Click the image above for a high-res gallery.
We've all watched the ALMS Porsche RS Spyder in racing, read the reviews about Porsche's track-ready 997 GT3 RS, and checked out the new Boxster RS 60 Spyder. Maybe some of us (Porschephiles?) have even dreamed about someday owning a classic 1973 911 Carrera RS (pictured above). Porsche's "RS" designation stands for "Renn Sport," or racing, and it is reserved for the highest performing models in the company's lineup.
Wait a second. Doesn't Audi also offer a slew of "RS" models too? They have their hot RS4, RS6, and the lightweight RS8. Now they have plans to bring out a high-performance version of the TT to be called the TT RS...
Not so fast, the team at Porsche is saying. Naming it the "TT RS" is stepping over that thin line drawn in the sand. Furthermore, the "RS" suffix is Porsche's, and it won't be slapped on an Audi anytime soon (especially as Porsche continues to increase its ownership in the Volkswagen Group). Audi may continue to use "RS" as a prefix, but that's about it. Well, that was easy, don't you think?
[Source: Winding Road]
Officially Official: New Ferrari California exposed!
Tweaked 2009 Ford Focus Coupe debuts
Subaru Exiga heading to production, teaser leaks out
Racer dies at Altamont 24 Hours of LeMons
VIDEO: Danica Patrick hits crew member on pit lane at Indy
Future Classic: 1984 Chrysler Minivans
Autoline on Autoblog with John McElroy
First Drive: 2009 Volkswagen Jetta Sportwagen
Project Track Slut, Part One: Pick a weapon on the cheap
By the Numbers: April 2008
_thumbnail.jpg "Lamborghini Reventon unboxed in Las Vegas")
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
rsfourever @ Apr 23rd 2008 1:38PM
this is BS. Porsche is really starting to get on my tits with this whole taking over VAG thing...
first, they try to kill bugatti, then lamborghini, now they're fighting with Audi over lettering? come on! nothing better to do?
LoneWolf @ Apr 23rd 2008 1:41PM
I thought "RS" belonged to Chevrolet?
JP @ Apr 23rd 2008 1:48PM
Acura aslo used it in the past. So has Mitsubishi.
Fred @ Apr 23rd 2008 2:16PM
The RS for the Camaro meant something different (i.e. Rally Sport).
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think Audi is using the RS with the same meaning attached to it.
Will @ Apr 23rd 2008 2:36PM
Subaru Impreza 2.5RS anyone?
tankd0g @ Apr 23rd 2008 3:07PM
KIA is going to be pissed someone is trying to bank off the fine name of the Rio RS.
Seoultrain @ Apr 23rd 2008 1:41PM
I thought they were the same company. Are they really wasting time with this?
Bill Montgomery @ Apr 23rd 2008 2:06PM
Exactly. What's the point with all of this. Its all wasted $$$ on their own internal quibles within the same company. Audi should just leave the TT as RS-TT and be done with it. Goes fine with RS2 (that Porsche jointly reproduced with Audi) RS4, RS5, RS6, and upcoming RS8? I could care less whether the RS precedes or follows the model name. Who cares...
prolix21 @ Apr 23rd 2008 1:50PM
i think porches lawyer is named Tyler Durden
mk @ Apr 23rd 2008 1:46PM
It does seem a little superficial.
But Porsche has been on the other side, too.
The original 911 was supposed to be named 901. Peugeot bashed them saying that their x0x naming scheme, (middle zero, with digits on either side) was being violated.
Porsche, however, did have 904 and 906 race car designations.
BMW has gone after Infiniti for the use of the letter M
If, like most european companies, your brand identity is tied up in alpha-numerics, the only definition you have is the formatting, and they do fight tooth and nail over it, so not to confuse the matter any further than it is already confusing.
prolix21 @ Apr 23rd 2008 1:54PM
I can understand the rights over their various lettering/numbering schema's, but trying to prevent everyone from using RS as a suffix seems a bit petty. As stated by others here, its used by everyone from Chevy to Acura, why not go after them as well?
Or maybe Audi is the one doing it to pick a fight.. this whole VW/Porsche thing is a bit nuts
993C4S @ Apr 24th 2008 12:06AM
The issue with Peugeot and Porsche was only around the French market. However, at the time, France was one of (if not the) most important market for Porsche. As a result the model line was changed globally. So, in effect, we have the French to thank for the model designation of 911 :-)
Imagine the irony of the Germans having to worry about upsetting the French....
Ben @ Apr 23rd 2008 1:48PM
"RS" belongs to Ford. =]
rsfourever @ Apr 23rd 2008 2:13PM
lolol
John Johnson @ Apr 23rd 2008 1:48PM
They're gonna love the Aston Martin V12 Vanquish RS then, eh?
Allan @ Apr 23rd 2008 1:49PM
Makes sense to me.
They use it as a suffix. Audi uses it as a prefix. This example shows Audi going outside of that established pattern - I'd be upset too. Same company family or not.
I'm sure Audi isn't doing it just to piss Porsche off or anything, but they should know better, IMO.
rsfourever @ Apr 23rd 2008 2:15PM
they are not doing haphazardly. the Audi TT is based (in name, at least), on the NSU TT model from the 70s. There was a more powerful model, called the NSU TTS back then as well.
this is why they went with TTS instead of STT. In going with that nomenclature, they should go with TTRS and not RSTT. Can't have TTS and then RSTT...
mk @ Apr 23rd 2008 1:50PM
Subaru also has used it...
2.5RS
Pretty sure the R is for Rally, there.
tanooki2003 @ Apr 23rd 2008 1:57PM
My first ever Mitsubishi Eclipse (gen 1) was an eclipse RS.
Aside from that why would anyone fight for the RS name? For all we know RS could mean Really Slow, just like the SE could mean Slow Edition as once coined by Ford Probe haters back in the day.
Aetius @ Apr 23rd 2008 2:05PM
You mean Audi R8...not RS8...