199-mph Mansory RS Q8 is the new world’s fastest SUV
German tuning firm Mansory has taken Audi’s already-over-endowed family hauler and added an extra 180 horsepower to its twin-turbo V-8. Why? Because it can.
Known for its customized and performance-enhanced Porsches, Rolls-Royces, Aston Martins and Bentleys, Mansory has recently decided that the most upmarket Audis deserve its treatment. Having already unleashed a fettled RS 6, the company turned its attention to Audi’s biggest SUV, the RS Q8.
The headline is under the hood, where Mansory has extracted 780 horsepower from the engine with a new exhaust system and modified ECU. Buyers of the 707-hp Jeep Trackhawk and the 641-hp Lamorghini Urus should look away now because, aided by its quattro all-wheel drive, the Mansory RSQ8 will haul itself to 62 mph in just 3.3 seconds. It will then proceed to embarrass the Bentley Bentayga Speed as it flies past at 199 mph.
Mansory fits suitably massive 24-inch wheels to transfer power to the road and spices up the exterior design with carbon skirts all round, plus a carbon hood. Finished in a deep black with red stripes the RS Q8 is quite subtle by Mansory standards. Not that you’ll mistake it for a stock vehicle, but neither will you gag on first sight of it. Inside, Mansory has also been relatively restrained with a mostly black carbon and leather interior, accented by red stitching.
Mansory describes its RS Q8 as having “a harmonious appearance that attracts attention like magic.” Step on the accelerator a little too hard and we suspect that the attention you’ll be attracting will be from the highway patrol.