy SUV, but that’s exactly what you get with the 2025 Audi RS Q8 Performance. It’s a crossover SUV with the soul of a sports car.
The RS Q8 Performance is a crossover coupe modeled after the BMW I recently drove it for a week after driving the lowered SQ8 last summer. The SQ8’s performance caught my eye, but the RS Q8 couldn’t hide its performance intentions.
Like the SQ8, the RS Q8 also features five-link independent front and rear suspensions, dampened by adaptive dampers and air springs. The air springs provide the same standard 8.2 inches of ground clearance, which drops to 6.6 inches in Dynamic mode, and the standard rear-axle steering has the same ability to turn up to five degrees relative to the front wheels at low speeds.
However, the differences lie in the tuning and the additional performance equipment. While the SQ8 drove like a mainstream luxury crossover most of the time, the RS Q8 wears its sportiness on its sleeve. From the first corner to the first bump I could tell it was different. It felt stronger in the knees, noticeably counteracted body roll even when driving in the neighborhood, and the suspension felt firmer over bumps.
As I drove it down a winding road in southeastern Wisconsin, its sportiness became even more apparent. The standard active anti-roll bars persistently fought against body roll, making this 5,467-pound crossover feel like a lifted sports sedan. Thanks to a standard 40/60 front/rear power split for the Quattro AWD system, it predictably rotated 180 degrees rearward, much like a rear-wheel-drive vehicle. I was able to compensate for understeer and oversteer simply with the throttle. The 295/35R23 Pirelli P Zero summer performance tires were firm on the road, and the electrically assisted power steering with a quick 13.3:1 ratio provided a pleasantly heavy weight, spontaneous reactions and a good driving feel.
The RS Q8 is also equipped with some of the largest brakes on the market. The carbon ceramic brake discs at the front are 17.3 inches in diameter and are held in place by huge 10-piston calipers. The 14.6-inch rear rotors have six-piston brake calipers. That’s a lot of stopping power, enough to keep this beast away from track speeds time and time again.
The power is also stronger and even more immediate than with the SQ8. In this vehicle, a 4.0-liter twin-turbocharged V8 produces 500 horsepower and 568 pound-feet of torque. Here, however, the same engine makes 631 horsepower and 627 pound-feet of torque, thanks in part to 24.7 psi of turbo boost versus 18.9 psi in the SQ8. The reduced back pressure in the lighter exhaust system also helps the 2025 RS Q8 Performance engine produce 14 horsepower more than the 2024 RS Q8.
The wide and grippy Pirelli tires and standard quattro all-wheel drive dissipate power efficiently, enabling an astonishingly quick 0-60 mph time of 3.4 seconds, 0.7 seconds quicker than the SQ8, according to Audi. It also goes further up to an electronically limited top speed of 300 km/h, which you should try on a racetrack, the highway or on the way to prison.
The way the performance arrives is quite satisfactory. The turbos give it plenty of low-end grunt, so the power feels almost immediate. From there, the speed increases quickly as the eight-speed automatic fires off quick, crisp shifts to keep the Teutonic V8 within its powerband.
How wild the power delivery is depends on the driving mode. Keep it in Auto or Comfort mode and the powertrain will happily stay in the background, plodding along in traffic. However, if you choose dynamic mode, the transmission will hold gears longer and keep the power at full speed, allowing you to react quickly at any time. Even in Dynamic mode, the exhaust system’s baffles open and reveal the rich roar of the silky-smooth V8. The little crackle between the layers is the icing on the cake of the delicious sound quality.
With more power, fuel consumption decreases, but not significantly. The RS Q8 has an EPA rating of 14 mpg city, 20 mpg highway, and 16 mpg combined, while the SQ8 is rated at 15/21/17 mpg. I did a lot of highway driving in my 372 miles behind the wheel of the RS Q8 and achieved decent fuel economy of 19.4 mpg.
The modes also adjust the dampers and stability control. The ride starts off firm but not strenuous, but Dynamic mode results in shakier ups and downs over undulating pavement. Like BMW with its M1 and M2 buttons, Audi provides two programmable modes for the RS Q8. They are called RS1 and RS2 and allow the driver to customize two settings that they can use for different driving situations. A good setup would be to choose a Comfort tune for RS1 and program RS2 with the most aggressive modes for steering, engine sound, powertrain, stability control and all-wheel drive system/rear differential while keeping the dampers in Comfort mode.
Inside there are hardly any differences between the RS Q8 and the SQ8. Space is good, but the coupe body style takes away some space that a Q7 driver would enjoy. My tester came standard with heated and ventilated Valcona leather sports seats with red stitching and a honeycomb pattern and matte carbon twill upholstery.
It also featured the same 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster and stacked 10.1-inch and 8.6-inch touchscreens on the dashboard, responsible for infotainment and climate controls, respectively. It’s a last-gen system that requires long presses to trigger its haptic feedback, but it still feels modern. My tester’s notable amenities included navigation, a Bang & Olufsen audio system, Matrix OLED headlights, four-zone automatic climate control, and a panoramic sunroof.
The 2025 Audi RS Q8 starts at $137,495, including a $1,295 destination charge. For this money you buy a crossover coupe full of technology and luxury, peppered with utility and the soul of a sports car.
Images: Audi
