2020 Audi RS Q8 at Lightning Lap 2022 (caranddriver.com)Class: LL3 | Base: $123,695 | As Tested: $138,340
Power and Weight: 591 hp • 5489 lb • 9.3 lb/hp
Tires: Continental SportContact 6, 295/35ZR-23 (108Y) AONo one gets excited about SUVs at Lightning Lap. They're too heavy, too tall, too big, too powerful for their own good. But there is real joy in seeing an elephant run free and then try to stop, probably.
On the back of a 591-hp version of the same twin-turbo 4.0-liter V-8 found in the Porsche Cayenne and Lamborghini Urus, Audi's 5489-pound
RS Q8, the heaviest vehicle we've ever lapped, charged its way up to 144.1 mph on the front straight.
Admittedly, it is exciting to reel in the energy of an RS Q8 barreling toward Turn 1. The 17.3-inch carbon-ceramic rotors clamped by 10-piston calipers are the right hardware for the task. They're strong, although the brake pedal sinks deep enough to make you wonder whether this pachyderm will trample the tire wall. The mass and speed do overwork and then overheat the initially grippy Continental SportContact 6 rubber. But before these impressive tires get too hot, they put down a strong 1.00 g in Turn 1.
Once you get used to lapping VIR in what feels like an RS7 converted to standing-desk height, there's nothing threatening about the RS Q8's handling. Curbs are swallowed whole, the steering is truthful, and the understeer is predictable and easy to manage. Executing the perfect lap is tough in any car, and even though we're chasing just one hot lap, the course's 4.1-mile length means that it is necessary to think about the ever-degrading tires and brake temps. Push even a little too hard and you'll pay for it later in the lap, when the front tires chatter with understeer or the brakes require you to get on them earlier. As much as we tried, we couldn't get the RS Q8 under the 3:00 mark, but that time is still quicker than the sit-down RS7 that lapped here in 2014.