Opinion: Audi RS Q8 versus Lamborghini Urus
The Audi RS Q8 has a 4-litre twin turbo V8, with slightly less kW that a Lamborghini Urus. Photo: Liz Dobson
As AutoMuse recently had the Audi RS Q8 to review, thoughts of the love affair that I once had (and may still have) with the Lamborghini Urus were re-triggered - making my opinion about Audi’s SUV more Urus-specific than intended.
The Urus shares the same platform as the Audi Q8, while the RS Q8 has the same engine as the Lamborghini.
The first pictures of Urus hit the internet on December 5, 2017, we saw the first official pictures of the Q8 on June 4, 2018, but it took until November 20, 2019 for official pictures of the RS Q8 to appear.
Anyway let me digress on a little Urus side story before I give you my thoughts on the RS Q8.
It was when I first met (the now) AutoMuse co-founder Liz Dobson at the Rolls-Royce Cullinan launch at my farm Parihoa in November 2018 that I first began to dial into how appealing the Urus was.
“Maybe the Urus was masquerading as an early adopter RS Q8 in bull’s clothes?”
Liz had said it had been one of the best recent cars she tested for Driven so shortly after our initial meeting, I went to Giltrap Prestige in central Auckland and took a Urus demo car overnight. The result? In December 2018 I ordered an Urus, a nicely silver one, but it wouldn't arrive until July 2019.
I warned the sales staff at Giltrap Prestige Lamborghini that I was never being one who could wait, and this was always going to be a dubious order. True to form, late January 2019, I cancelled the order at stepped into a Bentley Continental GT.
The Giltrap Prestige Lamborghini sales team had the last laugh though and in July 2019 I was summoned to the dealership to see the new silver Urus that I had ordered. Waiting in the customer delivery box, there it was in its gleaming, well specced beauty. I was tempted again and thought about swapping my Bentley for the Lamborghini!
But there was a subtle feeling I had, that one day its ‘sister’ the RS Q8 would be chomping at its heels, making the Urus feel over-inflated in price. Maybe the Urus was masquerading as an early adopter RS Q8 in bull's clothes?
The Lamborghini Urus shares the same platform as the Audi Q8, but the exterior is outstanding. Photo: Lamborghini
And last week the day of reckoning arrived at Parihoa when Liz drove down to the house in the RS Q8.
So, how does it fare?
Volkswagen Group, owner of Audi and Lamborghini, chose to not completely cannibalise the Urus power-wise and the RS Q8’s 4-litre twin turbo V8 was slightly detuned from 478Kw to 441Kw. Splitting hairs but the 0-100km/h is 0.2 seconds slower in the RS Q8 than the Urus.
The RS Q8 is a slick piece of kit. Extraordinarily refined, well specced and devastatingly fast. However, the grey test vehicle didn't look dramatically different to an up-specced Audi Q8.
The selling proposition for Audis (and perhaps RS cars too) is that they don't shout "boy racer". What I was most surprised about was that the RS Q8 doesn't dramatically give away its identity in the driver's seat, until of course you put down the pedal and then you really get the picture.
After a day of driving the RS Q8 with Liz, it really shone as a super comfortable car, perhaps not far from the ultimate all rounder with its high riding, spacious five seater and super car performance. I just wanted it to be “angrier” and to feel like I was in something uber special, especially for the $243,900 price tag.
And that is where the Urus suddenly made sense. The Urus feels like a genuine Lamborghini and is more bespoke than the Audi. With its three drive modes Strada, Sport and Corsa modes, the Urus engine screams. By comparison, even in Sport mode, the RSQ8 is still very well behaved.
In my opinion, I also think the Urus looks better. I wasn't sold on the Lamborghini SUVs looks initially but I think it stands out more than the RS Q8.
The Audi RS Q8 makes a sensible choice if you are after a sporty SUV. Photo Liz Dobson
I'm still not sure the Urus at a base price of $339,000 makes a compelling value for money equation versus a $243,000 RS Q8, and therein is where the RS Q8 begins to suddenly make sense and where it will define its raison d'être for some.
I'd be scouring the TradeMe pages and keeping in touch with the Giltrap Prestige sales team with the hope that a low kilometre second-hand Urus comes up closer to the RSQ8 price.
However, not many do, and to this day I've only seen a yellow one with an odd red interior combo, on the resale market in New Zealand. Which means that those who have an Urus here really like them.
Which again means, if you want the delicious 4-litre twin turbocharged V8 super SUV combo in a sportier version than the usual SUV, and don't want the Porsche, Mercedes and BMW equivalents, then you're forced into a match between VW's twins.
Sensible you'll probably end up in a RSQ8 and be quite happy. As long as you don't want for the ultimate, in my view, is still the Urus.
And the winner is? A second-hand, New Zealand new Lamborghini Urus. Photo: Lamborghini
