Audi R8 vs Audi RS Q8

What's the difference?

The Audi R8 V10 RWD and V10 Performance Quattro have their own personalities. I'm a big fan of the lower-powered rear-wheel drive car, but the Performance is the ultimate here with better brakes and that 330km/h top speed. Either way the R8 is a true supercar, but one that doesn't have to be driven gingerly as though something may break off.

The Audi RS Q8 is every bit as competent as it is striking to look at - and it’s plenty striking to look at. It surely won’t appeal to everyone, but if you’re in the market for a big, boisterous SUV, the Audi ticks plenty of boxes. 

And if you happen to be in the market for a Lamborghini Urus, be sure to drive this before signing on the dotted line...

Lamborghini styling can look over the top, McLarens can sometimes appear delicate and fragile, and Ferraris seem to be everywhere, and even for me, begin to blend into one.

The R8, though, looks exactly how an Audi supercar should look – understated, tough and serious. Have you seen that Audi advert with the R8 on a dyno not wearing any pants? That sounds ridiculous but Google it because it sums up what the R8 is – a real car with a raw race car underneath, that's meant to be driven comfortably on the road and hard on a race track and the styling indicates that intent with little in the way of fanfare.

Well, there is that big window at the back which shows off the engine and the 'side blades' that surround the large vents carved into the side of the car to cool the engine.

The latest update has taken the design from the second-gen car which arrived in 2016 and added a new grille, front bumper, door sills and vents in the rear bumper. It's a more angular, sharper, and busier design with more vents and winglets than ever.

The R8 V10 RWD and R8 V10 Performance are close to identical in their styling. You can pick the Performance by its gloss carbon front spoiler, side sills, mirror caps and rear diffuser. The RWD has gloss black elements instead.

Which looks best: the Coupe or Spyder? That's a personal thing, but I reckon race cars need to have a hardtop roof, so it's the coupe for me, please.

Built using the 'Audi Space Frame' which weighs only 200kg, the R8 is 4426mm long and just 1240mm tall, but at 1940mm across it has a wide, planted stance.

It looks plenty striking, the RS Q8, especially dressed in the bright green paint work of that harks to its Lamborghini sibling.

There are the massive black-on silver alloys, the bright red brake calipers the size of dinner plates, and the body creases that bulge out over the rear arches like a 1950s’ pin-up model. All of which looks great.

Step around to the rear of the vehicle and you’re greeted with twin exhaust exits bookending a massive textured diffuser, a single light LED that splits the multi-globe LEDS, and the slick roof spoiler.

It’s the front-on view, though, that’s the most imposing, with a black meshed grille that looks as big as a hatchback, two LED-filled slimline headlights and massive side venting.

Climb into the cabin and you’re met by a wall of leather and technology, not to mention a sense of immense space.

Everything is digital and touch activated, of course, and yet it doesn’t feel garish and overdone.

The R8 is a two-seater supercar and practicality isn't high on its 'to do' list with limited cabin storage in the form door pockets almost as small as my jeans pockets, two cupholders hiding under a trapdoor in the centre armrest, a hidey hole in front of the shifter containing a wireless charger and two USB ports and the glove box.

As for the boot – there are two: one in the nose with a 112-litre cargo capacity and another behind the mid-mounted engine with 226 litres.

Room for people, well you and a friend, is excellent. I'm 191cm (6'3") tall with a 2.0m wingspan and found the footwell deep and spacious, while head and shoulder room is also good.

Very damn practical, actually. Which is no great surprise, given the size of the thing, but still impressive when you consider the performance it can conjure. 

It stretches more than 5.0m in length, and those dimensions translate to an absolutely massive cabin, which is actually most noticeable in the backseat, which is gigantic. You can essentially park an Audi A1 back there, such is the space on offer, but you’ll also find two USB ports, a 12-volt power outlet, digital air-con controls and leather as far as the eye can see.

There are two cupholders up front, another two in the pull down divider in the rear, and bottle holders in all doors, as well as ISOFIX attachment points for child seats. 

Storage? Well, there’s lots… The backseat slides forwards or backwards to prioritise space for either passengers or cargo, unlocking 605 litres of luggage room, but with them folded flat, the RS Q8 will deliver 1755L of space. Which is a lot.

It feels a little strange marking such an expensive SUV so highly for value, but the truth is that, comparatively at least, it’s something of a bargain.

As I mentioned above, the key competitor for a car like this is the Lamborghini Urus (which is Audi’s stablemate) and that will set you back close to $400k. The Audi RS Q8? Almost half that, at just $208,500.

