RS SKIPS HYBRID FOR FULL ELECTRIC

AUDI RS E-TRON GT

- BEN BARRY

THE AUDI RS e-Tron GT might be derived from the same building blocks as the Porsche Taycan, but there’s no doubting this car’s significance: it’s the first Audi RS model to go fully electric, skipping the plug-in hybrid stage altogether and beating rivals BMW M and Mercedes-AMG to market with emissions-free motoring.

Is that a good thing? To find out, we’re driving a pre-production prototype – hence the body camouflage – but this car is said to be 98 percent representative of the incoming production car that’s due in Australia by the end of 2021.

There are two electrics motors – a 175kW unit powers the front axle and is shared with the regular e-Tron GT, but the rear is larger and more powerful (335kW) and drives through an electronically controlled LSD.

This is the most powerful RS ever, with 441kW (the same as the RS6, but 471kW with the short overboost function beats it) and 830Nm torque, enabling it to sprint from 0-100km/h in under 3.5sec and reach 251km/h.