2025 Audi RS Q8 Performance Facelift Review: The Most Powerful Audi Driven

The Audi RSQ8 facelift is finally on Indian shores, and though it’s come here in limited numbers, the company brought this here because there are a lot of takers. No wonder the first batch is sold out and the second batch of cars will come later in the year. We drive the most powerful Audi SUV ever built and experience first-hand how it feels to get behind the wheel of this one. Is it fast? Is it powerful? Is it worth the hype? Should the rivals be worried?

Audi RSQ8 Facelift: Powertrain and Performance

Indeed, they do, because with the RS Q8, Audi is marking its territory and saying that it’s giving customers every bit of the fun, the power, and the tech at a very reasonable price. And of course, you want to know more about how that 4.0-litre V8 behaves. 

I don’t think I can think faster than this car reaching from 0-100 kmph, because the entire concentration is on how fun the RS Q8 is. What a machine! And it’s taming that 632 bhp that’s coming out of the engine, and yes, that power pushes you back into your seat. The gearshifts too are unbelievably quick. It’s like it’s reading your mind. You know what? This is how human-machine bonds are created. 

The Quattro all-wheel drive system helps a lot here, and the 22-inch tyres too allow for better traction. Each wheel is about 5 kg less than before, and that helps in the overall weight coming down significantly which makes the RS Q8 a lean machine. 

And the RS Sport exhaust makes it a MEAN machine as well. It growls, but it’s not standard but available as an option, which is good; not everyone enjoys the roar, but me; I can hear it all day. 

Audi RSQ8 Facelift: Ride And Handling

Now the ride is pretty good, thanks to the adaptive air suspension that the RS Q8 employs, and hence the body roll too is minimal, though the car has a large footprint. And it takes on everything in its stride, be it potholes or even larger speed bumps. And while doing all this, it does look mean. 

Audi RSQ8 Facelift: Design

Well, when it's in a dynamic setting, it looks pretty good, as when you saw it the way it looks on the road, but even when it's static, it looks damn good, and that's because of the treatment that Audi has given it. 

So upfront, there's a bit of meanness to it because it wants to shout out that this is the most powerful production car Audi has ever made, and these matrix LED lamps, well, just add to it. We add to the overall experience. It is a signature on this, but I'd like to talk about the way it stands and the way it looks. 

These 23-inch alloy wheels are not standard. They are optional, and you can have them. of course, and the five-spoked wheels, too, attract a lot of attention. But the coup SUV part is what truly gets everyone's attention, because look at it. It's massive and yet looks so proportionate. And do you know what? This one deserves all the attention it gets on the road.

Audi RSQ8 Facelift: The Bottom Line

There is so much to like in the. RSQ8. It’s powerful and perfect for someone who wants a supercar kind of experience. It’s brilliant in every way, and though India just gets a limited number of units, I firmly believe that Audi will get more demand for it. 

It’s just one of those cars that gives you a taste of everything—from being sporty to tamed and, of course, bragging rights of owning a powerful V8.

Photography By: Anand Malepu