Anyone who knows me knows I love a good silly performance SUV. The reveal of the original Porsche Cayenne was a formative moment for me, as it marked a real turning point in the evolution of the industry. Plus, I thought it was just awesome. In the two decades since the market has exploded, with companies like Aston Martin, Jaguar, Lamborghini and Ferrari all getting in on the action.
Things get really ridiculous when these SUVs go after track times, and the Nürburgring record holder is a bit of a surprising one. Last summer, a 2025 Audi RS Q8 Performance set a time of 7:36.698 at the Nordschleife with Frank Stippler at the wheel, a couple seconds ahead of the lighter and more powerful Porsche Cayenne Turbo GT and six seconds faster than the pre-facelift RS Q8. You may be wondering, “Why would anyone want to track their RS Q8?” Well, after getting to drive the new RS Q8 on the roads of northeastern Spain and on track at Circuit Parcmotor Castellolí, I have an answer: It’s genuinely fun as hell.
Full disclosure: Audi flew me to Barcelona and brought me to Sitges to drive the 2025 RS Q8 Performance and 2025 RS3 on track and on the region’s wonderful mountain roads.
As with the RS6, the updated RS Q8 will only be offered in the Performance trim in the U.S., which is new for 2025. It’s powered by the same twin-turbo 4.0-liter V8 used by its platform-mates the Bentley Bentayga, Lamborghini Urus and Porsche Cayenne, now with 631 horsepower and 627 pound-feet of torque, an improvement of 40 hp and 37 lb-ft over the old non-Performance model and close to the power levels you get from the top-end Lambo and Porsche. That power is directed to all four wheels through an 8-speed automatic transmission and a mechanical center differential that can send up to 85 percent of torque to the rear axle. Audi quotes a 0-to-60-mph time of 3.4 seconds, three-tenths quicker than before. At the beginning of every lap, we get to do a standing start using launch control, and the RS Q8 accelerates with greater intensity and sense of speed than the RS6.
Other enhancements for the Performance model include a lighter and louder exhaust system and revised tuning for the adaptive air suspension and 48-volt active anti-roll stabilization. The RS Q8 Performance comes standard with humongous carbon-ceramic brakes (more on those later), and newly optional 23-inch forged wheels that reduce unsprung mass by almost 11 pounds at each corner. That’s right, if you want the lightest setup and the best performance, you gotta get 23s. Also included is rear-axle steering that can turn up to 5 degrees at low speeds for better maneuverability or 1.5 degrees in phase for high-speed agility.
On the tight mountain roads outside Sitges, the RS Q8 is almost certainly too big in terms of physical size, mainly the width and 5,467-pound weight, but it’s far more nimble and fun than you’d expect. The RS Q8’s steering is surprisingly good — especially compared to other new Audis — offering a good amount of feedback and lightness without being twitchy. All of that chassis tech keeps it planted in corners, and it rotates easily with even a bit of cheeky oversteer at times if the car is in the RS drive mode. Making small corrections or adjustments mid-corner doesn’t upset the car at all, and with the 295/35 summer tire setup there’s so much grip you’d have to be driving really, really quickly and stupidly to run into a problem.
There’s always a wave of power immediately available as peak torque comes in at 2,300 rpm, and the closer that V8 gets to its 6,800-rpm redline the more exciting it all feels. The 8-speed automatic transmission isn’t the most thrilling on the market, but it fires off shifts quickly and does a great job predicting when to downshift. Whether I’m in the twisties or cruising back to our hotel on the highway the RS Q8 also provides a refined and comfortable ride, and despite having less sound deadening than the old non-Performance model, it’s still quite quiet inside.
Everything I’ve talked about is even better on track. Castellolí is a riot, full of hairpins and multi-apex corners, elevation changes and some blind crests, and the RS Q8 is shockingly well suited for it. Yes, it’s heavy and big and tall, but it attacks each bend with ease and rockets out of them at higher speeds than the much smaller and lighter RS3 I take on track later. I can’t help but burst out into laughter at some points, like when I step on the gas while midway through a corner, clipping the apex as the tail kicks out, or when I attack a cone chicane at a speed that would make a supercar blush.
Perhaps the most impressive part of the RSQ8 is its carbon brakes. 17.3-inch discs are paired with 10-piston calipers up front while the rears have 14.6-inch discs with single-piston calipers, which are the largest on any production car (a claim shared by the Q8’s siblings). The stoppers go a long way toward making me feel confident and fast behind the wheel. Our instructor assures us that we can brake much later than we think, and he’s right — in my first lap I brake too early and carry way too little speed into the corners, so on the next lap I trust myself and the car more, and it pays off. There’s barely a sideways shimmy or nose dive when I slam on the brakes, and even after repeated laps there is zero fade or change in performance. The pedal feel is great, too. The brakes also feel linear and smooth when driving in traffic, which is typically a sore point for carbon-ceramics.
The RS Q8 is already a handsome car, so for the 2025 model year facelift, Audi hasn’t messed with success. For $7,100 you can now spec a package that, in addition to those 23s in matte black, adds matte carbon-fiber trim to a lot of the exterior, including the massive single-frame grille surround that has been redesigned along with larger bumper intakes. While not usually my thing, I will admit it looks pretty awesome, though I’m sad every RS Q8 Performance has a black grille surround and other bits instead of the bright aluminum trim typical of Audi RS models. Other tweaked styling bits include a new diffuser and redesigned lights with OLEDs in the rear.
Inside, not much has changed. You can now get the RS Design Package Plus that adds lots of Alcantara upholstery and red accents to the seats, dashboard, steering wheel, door cards and other panels (and a bunch of RS logos, too) but otherwise, it looks pretty much the same as the pre-facelift Q8. I’m still not the biggest fan of Audi’s infotainment, but it’s easy to use, and there are some cool new shift lights and other performance pages that are viewable in the 12.3-inch digital gauge cluster. The front seats are grippy and well bolstered, plus they have a massage function, and you can bet I had it on while driving on track.
It also happens to be a relative bargain. At $137,495 including destination, the updated RS Q8 Performance is about ten grand pricer than the RS6 and the non-Performance RS Q8 it replaces. It’s also about ten grand more expensive than a Porsche Cayenne GTS, which has a V8 but 138 fewer horsepower, but the Audi is almost $70k cheaper than a Cayenne Turbo GT and at least six figures less than a Urus or DBX707. Not bad for the fastest SUV in the world.
Will anyone who buys an RS Q8 Performance actually take it on a race track? Probably not. But the big Audi lives up to its racy credentials more than some other super-SUVs do, delivering an exciting experience whether you’re actually on a track or just your local back roads, and it also manages to be more fun than the vast majority of Audi’s lineup. This isn’t a case of it just being good “for an SUV,” or being good “despite being an SUV,” either. It’s a genuinely fun vehicle that offers a unique driving experience because it’s an SUV, especially if you’re on a race track.
