Filed under: Audi, Porsche, Volkswagen
Sibling Rivalry: Porsche and Audi fight over 'RS' name
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?
Gallery: 2007 Porsche RS Spyder
[Source: Winding Road]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
rsfourever 1:38PM (4/23/2008)
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?
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LoneWolf 1:41PM (4/23/2008)
I thought "RS" belonged to Chevrolet?
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JP 1:48PM (4/23/2008)
Acura aslo used it in the past. So has Mitsubishi.
Fred 2:16PM (4/23/2008)
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 2:36PM (4/23/2008)
Subaru Impreza 2.5RS anyone?
tankd0g 3:07PM (4/23/2008)
KIA is going to be pissed someone is trying to bank off the fine name of the Rio RS.
Seoultrain 1:41PM (4/23/2008)
I thought they were the same company. Are they really wasting time with this?
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Bill Montgomery 2:06PM (4/23/2008)
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 1:50PM (4/23/2008)
i think porches lawyer is named Tyler Durden
mk 1:46PM (4/23/2008)
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.
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prolix21 1:54PM (4/23/2008)
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 12:06AM (4/24/2008)
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 1:48PM (4/23/2008)
"RS" belongs to Ford. =]
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rsfourever 2:13PM (4/23/2008)
lolol
John Johnson 1:48PM (4/23/2008)
They're gonna love the Aston Martin V12 Vanquish RS then, eh?
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Allan 1:49PM (4/23/2008)
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.
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rsfourever 2:15PM (4/23/2008)
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 1:50PM (4/23/2008)
Subaru also has used it...
2.5RS
Pretty sure the R is for Rally, there.
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tanooki2003 1:57PM (4/23/2008)
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.
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Aetius 2:05PM (4/23/2008)
You mean Audi R8...not RS8...
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