Audi RS Q8 Hire Sydney: Review, Specs and What It Is Really Like

The RS Q8 is the car for the person who wants Urus pace, five real seats and a badge that does not start a conversation at every set of lights. Underneath, it shares its platform with the Lamborghini and runs a 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 with 441kW; on top, it is a large Audi SUV that a family can use for a week. It is confirmed by request rather than sitting in a yard, so send your dates and we will tell you straight whether we can deliver one.

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Specifications

Two lines on that table tell the story. The 800Nm, which is what makes a 2.3-tonne SUV feel
light at an overtake, and the five seats, which is what separates this from every other car on
the site with that kind of torque.

What It Is Actually Like in Sydney

The Urus relationship, stated plainly

The RS Q8 and the Lamborghini Urus are built on the same large SUV platform, share the same
basic 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 and were developed inside the same group at the same time. The
Lamborghini is tuned harder, styled to be seen from two blocks away and priced accordingly. The
Audi takes the same hardware and points it at a different customer: somebody who wants the pace
and the space without the theatre, and who would rather the car drew a second glance from people
who know than a crowd of people who do not.

That is not a criticism of either car. It is worth understanding because it explains why the
RS Q8 feels the way it does. It is not a big Audi with a strong engine; it is the group's fast SUV
platform wearing its most discreet body.

The pace, with the family on board

The official figure is 3.8 seconds to 100km/h. What that means on a Sydney road is that a
merge onto the M4 at Homebush with five people and a boot full of luggage is over before the
passengers have noticed, and that an overtake on the Putty Road needs a fraction of the gap a
normal SUV needs. The V8 has a 48-volt mild-hybrid system that smooths the stop-start and lets the
car coast with the engine off at motorway speed, which is more useful to the fuel bill than to the
driving. The eight-speed automatic is decisive and the quattro system sends more torque to the
rear wheels than the front, so the car turns in rather than ploughing.

The soundtrack is a real V8 rather than a synthesised one, and in Dynamic mode with the sports
exhaust open it is loud enough to be heard from the footpath. In Comfort it is a background
rumble. Both settings have their place across a weekend.

The ride, and the 23-inch question

The RS Q8 rides on adaptive air suspension that drops the car at speed and lifts it for a
driveway, and on standard wheels it is comfortable on the worst of the M5's concrete slabs. On the
optional 23-inch wheels the ride gets busier over sharp edges and the tyres get more expensive to
kerb. If a car with the larger wheels is what we can confirm for your dates, we will tell you so
you can weigh the look against the ride. On smooth roads the difference is small; across the
potholes of the inner west it is noticeable.

Rear-wheel steering is fitted to most cars and it is the thing that makes the size manageable.
At low speed the rear wheels turn against the fronts and the turning circle shrinks; at speed they
turn with them and the car changes lanes like something a size smaller.

Space, seats and a week of use

Five adults sit in genuine comfort, the rear seat slides and reclines, and the boot takes a
family's luggage for a week without folding anything. This is the difference between the RS Q8
and the two-seat cars with similar acceleration: it can be the only car for a fortnight. The
cabin is the twin-screen Audi layout with haptic feedback, the seats are heated and ventilated,
and the sound system is good enough for the long stretches of the Hume. Nothing about the
interior asks a passenger to compromise for the sake of the performance.

Where it is at its best

The RS Q8 is a grand touring SUV before it is anything else, and the roads that suit it are
the long ones. The M1 to the Hunter with five on board, then the back roads through Wollombi and
up the Putty Road, uses the torque, the ride height and the quiet cabin in the proportions the
car was designed for. Bells Line of Road on a weekday morning shows what the chassis can do with
2.3 tonnes, which is more than seems reasonable. Where it is less convincing is a tight,
technical road like Macquarie Pass, where the width and the mass are always present and a lighter
car would be more fun. Choose it for the distance and the load, not for the hairpins.

Choosing the Trim

RS Q8 (441kW)

The standard car, sold from 2020. Four hundred and forty-one kilowatts and 800Nm, air
suspension, 22-inch wheels as standard and the option of 23s, and every driver-assistance system
Audi offered at the time. This is the version most cars on the road are, and for a Sydney weekend
it leaves nothing on the table. Unless you are specifically after the later car, this is the one
to ask for because it is the easier one to confirm.

RS Q8 Performance (471kW)

The 2024 update lifted the output to 471kW, revised the exhaust and the suspension calibration,
and added a lightweight wheel option. It is fractionally quicker, slightly louder, and it is the
one to name if the number matters to you. On a legal road the difference is difficult to feel
without the two cars side by side. If you would accept either, say so when you send your dates,
because it widens what we can secure.

Things You Should Know

It is wide, heavy and long

Around five metres long and close to two metres wide without the mirrors. The car parks under
the older office towers in the city, the tighter Westfield ramps and the narrow lanes behind the
terraces in Paddington all need a slow approach. The cameras are excellent and the rear steering
helps, but nothing changes the footprint. A driver used to a mid-size SUV will need a day to
recalibrate where the corners are. Delivery to a driveway rather than a hotel forecourt is worth
considering for the first night, so the first place you park it is somewhere with room to learn
the width.

Fuel and the reality of a 2.3-tonne V8

The mild-hybrid system helps in traffic and on a steady motorway run, and the cylinder
deactivation quietly shuts down half the engine under light load. None of that survives a driver
using the performance. Driven the way the car invites, on 98-octane fuel, consumption is heavy
and a long weekend in the Southern Highlands will involve at least one fuel stop that surprises
you. Budget for it rather than working from the official combined figure.

Drive modes and what to leave alone

Comfort is right for the school run and for the passengers. Dynamic sharpens the throttle,
firms the suspension and opens the exhaust, and it is the setting for the Bells Line of Road on a
clear morning. The RS modes on the steering-wheel button are configurable and worth setting once
at handover so you are not scrolling menus on the move. Leave the stability control on; with
800Nm and this much weight there is no reason to switch it off on a public road.

Who Books This Car

Families who want one car that does the wedding, the airport run, the Hunter weekend and the
M1 to the Central Coast without swapping. Executives who would rather arrive in something that
reads as an Audi to the client and as a 441kW V8 to the driver. People who have looked at the
Urus and decided the car is for them but the noise around it is not.

It is priced from $950 a day, which sits well under the G-Wagon and above the X6, and reflects
a car that is quicker than either with more seats than one of them. It is confirmed by request:
tell us the dates, how many are travelling and whether the Performance trim matters, and we come
back with a straight answer before anything is charged. If we cannot secure one, the G-Wagon and
the X6 are the honest alternatives and both are usually available to confirm at once.

Tell us who is travelling and what they are bringing when you send the dates. Five adults
with luggage, three children in seats, or two people and a set of golf clubs are all easy, but
knowing which lets us confirm the right car and check the anchor points before delivery. If the
trip runs beyond Sydney, say so as well, so the kilometre allowance is set for the itinerary
rather than adjusted afterwards.