Thursday 14 November 2024 2:54 pm | Updated: Thursday 14 November 2024 2:55 pm

Audi RS E-Tron GT Performance review: With great power…

My knuckles wrap white around the roll cage as the car slews violently sideways then slingshots onto the main straight. A mechanical war cry bursts forth as the driver rams the graunchy manual lever into third gear, then fourth, then back to third, each shift punctuated by the giddy chirrup of a dump valve.

I’m riding shotgun in an Audi Sport Quattro S1, the car that dominated Group B rallying in the mid-1980s. With its shortened wheelbase, enormous ‘cow catcher’ front spoiler and towering rear wing, this E2 version has the visual decorum of a clenched fist – and brutal performance to match. Raced by Walter Röhrl in period, its turbocharged five-cylinder engine develops up to 600hp and blasts this 1,090kg brute to 62mph in 3.1 seconds.

The Quattro S1 is an unapologetic and glorious assault on the senses. Yet the Audi I climb into afterwards easily outguns it, while also being luxurious, refined and road-legal. It can sync with your smartphone, then embarrass the rally legend in a straight-line sprint. Brace yourself, then, for the new RS E-Tron GT Performance: the quickest and most powerful production car Audi has ever built.

Absolute power? Absolutely

First launched in 2020, the Audi E-Tron GT has received a midlife makeover, mirroring updates to the closely related Porsche Taycan.

There’s a bigger 105kWh battery, faster charging (up to 320kW) and new two-chamber air suspension. A three-tier range now comprises the 680hp S E-tron GT, 856hp RS and 925hp RS Performance. Yes, you read that right: nine hundred and twenty five horsepower.

For context, I spent a week with a pre-facelift RS E-Tron GT last summer, which mustered a relatively modest 646hp – less than the new entry-level ‘S’. Not for one moment did I think: ‘What this car really needs is 50 percent more power’ and yet here we are: in a strange new world where a four-door Audi saloon can humble hypercars.

Despite weighing in at 2,320kg – more than two S1 Quattros – the RS E-Tron GT Performance can blitz to 62mph in 2.5 seconds: level-pegging with a modern F1 car. A full-bore, launch-control start feels like the drop on a roller coaster, or an emergency stop in reverse. It’s a physical, borderline violent experience that your internal organs won’t thank you to repeat.

More usefully, the E-Tron GT’s new, more energy-dense battery also means a big boost in range: up from 294 miles in the outgoing RS to 364 miles here. Find a 350kW charger (such as those operated by the Ionity network) and filling up from 10-80 percent takes just 18 minutes.

Inside the Audi RS E-Tron GT Performance

I could live without the marbled Carbon Camouflage trim (similar to the Forged Carbon that Lamborghini used on the Huracan Performante), but Audi has wisely left the E-Tron GT’s styling almost unchanged. Sleek, muscular and crackling with high-voltage menace, it’s more handsome than the Porsche Taycan – and a much rarer sight on UK roads, too.

Pull the door handle and the Audi does a passable impression of a lowrider in a rap video, its active air suspension lifting the entire car to almost SUV altitude to make access easier. Close the door and it immediately hunkers back down again.

Inside, you’ll discover a cosseting cabin that feels worthy of the E-Tron GT’s six-figure asking price (unlike the Taycan, there’s no base RWD version, so the range starts at £107,730). A pleasingly modest 10.1-inch central touchscreen is supplemented by proper physical buttons, along with Audi’s 12.3-inch Virtual Cockpit driver display.

Space in the front is generous, but the GT’s dramatic, tapering roofline means rear-seat passengers aren’t so well catered for. A 350-litre boot is no bigger than most family hatchbacks, either.

Electric engagement

Threading through the overgrown lanes of Oxfordshire, the Audi’s width occasionally caused a sharp intake of breath (at 2,158mm including mirrors, it’s only slightly slimmer than a Range Rover). That aside, however, it does a remarkable job of shrugging off its size and weight.

On 21-inch wheels, the ride seems fractionally tauter than a Taycan, albeit still very comfortable. And the payoff is inertia-crushing responsiveness and iron-fisted body control. The self-levelling suspension actively resists roll without making the car feel artificial or unpredictable, keeping its Pirelli P Zero tyres planted and allowing you to use more of that performance, more of the time.

Audi says the E-Tron GT’s steering ratio is identical to the Taycan and, from behind the wheel, the cars seem more closely aligned than ever. Whichever you prefer, they dismantle the argument that EVs can’t be engaging to drive.

Left and right brain do battle

It’s worth noting that, like many high-powered EVs, the E-Tron GT only develops its maximum 925hp output when you activate launch control. Most of the time, you have to make do with ‘only’ 748hp, although a bright red ‘Boost’ button on the steering wheel delivers an additional 94hp for 10 seconds.

In the classic Quattro S1, full power arrives in a sudden and frenzied blast of boost. Here, it’s a smooth and progressive rush, with no turbo lag or gear changes to worry about, making it far easier to manage. Indeed, you acclimatise surprisingly quickly to all that thrust underfoot, enjoying the elastic acceleration and sheer sense of omnipotence.

Do you really need 925hp? Of course not, and my (logical) left brain would tell you the 680hp S E-Tron is already more than adequate. Then again, my (emotive) right brain enjoyed the Performance as much as any EV I’ve experienced. It combines comfort and effortless cross-country pace like the best GT cars – and offers the range and charging speed to make long journeys a (potentially) painless prospect.

Verdict: Audi RS E-Tron GT Performance

The market is unconvinced about high-end EVs: witness the number of cheap, unsold Porsche Taycans in the classifieds, or the number of car manufacturers backtracking on plans to go entirely electric.

So there’s no way around it: buying an electric Audi for £143,780 inevitably means taking a big hit when it comes to depreciation – or finance payments that reflect a steep loss in value. Perhaps the answer is to wait a couple of years and snap up a second-hand bargain.

To put it another way, though, the flagship E-Tron GT offers more performance and comparable comfort to a Bentley Continental GT Speed and costs nearly £100,000 less. Seen in that context, perhaps it’s not so expensive after all.