Take a look behind the making of the Audi RS models

The RS models from Audi Sport GmbH are the dynamic spearheads of their respective product lines.

They have a strong character that consists of distinct design differentiation, full everyday usability, effortless top performance, and a thrilling driving experience.

The North Loop of the Nurburgring is a legend among race tracks. 8,000km of endurance testing on the North Loop easily equates to a car's entire lifetime. With its high demands, the North Loop is the benchmark for every performance car. If one can survive here, they can survive on the world's roads.

A North Loop expert working for Audi Sport, Frank Stippler is one of the people who knows the 'Green Hell' best.

He is connected with the history of Audi Sport like no other racing driver. Stippler was part of the team right from the start, when the GT3 racing car Audi R8 LMS debuted in 2009. Stippler's latest coup is a lap record on the North Loop, which he set with an RSQ8 in the autumn of 2019. Test engineers from Audi Sport GmbH spent around two years on the road in the RSQ8, covering more than 1.2 million kilometres, the equivalent of driving around the world 30 times, with development vehicles and prototypes.

The RS models are the dynamic spearheads in Audi's model portfolio, as is already indicated by their particularly striking exterior design. It is very much inspired by motorsports, combining cool understatement with a dynamic edge.

Top performance in motorsports requires more extreme component shapes. According to the principle of 'form follows function', it is therefore natural that the use of high-performance technologies from motorsports is also reflected in the visual appearance of RS models.

The performance subsidiary of Audi AG already has twelve RS models in its portfolio - the RS3 as a Sportback and Saloon, the RS4 Avant, the RS5 as Coupe and Sportback, the RS6 Avant, the RS7 Sportback, the TTRS Coupe and Roadster, the RSQ3 and the RSQ3 Sportback, as well as the RSQ8.

Eight of these models were only introduced in 2019, and Audi Sport GmbH already has many more ideas up its sleeves for the near future. That means that their characteristics will be defined at a very early stage and that their development will run alongside work on the corresponding product line upon which they are based. In addition to design, this work will focus on powertrain and suspension. After all, the aim is to bring the sporting DNA that every Audi carries to the fore as much as possible.