Audi Q8 Review: 8 Things To Know

It’s been a year since Audi revealed the facelifted version of its flagship SUV, the Q8, in the global market and now it has finally arrived in India. And with this, the Q8 family is now complete. Siddharth drove this Q8 in South Africa last year and gave you a detailed review. If you want to watch that, click here. 

But right now, we’re just going to tell you 8 things that you should know about the refreshed Audi Q8. 

1. Design 

The overall silhouette of the Q8 remains largely unchanged and that’s not a bad thing since it’s always been a looker. And one of the reasons people loved the Q8 too. But it has some new bits too since it is a facelift. There’s a new Sakhir Gold colour. New digital LED lights front and back with many different animations, then there’s a new grille, new front and rear bumpers and new alloy wheels and those exhaust tips are not fake. Nice! 

2. Interior

Not too much has changed with the refreshed Q8. You still get three screens inside, a virtual instrument cluster, a large touchscreen infotainment system and third one controls the four-zone climate control. To know what other tech the Q8 packs, head to the Acko Byte YouTube channel. 

3. Engine

While globally the Q8 gets a choice of a petrol and diesel as well as a V8 engine with SQ8, India only gets the 3.0-litre turbocharged V6 engine with plenty of power and torque on offer. This engine does duty in many other Audi models too. It is mated to an 8-speed automatic transmission that sends power to all four wheels with the Quattro all-wheel drive system. 

4. How it drives

The Q8 has always been known to be a sporty self-driven coupe SUV. It’s sporty and dynamic and performs well. The numbers speak for themselves as Audi claims that the Q8 can sprint from 0 – 100 kmph in just 5.6 seconds. That’s quick for a car this size and of course, like all German cars, the top speed is limited to 250 kmph.

5. Ride quality

Again, we aren’t getting what the global-spec models get with the Q8. Audi does not offer the adaptive air suspension in India but we get the regular suspension setup that with just damper controlling. No doubt but the Q8 rides really well and that’s probably one of the best qualities of Audi’s flagship coupe SUV. 

6. Rear seat comfort

The backseat of the Q8 is surprisingly spacious for a coupe SUV. The headroom is decent and since it is based on the Q7 and doesn’t require a third row, the legroom is great too. And the fact that the rear seats can be moved fore and aft helps give you more leg space. However, the seats could have had better cushioning. 

7. Price

The Q8 is only available in a single variant which is priced at ₹1.17 crore (ex-showroom India). The pre-facelift model was launched in India in 2020 and then too it was only available in a single variant. A Celebration variant came later that year. 

8: Rivals

Audi’s flagship coupe SUV rivals the BMW X5, Mercedes-Benz GLE and the Lexus RX. Of the lot, the BMW is the most affordable with price ranging topping off at less than ₹1 crore. On the other hand, the Lexus RX is the most expensive with the top-spec variant being priced at ₹1.21 crore.