The Audi RS Q8 is the quickest Audi SUV to date and gets even quicker with a small power bump for the 2025 model year. But being the fastest combustion engine Audi Sport vehicle ever also pushes it closer to cannibalizing sales of the Lamborghini Urus. What’s new for the 2025 Audi RS Q8, and how does it compare to other super SUVs?
2025 Audi RS Q8 outperforms the former top dog, the 621-hp Audi RS 6 Avant Performance
The RS Q8 Performance relies on a familiar twin-turbo V8 engine, but it makes the most power yet. 631 horsepower and 627 pound-feet of torque power all four wheels via Quattro all-wheel drive and an eight-speed Tiptronic automatic transmission.
Audi says the super SUV will scramble from zero to 60 mph in 3.4 seconds and will eventually attain an electronically-limited top speed of 190 mph.
Audi
Of course, the RS Q8 comes with plenty of goodies that set it apart from regular versions of the SUV. Fancier Matrix-design headlights and carbon ceramic brakes are now standard, and the new Q8 gets a revised front grille and OLED taillights.
Audi says that new forged 23-inch wheels save 11 pounds per corner compared to the 22-inchers. Nearly 50 pounds of un-sprung weight is hardly ignorable, especially considering the relative bargain price of $1,500.
2025 RS Q8 starts at $100K less than the mechanically similar Lamborghini Urus
The RS Q8 Performance shares its 4.0-liter V8 engine with the Lamborghini Urus, and, under the sheet metal, they’re more alike than different.
Both are built on VW’s MLB Evo platform, share some screens and much of their switchgear, and utilize much of the same performance hardware, like the monstrous carbon ceramic brakes.
Audi
Since Lamborghini’s inception of the Urus, parallels have been easy to draw between the RS Q8 and the second-ever Lamborghini SUV. Audi says the new RS Q8 starts at $136,200, which is roughly $100,000 off from the entry-level (if you can call it that) Urus S’ price of $233,853.
Even a fully-loaded RS Q8, which includes extraneous options like Night Vision and a $7,100 carbon package “only” hits $163,390.
Far be it from us to call a nearly $170,000 SUV a bargain, but with a little bit of proper framing, you’re not far off.
For example, the car costs considerably less than the $200K+ Porsche Cayenne Turbo GT. BMW’s polarizing XM SUV is slower and starts at $159,000 before you check a single option box.
On the other hand, the sportier X5 M and X6 M are arguably a better direct comparison, and they start at $124,800.
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Audi
Audi
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Final thoughts
The Audi RS Q8 Performance picks up right where last year’s model left off. Blistering performance figures and some new standard hardware make it easy to say this year’s model will be better than the last.
Competition has a way of making everyone better – and that’s why the Urus now comes with a plug-in hybrid powertrain making 789 horsepower. If that’s the only “bad news” from all of this, we’ll consider ourselves lucky.
About the author
Steven Paul
Contributing Writer, Autoblog