NEW Audi RS e-tron GT Review: Grand Touring Reinvented | 4K

if you had one day simply to explore where would you go [Music] and who would you take where would you fly and when you got there what would you choose to drive today my choice takes me to the scottish highlands for a road trip in a vehicle that's new and different [Music] electric cars are inevitable they promise to deliver a far more efficient far greener far quieter way of getting from a to b they might even prolong the very environment that we live in but what do electric cars offer to people who maybe aren't so interested in driving for efficiency what do electric cars offer to people who are far more interested in driving for pleasure this is the audi rs etron gt a futuristic reinterpretation of the grand tourer in other words this is a sports car that's designed specifically for people who want to drive first over long distances we already know that electric cars are fantastic at the former but their suitability for the latter is still maybe up for debate that's the well trotted out theory isn't it that electric cars don't have very good range but both versions of the etron gt have very good range both versions use a 93.4 kilowatt hour battery pack and that gives the standard model access to 298 miles of range this one the rs can do 283 in fact it's so good that i don't see any reason whatsoever not to take this car on a road trip up here in the scottish highlands and there's arguably no better place to assess the credentials of a gt today's journey takes me in search of the torrid and hills in the northwest highlands home to some of the most dramatic scenery spectacular roads that meander through the shadow of ancient rocks it's a destination that's become a favorite of mine but the destination could prove less spectacular than the journey especially when you're in something that promises to be as potent as this both models use two electric motors one on the front axle and one on the rear the one on the front generates 238 horsepower in the rs model the one on the back adds 456 horsepower together they can generate a consistent 600 horsepower however for short 2.5 second bursts during launch control they can combine to generate a massive 646 horsepower and 840 newton meters of torque that makes this car the most powerful production audi ever obviously using all of that power wouldn't be very good for efficiency but like i said i'm not driving for efficiency today i'm driving for fun and what could be more fun than launch control traction control off brake foot to the floor send oh ow oh my oh my god now this car can do naught to 62 in 3.3 seconds i have just done it in three seconds dead you have to recalibrate your brain for how quick this car is it's astonishing it's got a two-speed transmission and most of the time it's running around in second gear for pretty much everything but in launch control it uses first gear for the most savage launchers you can imagine it's a different animal it really is on paper that kind of performance puts it somewhere between the tai can turbo and turbo s and with a price of a hundred and eleven thousand pounds the rs each one also undercuts the tai can turbo by around 7 000 pounds but even though these cars share a platform does the e-tron feel different enough to drive well i think it does it looks different and it's also different on the interior the tai can is so futuristic it has a huge curved display for the driver but in the each run it feels very familiar this doesn't feel like too big a departure from other audi models in terms of the driving experience i think there's a definite difference between this and the thai can physically the wheel feels like an audi it almost smells like an audi as well whether that's the leather the materials the glue but also the way the steering feels is very distinct in the tai can it's very sharp very precise very fast in the etron it feels fractionally slower and more deliberate not in a bad way in fact it might be perfectly suited to a gt car but it's impressive to see that audi were able to engineer their own dna into a platform that's shared with another manufacturer there are some elements of audi dna that come to the fore quattro technology makes an appearance in the gt reassuring in a place where the seasons change seemingly by the minute when rain becomes sleet and sleet becomes a near blizzard being able to direct the e-tron's vast reserves of power to the wheels that need it most is welcome reassurance instead of using old-school differentials to shuffle the power back and forth this system feels much more digital much more high-tech in efficiency mode only the motor at the front of the car is active however if you accelerate hard or switch into comfort or dynamic the motor at the rear joins the party and activates quattro much like it would in audi's traditional cars however this switches on five times quicker than it would in their standard models and that in conjunction with a really responsive throttle pedal in which you don't have to wait for turbos to spool up make the etron gt feel incredibly responsive in terms of handling well this car is very impressive it has a near 50 50 weight distribution but perhaps more importantly the center of gravity is very low thanks to the batteries being located low down in the floor of the car that helps it feel incredibly planted through the corners and that in conjunction with the staggering amounts of grip in this car gives you a lot of confidence to hustle it through the benz it's not a light car by any stretch of the imagination and in some evs it can feel a little bit unnerving to go into a corner carrying too much speed but in this not a bit of it it actually feels very well behaved through the bends and in fact the brakes are so good that you very rarely find yourself carrying too much speed into a corner anyway [Music] all-out pace isn't always the objective of course in a grand tourer slowing things down to take in your surroundings can be just as rewarding it's all too easy to become obsessed by the road when the true beauty of the journey can be found in the environments that surround it [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] the torridon hills a mountainous region to the north of glen torridon home to ancient monroes that stretched 3000 feet into the clouds and some 500 million years into the past when modern technology confronts ancient nature worlds collide but the future of motoring is being molded to help preserve the world we live in rather than destroy it we're told that with its 0.2 drag coefficient the e-tron has been shaped by the wind that its optional leather-free interior is more sustainable that its carbon neutral construction is less harmful to our planet even its tactical green paint work seems to blend more seamlessly the success of this approach remains to be seen but the effort certainly in this case should be applauded [Music] one question i had about this car at the start of this journey was would this car feel soulless because it's electric and i think the honest truth is not at all the speed is astonishing certainly enough to get your adrenaline pumping but that's not this car's only trick it also makes an engaging noise synthesized by speakers of course but more importantly it's agile responsive and flows through corners in a way that's not simply engaging for an electric gt but for any gt what's more it combines fun with efficiency on this particular trip i saw energy consumption as high as 2.6 miles per kilowatt hour which translates to over 240 miles of real-world driving with a lighter touch longer trips are certainly possible and with 270 kilowatt charging a possibility range can be taken from 5 to eighty percent in less than 23 minutes good enough some would argue not but on this occasion no issues [Music] i've always thought of the e-tron gt as being a fascinating glimpse into the future but it's more than that it's a part of our present it works here and now it's impressive how they've made something so futuristic feel so normal so fun so shockingly current as a concept the electric gt is one that might be difficult for some to embrace but it's a concept that delivers in ways you might not expect whether you're driven by the efficiency by the thrill of the journey or by the splendor of the location the e-tron gt proves it's possible for electric cars to be rewarding when they're driven simply for pleasure [Music] you

Channel: AutoTrader

Views: 502,532

Keywords: rs e-tron gt, rs e-tron gt review, new rs e-tron gt, audi rs e-tron gt, audi rs etron gt, rs etron review, rs etron gt review, audi rs etron, audi rs etron review, audi review, rory reid audi, rory reid autotrader, ev, audi ev, supercar ev, luxury ev, electric car, electric car review, ev review, 4k review, car review, 4k car review, rory reid, autotrader.com, autotrader.co.uk, scotland, nc500, scottish roadrip, scotland roadtrip, nc500 review

Id: Wj9KNUhV5bY

Length: 11min 27sec (687 seconds)

Published: Tue May 11 2021

Reddit Comments

[u/bhauertso]

Exceedingly well done video. Absolutely love Scotland.

That said, I don't really dig the e-tron GT. The exterior really doesn't look that great, in my opinion. That rear shot on the video teaser photo is particularly awkward. It feels like a modern take on a Bangle rear for some reason.

If I were getting a car based on this platform, it would be the Porsche Taycan, which is saying something because I'm also not a fan of Porsche. The Taycan looks better, though.

[u/hvranic]

Great video.