ROAD TEST 5737
AUDI E-TRON GT
Hot Taycan twin now goes much farther and faster than before
A
lthough it is keeping its options open regarding the future use of hybrid and ICE powertrains, Audi’s electric rollout is now in full swing and it all started in 2020 with the statement-making E-tron GT.
Looking every inch ‘Vorsprung durch Technik’, this sleek, fourdoor coupé was the result of a joint R&D programme with Porsche. The Taycan would cater to the driving enthusiast and person who had to have the last world in performance and feedback, and the E-tron GT? It was the more subdued of the two and also, we would learn, the more relaxing company, yet far from blunt to drive. Now it has been updated – and comprehensively so.
DESIGN & ENGINEERING
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
PROS Power, torque and range have all increased; smart design updates
CONS Mechanical toy box limited on the S; remains decidedly heavy
The revisions start with the battery pack, which at 105kWh (97kWh of which is usable) has grown 12% in terms of capacity but is also lighter than before. A 9kg saving in the context of a 625kg piece of ballast isn’t game-changing, but it is a step in the right direction. It also gives the car an official range of 374 miles – up 77 miles on the pre-facelift car.
More broadly, the GT, tested here in entry-level S specification, remains characteristically heavy.
Our car tipped the scales at 2361kg, albeit with an excellent weight distribution of 49:51 front to rear. Mind you, such weight is also not unusual for this type of car. Maserati’s Granturismo Folgore – a two-door coupé – weighed only 3kg less than the Audi when we tested it this year, and is less practical.
The GT also gains a new electric motor on the rear axle, driving through the same two-speed gearbox as before. Along with the smaller motor on the front axle, combined output is a robust 583bhp, rising to 671bhp if you engage the car’s launch control programme. The RS E-tron GT takes this total to 845bhp, while the RS E-tron GT Performance, with its revised pulse inverter on the front axle, for even higher discharge currents, can put out 912bhp – only a bit less than the 939bhp offered in its yet quicker cousin, the Porsche Taycan Turbo S.