Audi Sport, the manufacturer's performance division, is clear about the Audi RS futures , as Rolf Michl, its sales and marketing director, declares: “We will have a car with one engine. It doesn't make sense to have different variants”.
These statements come after knowing that others, even within the Volkswagen Group itself, will follow the opposite path, offering different engines for their more performance-focused versions — whether they are electrified or purely combustion.
Perhaps the best example is the more modest Volkswagen Golf, which in this eighth generation follows in the footsteps of its predecessor, offering a GTI (petrol), GTE (plug-in hybrid) and GTD (Diesel). And for the first time the GTI and GTE come with the same power of 245 hp.
At Audi Sport we won't see any of this, at least in the RS models, the highest performing ones. In the S, on the other hand, there seems to be more room for diversification, as we have the same model available with diesel and gasoline engines, although each market usually only has access to one of the options — there are exceptions, such as the new Audi SQ7 and SQ8 prove it…
The future Audi RS will be reduced to just one and only engine, whatever type it may be.
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The Audi RS 6 Avant was the first RS to offer an electrified powertrain, with the mighty V8 twin turbo powered by a mild-hybrid 48 V system.
The next two years will see electrons take on a much more dominant role in the Audi RS. First to emerge will be a new Audi RS 4 Avant that will become a plug-in hybrid, followed by an RS version of the future e-tron GT — Audi's Taycan.
Will all future Audi RS be electrified?
Considering the context we live in, it is very likely that this will happen in the medium term, not only for regulatory reasons, but also for the advantages of electrical technology applied to performance vehicles, as Rolf Michl indicates:
“Our main focus is performance and usability in everyday life. There are bright aspects (of electrification) to performance cars, such as torque vectorization and impressive cornering pass speeds. Electrified performance can be absolutely emotional.”