See, it’s a steal! For that money you get an engine that could power a small city and the kind of performance kit required to make a 2.2-tonne SUV go around corners at speed. But we’ll come back to all that in a moment.

You also get massive 23-inch alloys wheels outside, with red brake calipers peeking out from behind, as well as RS adaptive air suspension, a qauttro sport differential, all-wheel steering, electronic active roll stabilisation, Matrix LED headlights, a panoramic sunroof, and an RS sport exhaust. 

Inside, you’ll find 'Valcona' leather seats that are heated in both rows, ambient interior lighting, leather everything, automatic sun blinds, illuminated door sills and just about every other piece of kit Audi has in its sizeable grab bag.

On the tech front, you’ll find 'Audi Connect plus' and Audi’s 'Virtual Cockpit', and a 17-speaker Bang and Olufsen 3D sound system that pairs with twin (10.1-inch and 8.6-inch) screens, capping off a seriously tech-heavy cabin. 

There are two grades in the Audi R8 range – the entry-point R8 V10 RWD which has rear-wheel drive (RWD), and the R8 V10 Performance Quattro which has all-wheel drive (AWD).

Both obviously have V10 engines, it's a naturally aspirated 5.2-litre petrol unit (so no turbos here), but the RWD makes less power and torque at 397kW and 540Nm, while the Performance produces 449kW and 560Nm.

The V10 is mounted behind the driver's seat but ahead of the rear axle making it mid-engined car. The engine even has its own window and you can see it in there with its face pressed up against the glass.

There are two body styles as well – the Coupe and Spyder (convertible, roadster, just another word for a retractable soft roof). We'll get to the prices in the next section, but let's talk about the more interesting numbers such as top speeds.

The V10 RWD in coupe form can reach 324km/h and the Spyder can hit 322km/h while the V10 Performance Coupe and Spyder are both a smidge quicker at 330km/h.

Those are all go-straight-to-jail speeds in Australia, so if you're tempted to fact check my numbers then do it on a racetrack. Audi holds excellent track days – I've done them and you'll not only get to drive the R8 as fast as you can, the instructors will help you improve your advanced driving skills, too. Do it, it could save your life.

Acceleration from 0-100km/h is rapid – 3.7 seconds and 3.8 seconds for the V10 RWD Coupe and Spyder respectively, while the V10 Performance Coupe and Spyder can nail it in 3.2 seconds and 3.3 seconds.

The V10 engine has a cylinder-on-demand feature which can shut down five of the cylinders while cruising on a motorway, say at 110km/h. It's a fuel-saving system, but keep in mind this V10 loves petrol and lots of it – I've hidden that all the way down the bottom of this review.

Shifting gears in all R8s is a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission.

The Audi RS Q8’s 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 produces a monstrous 441kW and 800Nm, sent to all four wheels via an eight-speed triptronic automatic.

At more than two tonnes, it’s a lot of car, but that’s also a lot of power, and so the go-fast SUV can produce a cracking sprint to 100km/h of just 3.8 seconds. 

The RS Q8 is also equipped with a 48-volt mild hybrid system that is ostensibly designed to lower fuel use, but is actually more useful at plugging any turbo holes when you really plant your foot.

That's like asking how many calories are in this pavlova that I'm about to push into my mouth? Seriously if you're asking then you shouldn't be eating it – or driving the R8.

But just for the record, according to Audi the RWD R8 uses 12.0L/100km in Coupe form and 12.2L/100km in Spyder guise after a combination of urban and open roads, while the AWD R8 of course will use more at 13.4L/100km for both Coupe and Spyder.

For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction, right? Well the reaction to all that power is a whole lot of fuel use. 

Audi reckons the RS Q8 will sip 12.1L per 100km on the combined cycle, but we suspect that’s wishful thinking. It will also reportedly emit between around 276g/km of C02.

The big SUV is fitted with a huge 85-litre tank.

A race circuit is the best place to test the performance of an Audi R8. I've been lucky enough to have done this in the past, but for this update of the R8 the Australian launch was held on public roads and included a convoy of RS models such as the RS 6 Avant, RS 7, RS Q3 and TT RS.

Even then I think I was 'stitched up' because I began the day in the R8 V10 Performance Coupe but spent almost the entirety of my allocated time in roadworks at 40km/h before swapping to an RS Q3.

So, while I can't honesty comment about the dynamics on this updated R8 V10 Performance Coupe I can tell you that having driven every iteration of the R8 since 2012 that it's a weapon, with helicopter-like visibility out of that large front window.

