Performance gap between this SUV and RSQ8 much closer than R600k price gap suggests.
German passenger car model hierarchy works on a straight-forward concept. Most of the time anyway.
At the low end of the scale there are garden variety models offering everyday comfort. At the opposite end are the hardcore machines built for performance and much deeper pockets.
Lingering between the two poles are “lesser” performance models offering an arrangement of both bouquets. A BMW M340i has more oomph than a 330i, but is more comfortable than the M3 – the 3 Series’ pukka M car. A Mercedes-AMG A35 finds itself in similar territory. It punches much harder than an A200, but plays second fiddle to the beastlier AMG A45. Over in the Audi stable, the S badge does that job. The S3 for example is positioned between an A3 and RS3.
Ingolstadt nomenclature
In Ingolstadt speak, S stands for Sport and pioneered the Four Rings’ performance passenger offerings in the early 1990s. Joining its portfolio a few years later was the RS badge, short for the German word RennSport which translates to “racing sport”. With its rich racing heritage, it makes perfect sense to use this moniker on the road-legal machinery that often incorporates technology straight from the race track.
But just when we thought we had it all figured out, the Audi SQ8 Black Edition arrived at The Citizen Motoring’s offices for a weeklong stay. Having tested its magnificent sibling, the RSQ8, the flagship of the Audi coupe-styled SUV portfolio back in April, how good could its numerical inferior sibling possibly be? Much to our surprise, very good. In fact, so good it has a case of being a better buy than the RSQ8.
Key to this statement is its superb 4.0-litre V8 twin-turbo petrol engine. A mill it shares with its distinguished Volkswagen Group stable siblings like the Porsche Cayenne, Lamborghini Urus and Bentley Bentayga. And of course, its big Ingolstadt brother, albeit in a lower state of tune.
Audi SQ8 punches above its weight
In the Audi SQ8, the engine produces 373kW of power and 770Nm of torque sent to all four wheels via eight-speed tiptronic transmission. The mill makes a significant 98kW/110Nm more in the RSQ8 which uses the same box to route its 471kW/880Nm to all four corners via Audi’s quattro system.
According to Audi’s claimed 0 to 100km/h numbers, one of them punched above its weight during Road Test Editor Mark Jones’ high-performance test while the other performed slightly underwhelming. Either way, we could never have guessed that the SQ8’s sprint time of 4.03 seconds would be so close to the RSQ8’s time of 3.82 seconds. For the record, Ingolstadt claims a sprint time of 3.6 seconds for the RSQ8 and 4.1 for the SQ8.
And it’s not that the SQ8 has a huge weight advantage over its big brother. At 2 179kg, it is only 35kg lighter than the RSQ8.
The SQ8’s quarter mile time of 12.30 was only 0.32 seconds slower than the RSQ8, a gap that increased to 0.57 seconds when it clocked 19.45 at the half mile mark. Both are limited to 250km/h, with the RSQ8 that can be configured to reach 305km/h.
Bragging rights
To put the Audi SQ8’s performance further into context, is its superior showing compared to the Porsche Cayenne GTS Coupe. The latter also rides on the Volkswagen Group MLB Evo platform with it’s 4.0-litre V8 twin-turbo mill sending 368kW/660Nm to all four wheels via eight-speed tiptronic transmission.
Of course there are much heavier hitters in the Cayenne stable, but it’s 0 to 100km/h of 4.41 seconds is rather sluggish compared to the SQ8. And again, it’s not weight as the Porsche at 2 222kg is just 41kg heavier than the Audi SQ8.
Apart from standard ceramic brake discs, the SQ8 and RSQ8 are virtually the same under the skin. Both feature all-wheel steering, adaptive air suspension, sport differential and electromechanical active roll stabilisation. They even sound very alike. While the SQ8 does not come standard with a sports exhaust like the RSQ8, an flap on each tailpipe help create impressive exhaust notes right from start-up.
In terms of looks, we felt that the SQ8 we sampled looked more imposing than the RSQ8 we had. The Chili Red hue along with the black accents provided by the Black Edition is a sight for sore eyes. And very much on par with the Cayenne GTS Coupe’s in terms of in-your-face brashness. In comparison our RSQ8 clad in Daytona Grey Pearlescent paintwork looked as unassuming as a performance car can ever wish to be.
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Luxury lounge inside
Inside, both are equally plush with sporty touches like a sports steering wheel, alloy pedals and red contrast stitching on the black leather. The RSQ8 did however feature a generous amount of Alcantara and Dinamica micro-fibres touches throughout the cabin.
Like the RSQ8, the SQ8 comes with 10.1-inch infotainment system, 8.6-inch climate control panel and 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster with Bang & Olufsen 3D Premium audio system, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. And all the safety systems under the sun.
The bottom line is probably the dealbreaker in our opinion. Starting at a price of R2 675 500, the Audi SQ8 is almost R600 000 more affordable than the RSQ8. With a price gap like that you’d expect a bigger gap in performance between a so-called lesser performance SUV and a true heavyweight that’s on par with its M and AMG rivals.
The SQ8 is in essence an RS in anything but name, at the price of an S.
Audi SQ8 road test results
