Photo: RM.Design
500 horsepower – that's what you used to expect from a V12 supercar. The Ferrari 612 Scaglietti was offered right until 2011 with 540 hp, delivered only when its 5.7-liter V12 was screaming at nearly 7,500rpm. And yet Audi puts almost as much in their middle of the road performance sedan, the S8.
Why not an RS8? Because this would have to be pretty special, it would have to be faster and more powerful than the RS6/7. Audi simply doesn't have that the right engine yet. Or does it?
We believe quattro GmbH is secretly working on a 600 horsepower version of the 4-liter turbo engine to go into the RS6 and RS7 Plus models in early 2015. That's 150 hp from per liter of displacement, coupled with cylinder deactivation and a the sound of machineguns firing. That would be perfect for the first-ever RS8.
Sadly, our dreams of a super-powered A8 are shattered by the reality of the Audi product cycles. The A8 is an old car, having received a mid-life facelift over a year ago. Development has already started on the next generation and company bosses are unlikely to divert funds from that just so we can see RS8 versus S 63 AMG comparison videos.
If we're going to have to wait another three or four years for the RS8, we might as well know what could have been/should have been. This next rendering was created by RM.Design and is based, predictably, on the current S8. A virtual Audi flagship has been stitched together using larger intakes and wheels from other RS models.
To be honest, imagining what an RS8 would look like is easy. Imagining how mind-bendingly fast it would be… that's an entirely different question.
We believe quattro GmbH is secretly working on a 600 horsepower version of the 4-liter turbo engine to go into the RS6 and RS7 Plus models in early 2015. That's 150 hp from per liter of displacement, coupled with cylinder deactivation and a the sound of machineguns firing. That would be perfect for the first-ever RS8.
Sadly, our dreams of a super-powered A8 are shattered by the reality of the Audi product cycles. The A8 is an old car, having received a mid-life facelift over a year ago. Development has already started on the next generation and company bosses are unlikely to divert funds from that just so we can see RS8 versus S 63 AMG comparison videos.
If we're going to have to wait another three or four years for the RS8, we might as well know what could have been/should have been. This next rendering was created by RM.Design and is based, predictably, on the current S8. A virtual Audi flagship has been stitched together using larger intakes and wheels from other RS models.
To be honest, imagining what an RS8 would look like is easy. Imagining how mind-bendingly fast it would be… that's an entirely different question.
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