If, like me, you think turbos are 'cheating' (superchargers are fine), then you'll love the linear power delivery of the R8's naturally aspirated V10, and while I love front-engined sportscars, nothing beats a mid-engined car for the feeling of balance and lightness in the nose while having the sound of thousands of explosions going off just behind your back.

Having AWD is not just great for acceleration and perfect traction from Audi's quattro system, I think it's a good safety feature in a supercar, and while only your judgements can stop things going pear shaped, the system will be there to help on slippery roads.

The following day was different. I was in the R8 V10 RWD, the country roads were superb and while it wasn't a racetrack it was enough to get a hint of the capabilities of the RWD R8.

While the R8 V10 RWD feels the same to sit in with the same great view, it feels different to drive than its faster sibling, in a good way. First there's the noticeable power difference – more than 50kW and 20Nm less – but also the lack of AWD makes the front end feel more pointable, and the car feel more like a traditional sportscar that pushes from behind rather than pulling from the front. Less power, but more fun.

The RS cars in our test convoy were all awesome machines, but stepping out of even the RS6 Avant and slipping down into the R8 cockpit was like getting into a UFO – it's so far ahead dynamically of any other Audi that all I could do was laugh like an idiot. Corners which were making an RS 7 really struggle, were handled effortlessly by the R8. And in a straight line it's a bullet in a barrel.

The Performance has the better brakes: 380mm ceramic discs with six piston calipers up front and 356mm discs with four piston calipers at the rear. The RWD has steel discs – 365mm with eight piston calipers up front and 356mm discs with four piston calipers in the rear.

Keep in mind if you are planning on track days, you'll find the ceramic discs costly to replace, and beside the stopping power of the steel ones is excellent.

And yet, on pot holed course bitumen the ride is a lot more comfortable than you might think and having driven the Performance in traffic it's a much nicer place to sit than the claustrophobic cabin of a McLaren 570S. You could honestly use the R8 daily.

How do you describe the drive experience of the RS Q8? Utterly, utterly surprising.

I’ll give you an example. You approach the hulking SUV, check out its massive alloys wrapped in performance rubber, and you know - just know - that it will ride like a broken billycart on anything but the most silky smooth of road surfaces. 

And yet, it doesn’t. Aided by its clever air suspension (which drops the ride height by 90mm when switching between Off-Road and Dynamic modes), the RS Q8 positively glides ever dodgy road surfaces, stifling lumps and bumps with surprising aplomb. 

So then you think, ok, we’re set up for compliance, so this big behemoth will go around corners with all the dynamism of a spilled bowl of cereal. 

But again, it doesn’t. In fact, the Audi RS Q8 attacks corners with incredible stiffness, the active anti-roll systems weaving their dark magic to keep the towering SUV straight and true, and with barely a hint of body roll.

The grip is ferocious (we’re yet to find its outer limits) and even the steering feels more direct and communicative than in other smaller, ostensibly sportier Audis. 

The result is a tech-heavy spaceship that’s surprisingly easy at slow speeds, and quiet too, even over rough roads. But one that can also activate warp speed at will, leaving smaller cars in its considerable wake on the right stretch of road. 

Downsides? It’s not quite willing to pounce off the line. Sure, it makes up for it in the long haul, but there is a noticeable moment of hesitation, almost as though it’s contemplating its considerably weight, before it finally lunges forward. 

It’s also so competent, so efficient, that it can leave you feeling a little detached from behind the wheel, or like the Audi is doing the heavy lifting for you. 

The RS Q8 gets six airbags, as well as a host of high-tech safety equipment, with Audi pretty much throwing everything its got at its new performance flagship.

Think adaptive cruise with stop and go, lane guidance assistance, active lane assist, blind-spot monitoring and a 360-degree parking camera. You also get a parking system, pre-sense rear for nose-to-tail collisions, and an AEB system that works at up to 85km/h for pedestrians and 250km/h for vehicles.

There’s also collies avoidance assist, rear cross-traffic alert, intersection crossing assist, and an exit warning system. 

Don’t expect Audi to crash an RS Q8 anytime soon, but the regular Q8 recorded a full five stars when ANCAP tested in 2019.

The R8 is covered by Audi's three-year, unlimited kilometre warranty which not only falls behind in duration compared to mainstream brands but also its direct rival Mercedes-Benz which now has five-year, unlimited kilometre coverage.

Service intervals are every 12 months or 15,000km but unlike other Audi models there isn't a three-year or five-year plan available.

All Audi’s are covered by a three year, unlimited kilometre warranty, and require annual servicing. Audi will allow you to prepay the first five years of service costs for $4060.