Will the Audi RS Q8 get the Porsche Panamera’s 671bhp Hybrid powertrain?

When the new Audi RS Q8 arrives as the range-topping version of the range-topping Audi SUV, it could get the 671bhp plug-in hybrid powertrain from the Porsche Panamera Turbo S E-Hybrid.

Earlier this month, the new Audi Q8 was revealed as a coupe take on the Q7, and in the process taking on the role as Audi’s flagship SUV. But there’s more to come from the Audi Q8 in addition to the launch version with its 3.0 litre TDI – the Q8 50 TDI.

That includes a less powerful version of the 3.0 litre diesel – the 45 TDI – as well as a more powerful petrol Q8 55 TFSI. But also in the works is a range-topping Audi RS Q8.

What will sit under the bonnet of an RS Q8, you might wonder? Well, at least according to Autocar, it will be the very same 671bhp plug-in hybrid powertrain already found in the Porsche Panamera Turbo S E-Hybrid.

If that’s true, it would make the RS Q8 the most powerful SUV in the entire VW Group, more powerful than the Lamborghini Urus and Porsche Cayenne Turbo, and the most powerful car Audi offer, more potent than the R8 V10.

It will also make the RS Q8 more powerful than the BMW X6M, Mercedes-AMG GLE 63 Coupe and Range Rover Sport SVR.

You might think VW aren’t going to let an Audi Q8 grab the title of the most potent SUV in the Group, and you’d probably be right. But the Urus and Cayenne will also be getting potent plug-in hybrid versions too which, we’re sure, will usurp the RS Q8. Which could make this all possible.