First drive review: Audi e-tron GT

Monday, 2 August 2021

An olive green Audi RS e-tron GT in an olive grove. Perfect.

AUDI E-TRON GT
Price range: $194,500 to $273,500
Powertrains: Two permanent synchronous electric motors (front and rear) and a 92 kWh lithium-ion battery with 350kW/630Nm (e-tron GT quattro) or 440kW/830Nm (RS e-tron GT), 19.9 kWh/100km (e-tron GT quattro) or 20.6 kWh/100km (RS e-tron GT), two-speed automatic transmission, AWD.

Audi’s remarkable looking e-tron GT is available in New Zealand now.

Body style: Four-door sedan.
On sale: Now.

The e-tron GT lands here in two forms initially – quattro and RS.

The e-tron GT is Audi’s mightiest EV yet, using Porsche Taycan underpinnings but heading in a far more “trans-Europe continent devourer” direction than Porsche’s overtly sportier flavour. It’s here now, so does that translate as well to our roads as Porsche’s version does?

Make me an instant expert: what do I need to know?

The e-tron GT’s interior is very ‘traditional Audi’ and avoids the Taycan’s more sci-fi elements.

The e-tron GT is landing in New Zealand in two guises – the e-tron GT quattro and the RS e-tron GT. There are no doubt many corporate reasons for the overly-complicated and confusion naming structure (the RS is AWD as well, despite not being called a ‘quattro’…) but all you need to really know is that the e-tron GT quattro is the ‘entry’ model and the RS e-tron GT is the range-topper.

Zero to 200kmh launch control runs on a wet runway? Yeah, that’s pretty cool.

* First drive: Audi RS e-tron GT

* Audi has finally unleashed the e-tron GT

Even though it was damp, the RS e-tron GT proved just how brutally fast it was on the Kerikeri airport runway.

* Who says EVs can't be sexy? Not Audi.

While it comes rather extensively equipped as standard, the e-tron GT offers an extensive array of personalisation and other options.

And there is quite a price disparity between them as well, because while the e-tron GT quattro starts at an already hefty $194,500, the RS version blows that out to an eye-watering $273,500. And before the comments flood in that “ordinary people can’t afford these EVs” – no, that is correct. And it is also precisely the point. These are premium luxury cars – exclusivity is a large part of their appeal.

Except the e-tron GT isn't going to be quite as exclusive as the big price tags might make you think – Audi New Zealand boss Dean Sheed confirmed that he can get his hands on around 60 or 70 for the rest of this year, with at least 95 solid orders already confirmed. Sheed says the orders are split roughly 50/50 between the quattro and the RS.

A sleek and sensational Grand Tourer in entry quattro form, the e-tron GT sill gains quite a bit in the $79k jump to the RS.

The e-tron GT does certainly come with the specs to back those big price tags up, however and the standard equipment makes for an extremely long and feature-packed list. Too big to even begin to go into here, so we’ll just concentrate on what the extra $79,000 the RS asks over the quattro gets you.

While both versions come with two electric motors (one on each axle), a two-speed transmission and a 93 kWh lithium-ion battery pack, they are configured differently to separate them somewhat.

The e-tron GT quattro has less power and torque (350kW and 630Nm respectively) but more range (up to 487km) than the RS e-tron GT, which pumps things up to 440kW and 830Nm, but sees its ultimate range drop fractionally to 472km. Both utilise an overboost function than can briefly wind things up to 390kW/640Nm for the quattro and 475kW for the RS. The RS’s torque remains unchanged in overboost.

The Porsche DNA is most obvious from the rear ¾ angle, but the big taillights give the game away.

The RS adds all-wheel steering and a locking rear differential to the quattro’s AWD drivetrain (a $7,000 option on the quattro), while also picking up tungsten-carbide coated steel brakes with red calipers ($9,750 on the quattro), as well as Matrix LED headlights with Audi’s remarkable laser system ($6,500 on the quattro) and a Bang and Olufsen premium audio system ($3,500).

Then there’s all the usual RS stuff like a sports steering wheel and other trim, but also Audi’s “e-tron Sports Sound” package that adds a rumbling, growly soundtrack to proceedings.

Where did you drive it?

Audi held the e-tron GT’s launch up north at Kerikeri, with a good amount of driving on the winding rural roads in the area.

This highlighted both the e-tron GT’s agility and its superbly comfortable suspension set up, which was deeply impressive over some largely typical New Zealand country roads.

GT, of course, stands for ‘Grand Tourer’ and the e-tron translates Porsche’s sporty Taycan DNA brilliantly well into a comfortable, seriously fast grand tourer that is firm enough to inspire confidence in its limpet-like grip and handling, but also comfortable enough to effortlessly cover big distances with minimal intrusion into the cabin from the road.

In this regard the e-tron GT feels more like an electric Bentley Continental GT than the Porsche’s four-door 911 vibe. It’s ability to effortlessly eat kilometres is deeply impressive, as is the superbly comfortable way it does it.

But don’t think all this talk of effortlessness and comfort fool you into thinking that the e-tron GT isn’t a brutally fast corner carver, because it most definitely does that as well. The RS is obviously the hero here, with its extra grunt and trick diff, but the sports sound also adds a touch of drama as well.

We got to learn just how much brutality was available from the RS on our return to Kerikeri airport after the driving was done, where we were treated to a unique opportunity – Audi had arranged to shut down the runway for an hour between flight arrivals for us to do 0 to 200kmh runs. Yeah, that’s pretty cool.

Dropping the RS into launch control is as simple as having it in “Dynamic” mode, popping it into drive and putting one foot on the brake, then push the throttle to the floor. Release the brake and all hell breaks loose as the RS belts towards the horizon in the surreally instantaneous fashion that only EVs and insanely overpowered supercars can manage.

As always it is deeply impressive and exhilarating, as well as being slightly physically unpleasant and unsettling, but the forward momentum is unrelenting, with even a damp runway not slowing the RS down – you could feel the car shifting the power around each time a wheel hit a damp patch, but the savage acceleration remained unaffected.

What’s the pick of the range?

While the RS is the easy call for its extra power, equipment and the fact it gets the sports sound as standard (it sounds like a brilliant mix of an ICE engine and a spaceship), its rather hefty ask over the standard e-tron GT quattro makes that a little less clear-cut.

Throw into the mix the fact that you are definitely deep into Porsche Taycan pricing when you get the RS and the choice becomes even harder…

The quattro ticks every conceivable box for someone wanting a superbly engineered GT with a serious turn of speed, super sharp handling and impressive comfort, but the RS is the one for those who just have to have the absolute top-spec model. And it certainly delivers there.

Personally, if it were my money, I would probably go for the quattro and then feel pangs of regret every time I saw an RS. But for $80k, I think I could live with that.

Why would I buy it?

Because it is awesome and because it has much more of a muscle car look to it than a Taycan. Because you want the ultimate Audi, and they really don’t come much more ‘ultimate’ than this. Yet, at least.

Why wouldn’t I buy it?

Because you could buy a Porsche Taycan for almost the same money, although both ranges have been expertly engineered to have literally no exact crossover – everything from power and 0 to 100kmh times to equipment and prices don’t quite line up, and slot perfectly between each other. It’s very cleverly done and doesn’t make the choice any easier.