Audi RS Q8

Audi’s fastest and most aggressive SUV ever has set two Nurburgring lap records – and now it’s been given even more power

With 631bhp, the twin-turbocharged 4.0-litre petrol V8 beneath the bonnet of the new Audi RS Q8 is the most powerful combustion engine ever offered in an Audi Sport model, eclipsing the 621bhp tune of the same engine in the RS6 Avant and RS7 Sportback. Given that there’s no electrical hybrid boost here, it’s a pleasingly old-school achievement worthy of some celebration – even if you might prefer Audi Sport’s most potent engine to be offered in a fast estate or coupé, rather than a hulking great big 2.3-tonne SUV. Even if the power hike keeps pace with the 628bhp BMW X6 M Competition and 626bhp Range Rover Sport SV, you might wonder why. After all, the 592bhp offered in the standard RS Q8 is enough for 0-62mph in 3.8sec and for us to describe it as ‘physics-bashing’. Well, if you could strap Albert Einstein into this Performance version and give him a hot lap of the Nürburgring, where the RS Q8 Performance has just set a 7min 36.698sec SUV lap record, he might start questioning his theories.

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