- audi's upcoming rs q8 suv lapped the nürburgring in 7:42, which is seven seconds faster than the previous record.
- we believe that the rs q8 will be powered by the twin-turbocharged 4.0-liter v-8 found in the rs 6 and rs 7.
- an official reveal date for audi's new performance suv is yet to be set, but we think it will soon.
audi sport boss stephan winkelmann told c/d in 2017 that we would be seeing several new rs suvs in the future, but since then we’ve only seen the rs q3—which we can’t even get in the u.s. but now we know that one of these upcoming sporty crossovers will be fast, as the yet-to-be-revealed rs q8 is now the fastest suv around the nürburgring nordschleife.
according to a video released on the nürburgring’s youtube channel, driver frank strippler took the audi around the green hell in 7:42. that’s seven seconds faster than the mercedes-amg glc63, which was the previous record holder.
we're pretty sure that the rs q8 will be powered by the twin-turbocharged 4.0-liter v-8 partnered with a 48-volt hybrid system that’s found in the new rs 6 and rs 7. it produces 591 horsepower and 590 lb-ft of torque in those applications. audi has hinted to us that the rs q8 will be coming to the u.s. market, so it should join both those models on our shores sometime next year.
so far we’ve just seen shadowy images of the future rs lineup as part of a teaser campaign by audi sport showing its upcoming models (the rs q8 is on the far right in the image). an official debut is yet to be set, but we can expect it to be soon.