Audi RS E-Tron GT Performance with Studded Tires Proves 912 HP Isn't Too Much for Winter
The last time I did an extensive amount of lapping on solid ice, I was behind the wheel of my 1991 BMW 325i E30 beater. Sure, it's rear-wheel-drive and something of a handful, even with studded snow tires, but it also packs just 168 horsepower (truly, probably less since it rolled off the factory floor over 30 years ago). That's a far cry from the 912 hp that the new Audi RS E-Tron GT Performance claims to blast out. Yet, thanks to its well-dialed-in dual-motor all-wheel-drive setup and other approachable chassis dynamics, with minimal adjustment, I felt at home.
The new Performance model, unveiled in 2024, is the highest-powered Audi to roll off assembly lines. It's the top-line model from the electric sport sedan line—which, as a reminder, is closely related to the R&T-favorited Porsche Taycan—coming in at $167,000 starting and clocking a 0-60 time of 2.4 seconds. It's a lot of car, to say the least, and an impressive feat of engineering. To show all of that off, I got the chance to put some of its nearly 1000 hp to the test on a large ice bed in Austria at an Audi Driving Experience location.
My day with the GT consisted of repeated lapping through a handful of different ice-driving maneuver exercises. For me, some came easier than others. In the slalom, I initially had trouble managing the Audi's 5137-lb mass. This exercise required transferring the weight cleanly so that your slides could transition seamlessly as each cone came up. Eventually, I got the hang of it, but it took some extra finesse. Did I end up backward a few times? Definitely.
Like the Taycan, the RS E-Tron GT Performance is available with a new active air suspension setup that is engineered to handle all of that EV weight gracefully. Also like the Porsche, it has the Easy Entry function that, startlingly, lifts the car's front-left corner up two inches when you pop the driver's door. The suspension tech is engineered to keep the car cornering flat no matter which way the weight is tossed. Out on the ice at the moderate speeds we were running, it worked flawlessly. But even with the studded Nokian Hakkapeliitta 10 tires, it still wasn't enough to beat the laws of physics and the realities of friction.
In the powerslide exercise, everything came together for me. The GT's 912 hp is shockingly easy to modulate through the right pedal and in perfect harmony, the steering is predictable, direct, and easy to point in the right direction to perfect small-radius slides. I could swing circles for days. As we recently found with the Maserati Granturismo Folgore, on a different European ice track, torque-juggling mega EVs can cope with slick surfaces amazingly well, despite their weight.
Overall, I found the GT to be extremely pleasant to thrash around on the ice. It was comfortable, willing, and confidence-inspiring to blast around in sideways, ducking through cones, and launching from standstill as its studs scattered for grip. It's a reminder that with well-tuned power delivery and chassis dynamics, an all-wheel-drive setup, and a good set of studded winter tires can make even 912 hp feel useable on a grip-less surface.
Is this relevant to the way such cars are likely to get driven in the real world? Almost certainly not. But it is proof of the depth of engineering that goes into combining such huge performance with drivability.
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In February 1994, a lawyer with a medical condition who shouldn't have been driving his 1981 Olds 98 passed out on a boulevard outside Georgetown, plowing into oncoming traffic and taking out my CRX at low, constant speed. I had only a sore wrist from clenching the wheel. I still miss that car.
