Yahoo Autos 2024 Audi SQ8 E-Tron First Drive: One more motor equals a lot more E-Tron
MALIBU, Calif. – Back in May, I took a relaxing scenic drive in the updated and renamed Audi Q8 E-Tron, reveling in its plush ride and stupendous Bang & Olufsen stereo filling its cocoon-of-silence cabin. This first drive of the 2024 Audi SQ8 E-Tron would be decidedly different. As the added letter S would attest, the SQ8 E-Tron builds upon the base car with a higher performance envelope and racier looks accented by matte alloy mirror caps. Unless you don’t want those, in which case Audi will happily take lots of your money to make them black … ‘cause every bit of trim has to be black now. Fashion!
Happily, the real story here is “Motor!” While the Q8 E-Tron has the usual all-wheel-drive EV setup of two motors – one powering the front axle and another the rear – the SQ8 adds a third motor to mix, upping combined output by 94 horsepower and 228 pound-feet of torque in the process. The 0-60 sprint takes only 4.2 seconds when the full force of Boost mode’s 496 hp and 718 lb-ft of torque are applied. Ludicrous it isn’t, but you do get that EV “snap” off the line that’s missing in the more sedate Q8.
That’s not where the motor story ends, though. That third motor is also applied to the rear axle, meaning each wheel gets its very own motor – each good for 185 hp, while the front one has 210 hp – and therefore giving the SQ8 E-Tron a torque-vectoring all-wheel-drive system. Just like mechanical versions, the amount of power sent through each wheel can differ; specifically, the outside rear wheel can spin faster than the inside to push the rear end around a corner, not unlike how caterpillar tracks turn a tank.
On the tightest, twistiest roads of the Santa Monica Mountains, this torque-vectoring talent could be fully felt and appreciated. The rear end rotates more happily instead of plowing and protesting, and you can definitely maintain a quicker pace than you’d expect in a midsize SUV weighing, gulp, 6,118 pounds. The SQ8 doesn’t feel as hopelessly obese as its model line did when introduced as simply the “E-Tron.” Improvements have certainly been made to the overall Q8 E-Tron family, with the SQ8 going beyond with the torque-vectoring rear end, quicker steering (14.6:1 versus 15.8), stiffer sway bars and front control arm bushings, revised damper tuning and 1.4-inch wider track. It unquestionably feels like a tauter, more responsive choice than the Q8 E-Tron, but you still notice its hefty weight. The Mercedes-AMG EQE SUV was far more agile through the same stretches of mountain road.
Of course, most of the people who’ll buy an SQ8 won’t live near mountains or, at least, won’t choose to drive through them with any regularity. And they probably won’t take advantage of the fact that its torque-vectoring rear end allows for some good, new-fashioned drifting. But that’s part of the appeal, right? Luxury cars are often about paying more for capability, even if you’ll only be scratching the surface of that capability. At least you’ll be able to consistently appreciate the extra oomph when charging onto a highway, or the torque-vectoring’s added benefit in slippery conditions.
Visually, the SQ8 is differentiated by bigger front grille openings and enlarged fender flares needed for that extra track width. “Selenite Silver/Alu-optic” trim is then applied in abundance within and surrounding the grille (the Q8 face has light gray trim inside the grille and darker gray surrounding it) along with the lower bumper, rocker panels, window surround, lower rear bumper valance and, per Audi S tradition, the mirror caps. It’s a lot — arguably too much — but it also makes it a lot easier to spot an SQ8 versus its non-S sibling. Despite my earlier snarkiness, I could therefore see how one would prefer the Black Optic package that turns all that silver stuff gloss black ... except that it costs $3,500. For black plastic. Even Audi’s own designers and product planners aren’t too keen on this trend, but if people are willing to pay for it, why not, right? At least the revised Audi logo with flat white rings no longer makes the all-black grille look like somebody made off with your badge.
