Expected to go on sale in 2018, Audi is hard at work testing its new flagship Q8 SUV.
Spy photographers caught the prototype during winter testing looking similar in overall design to the Q8 Concept that debuted earlier this year at the 2017 Detroit Auto Show. The Audi Q8 will serve as the German automaker’s answer to the BMW X6, Mercedes-Benz GLE Coupe and the upcoming Range Rover Velar in the growing coupe SUV category. The five-seater model is based on the Audi Q7 but with a sloping roofline and wider proportions. It does appear, however, that the Audi Q8 will be shorter than the Q7.
SEE ALSO: Audi Q8 Concept Jumps on the Coupe SUV Bandwagon
Sitting at the top of the range, expect the production Q8 to pack all of the latest technologies from Audi. Up front, it features familiar Audi styling but the flagship SUV will have the widest grille in the history of single-frame grilles from Audi.
Since the model is sharing its platform with the Q7, expect it to also carry over some of the powertrains already offered. Rumor has it that a hotter RS Q8 could get a twin-turbo V8 engine packing more than 600 horsepower, likely the same engine heading to the Lamborghini Urus. The model is expected to arrive as a plug-in hybrid as well.
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