THE ALL-ELECTRIC AUDI E-TRON GT QUATTRO IS NOW AVAILABLE AS THE RS E-TRON GT PERFORMANCE - YES PLEASE!
The Audi e-tron GT quattro was released in 2021 and it was a car that set new standards in series production electric sportscars. The car has it all, strikingly good looks, that typical Audi build quality, and power. Lots and lots of power. The car impressed local motoring journos so much that it ended up as a finalist in the next year’s Car of the Year competition with the Guild of Mobility Journalists. Being commissioned to shoot the test days showing the judging of the competition meant I had access to all the finalist cars, including the Audi e-tron GT quattro. When the test days happen, the journos are all put up in a hotel about 20 km from the racetrack and so all the cars get driven there. With multiple units of the finalist cars, it meant they outnumbered the journalists and so some cars were taken through by a team of drivers. I made a side deal to make sure I was one of these drivers, and that I would be taking the e-tron from the hotel to the racetrack. I’d already driven most of the finalist cars, and during testing the judges would be busy with the car on track, so a street drive was how I got to sample the car. First off, an EV confuses the senses, especially if you come from a world of low and loud modified cars. A silent drive is weird, a silent and fast drive screws with your sensation of speed. In a petrol engine, there’s a vibration from the mechanics and there’s sound from the exhaust and intake. After a short time in a car, you can guestimate your speed by that feeling alone - if the car has a digital cluster showing other information, you would know if you’re going to catch a fine by that feeling. In an electric car, there’s no vibration and no noise, so if you’re on a smooth stretch of road and you don’t keep an eye on the speedometer and your surroundings you’ll get arrested. If you mash the accelerator off the line, you have to be wide awake because an EV supplies maximum torque instantly and if it’s a powerful enough car, you’ll cover more distance than you expect much quicker than you think. At 80 km/h I gave 100 % throttle and in the time it took to look up from the speedo to make sure the road ahead was clear and looking back down at the speedo the number had jumped to 138 km/h. This version of the e-tron is rated at 475 kW with a massive 850 Nm of torque and it weighs 2.4 tons, but it can hit 100 km/h in just 3.3 seconds - it’s madness.
After my drive I had one thought: “Imagine they made an RS version!”. Well, they did, and it’s more awesome than I expected. When Audi slaps on an RS badge it means tweaks and changes to all aspects of the car including distinguishing bodywork, different wheels, RS-spec interior bits and of course, an increase in performance. “With the e-tron GT models, we are setting new standards in performance. The increased charging power and electric all-wheel drive ensure improved long-distance capability and considerably more performance. The newly developed chassis offers an unprecedented range between driving comfort, ride comfort, and driving dynamics,” says Gernot Döllner, Chairman of the Board of Management of AUDI AG. The S e-tron GT has been updated with a new design language where embossed structures give the grille a precise 3D look, a strip of body‑colour paint is added above the Singleframe, bolder-shaped air curtains in the front apron, an aerodynamic diffuser with vertical fins at the rear, and a body-colour inlay above the rear diffuser. In RS guise the e-tron has a more radical front end and the inverted Singleframe comes in the RS‑typical 3D honeycomb structure. The rear end of the RS e-tron is motorsport-inspired with a streamlined diffuser with L‑shaped blades and a vertical, red reflector between the aero channels. Top-spec is the Audi RS e-tron GT performance - and it features even more changes like an optional matte, darkened carbon roof combined with optional carbon camouflage seen in the embossed bumper structures, the door trim, parts of the diffuser, and the side mirrors. The power and performance are all we care about, we’re cool like that. The S e-tron GT is rated at a powerful 500 kW, the RS e-tron GT sees that power rise to an even more impressive 630 kW and the big daddy of the range, the RS e-tron GT performance sees that power increase to a stupendous output of 680 kW. At max power with decent traction, the S e-tron GT can accelerate from 0 - 100 km/h in 3.4 seconds, the RS e-tron GT can do it in 2.8 seconds and the boss RS e-tron GT performance chops that down even further to just 2.5 seconds. It tops out at 250 km/h and has a range of up to 600 km.
Take a look at the YouTube video that shows off what has to be the best-looking electric luxury GT car created to date. We just love it when Audi adds in an RS badge because it means all the right tweaks in all the right places: Audi e-tron GT - Design walkaround | Audi
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