Gas-Powered Audi RS Models to Continue on Dedicated Platforms - For Now

by Chris Teague

Published: October 17th, 2023

gas powered audi rs models to continue on dedicated platforms for now

As part of the VW family, Audi is going electric sooner rather than later, but it’s not entirely ready to give up on combustion. The automaker recently confirmed that the company’s RS performance vehicles would be split across gas and electrification and that the two would ride on different architectures.

The TT RS and R8 are being discontinued, but that leaves (at least in America) the RS 3, RS 5, RS 6 Avant, and others. Despite its grand plans to go electric, Audi has exciting new gas-powered RS models coming soon, including an expected hotted-up RS 3 with an even rowdier turbo-five engine. We’ll also probably see a revised RS Q8 and an even more tuned-up RS 6 Avant before all is said and done. The gas models will ride on different platforms than their electric counterparts.

Of course, this is all just biding time before gas leaves Audi’s lineup altogether. The automaker has confirmed that its last new gas model will launch in 2025, and everything after it will be electric.

Losing the iconic gas-powered Audi RS cars is likely a bummer for many, but there’s plenty to look forward to with electrification. Even Lamborghini, the least responsible brand in VW’s portfolio, is electrifying, with the new Revuelto offering staggering performance from its plug-in hybrid powertrain.

[Image: Audi]

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Chris Teague

Chris grew up in, under, and around cars, but took the long way around to becoming an automotive writer. After a career in technology consulting and a trip through business school, Chris began writing about the automotive industry as a way to reconnect with his passion and get behind the wheel of a new car every week. He focuses on taking complex industry stories and making them digestible by any reader. Just don’t expect him to stay away from high-mileage Porsches.

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5 comments

SCE to AUX on Oct 17, 2023

Dedicated platforms for EVs make more sense than platform-sharing. Too many compromises are needed when sharing designs - range, weight, ride quality, handling, HVAC, NVH, cost, etc.

2 Reply
- Jalop1991 on Oct 17, 2023
  
  OK, but ponder this. In 2022 I moved my lawnmower to an electric platform. I wanted a Toro, but the model I wanted wasn't becoming available--so I chose the Ryobi, I figured, they sell a bunch of stuff, they probably know something.
  I couldn't have made a worse choice. That thing is a pig and a dog all at once. It simply couldn't cut grass (I wasn't alone in that opinion--"mohawks and stragglers" was the phrase most seen in reviews), it was awkward to use, and I couldn't pull the battery out to save my. life.
  I gave up, sold it, and at the end of the 2022 season bought the Toro I had originally wanted. Night and day difference. And here's the important part: Toro didn't reinvent the wheel, like Ryobi and Ego and Milwaukee all did as they strove to stand out in the market. No, Toro took an established platform and simply replaced the fuming spinny thing with an electric spinny thing.
  EVERYTHING else about the mower is identical to their well established gas models on the market. It works, so why change it? This thing is very comfortable to operate, and the self-pacing drive is astounding. And the best part is, outside the spinny thing it uses all the same readily available parts that its other mowers use. It's simplicity at its best.
  
  (I love that mower so much, a few weeks later I gave up my trusty 2 cycle Toro snowblower and moved to an electric one. I love it--it's strong and works great.)
  "all new platform" isn't all you're saying it's cracked up to be.
  
  2
Ajla on Oct 17, 2023

"Even Lamborghini, the least responsible brand in VW’s portfolio, is electrifying, with the new Revuelto offering staggering performance from its plug-in hybrid powertrain."

The ICE part of the Revuelto is a 6.5L V12. Pretty big gap between that and a BEV.

1 Reply
FreedMike on Oct 17, 2023

Once again I have to ask: would my right kidney, if sold, cover an RS6 Avant?

Like Reply
- Jalop1991 on Oct 17, 2023
  
  I'll stick with an RS3. I stand a better chance of limiting the results to a simple court appearance, instead of a Virginia jail cell...
  
  Like