2022 Audi RS Q8 Review

Audi has lately focused on expanding its e-tron family of electric vehicles, but there's still plenty of life left in the brand's gasoline-powered models. One of the most compelling, at least for performance enthusiasts, is the 2022 Audi RS Q8.

Based on the company's flagship SUV, the five-passenger Q8, the RS Q8 looks the part with its black grille, oversized air intakes, massive wheels fronting red brake calipers, and aggressive, forward-leaning stance. Yet, as is Audi tradition, the overall result remains a subtle rather than bold acknowledgement of the mechanical fury roiling just beneath the RS Q8's chiseled surface.

A turbocharged V8 engine makes nearly 600 horsepower, delivers 60 mph in an Audi-claimed 3.7 seconds, and tops the SUV out at an artificially limited 155 mph. Naturally, Quattro all-wheel drive is standard. Expectedly, the RS Q8 never met a gas station it didn't like, and it prefers to slurp from the premium pump. Still, this SUV is a mild hybrid equipped with a 48-volt electrical system that incrementally improves fuel economy.

Five people can fit into the RS Q8, and despite its rakishly handsome roofline, the cargo area can hold up to 60.7 cubic feet of cargo. Remarkably, that's not much less than the larger Audi SQ7 can handle. But if you need a third-row seat for occasional use, the SQ7 is the way to go.

Audi packages the 2022 RS Q8 one way: well equipped. Everything is standard aside from a handful of stand-alone upgrades and option packages. A twin-turbocharged 4.0-liter V8 engine (591 horsepower, 590 lb-ft of torque) lives under the hood, transferring its output to all four wheels through an eight-speed automatic transmission.