You wouldn’t normally start a review of a car by talking about its paint job. Here, however, there is simply nowhere else to commence this article. Cars often come with a multitude of available colour options and beauty, after all, is in the eye of the beholder. Far be it from me to critique styling: you pay your money; you make your choices. This Audi e-tron GT is more than a little different. It came about as the result of a partnership between Audi and the Savile Row firm, Richard James, for Concours on Savile Row in May. So, here we have the Audi e-tron GT X Richard James. The styling was drawn up by Richard James, the wrapping, I presume, was done by Audi.
Normally such enlivened livery adorns more mundane cars. The Audi e-tron GT, even without the explosion of colours, is a distinguished car. It’s based upon the same platform as the ubiquitous-at-country-clubs Porsche Taycan. With a low posture, long, flowing lines and, okay, that artwork, the Audi e-tron GT certainly stands out. It attracted a lot of attention. We’re struggling to get past the paint job here, aren’t we?
I’d had the McLaren Artura the week prior to having the Audi e-tron GT (this can be a tough gig at times), a car which also attracted a lot of attention. Yet this Audi e-tron GT turned even more heads. Without wishing to push gender stereotypes, supercars tend to elicit interest from men and boys. People eagerly peer in, hoping you might be someone noteworthy. You can only imagine their disappointment. The Audi e-tron GT drew widespread intrigue. Everyone looked at it. Underneath that flashy exterior, however, exists a car with lots of power and feelings.
Once you’re inside you can’t really see the artwork. Instead, you’re left with an Audi e-tron GT. And that’s no bad thing. It’s new-school in an old-school kind of a way. Audis from the A6 upwards feature Audi’s two-touchscreen setup, with one for the infotainment and one for the HVAC. Not so in the Audi e-tron GT, which is adorned with several physical buttons for the HVAC. Good news for the many of you out there who hate touchscreens in cars. I’m not one of you but can often see your point.
Getting setup is easy, as is driving the Audi e-tron GT. It starts up when you get in, so slide the gear selector into D and away you go. As you’d expect, it’s wonderfully refined. The Audi e-tron GT is near silent to cruise along in, even at motorway speeds. It fairly glides along, pulling off that trick that all luxury cars do of making you think you’re going a lot slower than you really are.
Getting up to those sorts of speeds is effortless. With 476hp and 640Nm of torque to call upon, this relaxed and refined cruiser suddenly turns into a bruiser. You can boost it, too, to gain an extra 54hp and 10Nm. When that’s available (warm battery, suitably topped up) 0-60mph takes just 4.1secs. Otherwise you’ll have to wait an extra 0.4secs to hit that mark.
Some EVs can get a bit laggy once they hit 50/60mph, rapidly losing power and struggling to maintain their impressive off-the-line performance. Not so with the Audi e-tron GT, it keeps pace incredibly well on the motorway, too. On a Saturday jaunt to Worthing and back, it was a perfect companion, offering all the comfort and performance one would expect of, well, a GT.
The GT credentials potentially take a hit regarding range. The Audi e-tron GT has an available battery capacity of 83.7kWh. I did 196.9 miles at an average of three miles p/kWh, which means a total range of c.250 miles. The long-term memory, however, rounds up the number. On the drive to Worthing and back, with the short-term memory offering average consumption to the nearest tenth, I achieved 2.5 miles p/kWh, which brings the range down to c.210 miles.
That said, on local trips I often saw in excess of three miles p/kWh; as with any type of car, it depends how you drive it. On longer journeys charging will be essential, but Audi has that covered with an in-built charging map to assuage your range anxiety.
On the practicality front, I was pleasantly surprised with the Audi e-tron GT. After a tricky start with rear legroom squeezing a child seat in, it was all plain sailing. Five adults were accommodated easily, with three of them being over 6ft 2”. Three adults and three cricket bags were also easily transported on the Sunday.
This leaves the options to explore. Audi didn’t tell me what this Audi e-tron GT was equipped with, which resulted in an interesting game of guess the options (I’m great fun at parties). The leather-free pack is the most notable because the seats aren’t leather. £2580 is a lot of money to save a few cows. In the incredibly warm weather, the fabric alternatives were a little unforgiving. The AC worked perfectly, though.
The technology pack brings the Bang & Olufsen stereo, head-up display, parking assist and ambient lighting. £3195 well spent.
Not being fitted with a raft of optional extras showcased that the Audi e-tron GT is a well-equipped car as standard, as well it might be at £86,135. To distract from that, there was always that paint job, which we’ve managed to go two whole sections without mentioning.
I guess we also need to circle back to the Porsche Taycan, because I think I’m legally obliged to compare them. I drove the Taycan 4S last year and was thoroughly impressed with it. As EVs go, it remains the most engaging one that I’ve driven. The Audi e-tron GT approaches things from a slightly different angle. Sure, it’s broadly similar, even coming with a Porsche toolkit in the front trunk (a useful extra I should’ve mentioned above), but it is its own car.
The Audi e-tron GT is softer edged than the Porsche. It has the performance but feels more reluctant to use it. It’s at its happiest cruising along, incubating you from the outside world. This is most notable on B-roads, where the mass, which exceeds 2500Kg once a couple of people and some stuff are present, starts to show. The Audi e-tron GT doesn’t hide this in the same way as the Porsche and would simply let it go in such a scenario. That’s where the Audi RS e-tron GT comes in, designed to deliver more punch and more power.
If you’re not interested in the playground game of one-upmanship that some EVs have become embroiled in, then the Audi e-tron GT is the perfect EV. It’s refined and comfortable with an almost surprising hit of power when the situation absolutely calls for it. Otherwise embrace the slower side of life and revel/recoil in the admiring glances of onlookers. Yeah, that might’ve been the paintwork again.
