Audi South Africa has announced local pricing for the long-awaited RS Q8, which slots in at the summit of the German firm’s performance SUV range.
So, how much are you looking at here? Well, the RS Q8 will be priced from R2 354 500 when it officially hits the market at the start of April 2021. In the local Audi range, only the V10-powered R8 is more expensive (at R3 336 000 for the Coupé and R3 592 500 for the Spyder).
As a reminder, the RS Q8’s twin-turbo 4,0-litre V8 delivers 441 kW and 800 N.m (yes, the same peak outputs as the RS6 Avant and RS7 Sportback) to all four wheels via an eight-speed automatic transmission.
That’s enough oomph, says the Ingolstadt-based firm, for a sprint from zero to 100 km/h in just 3,8 seconds (or a mere two-tenths slower than the related 478 kW Lamborghini Urus … which is priced from R3 995 000), with 200 km/h clocked in a claimed 13,7 seconds.
The RS Q8 is electronically limited to 250 km/h … or 280 km/h if you tick the right optional box. Audi says its new RS Q8 is the fastest production SUV to lap the Nürburgring Nordschleife with an official time of 7 minutes and 42,2 seconds.
An adaptive air suspension with controlled damping ships standard, offering RS-specific damper tuning. There’s also an electromechanical active roll stabilisation system as well as all-wheel steering.
The Audi drive select system features seven different profiles (including “allroad” and “offroad”), while individually configurable RS-specific modes (RS1 and RS2) can be activated via a dedicated button on the steering wheel.
Inside, you’ll find special RS displays in the Audi virtual cockpit and MMI display, providing information such as g-force, lap times, temperature, torque and tyre pressure. The shift light prompts the driver to upshift when the rev limit is reached, while an optional head-up display also offers various RS-specific graphics.