A DIFFERENT KIND OF GT (some text hidden) SECTIONED_new_audietrongt_2022

By Jonathan Crouch

Introductionword count: 61

Audi's e-tron GT quattro was launched here back in 2021 as a desirable four-door Grand Touring flagship model for the Ingolstadt maker's growing e-tron EV range. Though most of the core technology here is shared with this car's Porsche Taycan cousin, it was all delivered with a distinctly Audi feel and character. And, most importantly, it had that 'want one' factor.

Modelsword count: 5

4dr Saloon (GT quattro, Vorsprung)

Historyword count: 420

The earliest full-EVs from Audi tended to be of the expensive and luxurious kind. First, we had the modestly appealing e-tron big SUV. Then, the rather more desirable e-tron Sportback. Followed in December 2020 by this, the e-tron GT quattro, a four-door Grand Turismo sports saloon which also came in faster RS form. It's the standard GT model though, that we focus on here - in its earlier pre-facelift 2021-2023-era form. You might well know that this car shares a lot of its engineering with its VW Group cousin, the Porsche Taycan. And we mean a lot; the twin electric motors are the same; so is the three chamber air suspension. So is the 800V battery. And so is the J1 platform that everything sits on. Yet Ingolstadt determinedly promised us that this was a distinctly Audi confection. Quite a lot hung on this. By 2020, the automotive industry was rapidly leaving the combustion-engined world. With the previous fossil-fuelled powertrains, it had been relatively easy to differentiate many products which shared the same basic design. There were, after all, so many engineering variables to subtly alter the confection; cylinder count, engine positioning, use (or not) of forced induction and transmission choice could all be combined differently to deliver a distinct driving character. It was very different with EVs. The spiralling cost of development meant that much had to be shared between brands to keep prices accessible - and even without that issue, there was a huge degree more engineering conformity with this sort of powertrain. All EVs have auto transmission, a motor on the front axle and heavy battery positioned low and centrally beneath the floor. Luxury EVs like this one all have at least one motor on the rear axle too. Given this degree of uniformity, the question auto makers were facing back in 2020 was over just how different future brand-engineered EVs could really be, particularly in cases like this where over 40% of the components were shared. At the launch of this e-tron GT, Audi told us not to worry and wheeled out this car as proof that the distinct ingenuity of vorsprung durch technik would continue to break boundaries in the new electric world. It certainly looks stunningly unique - and Ingolstadt promised that it would drive that way too. Here, we look at the earlier 2021-2023-era versions of this e-tron GT - the mainstream GT quattro models - as a used buy. This car was substantially updated in mid-2024 and re-named the S e-tron GT.

What You Getword count: 668

Back in 2020, we'd never seen an Audi quite like this before - Ingolstadt rather immodestly described the external design of the e-tron GT as 'a work of art'. Whatever your perspective, it was refreshing that for the first time, the brand had brought us an all-electric model that wasn't an SUV. The dimensions are those of a classic Grand Tourer, with a 4.99-metre length and 1.96-metres of width but a height of just 1.41-metres. Plenty to consider then, as you admire what Marc Lichte and his design team achieved here. The elongated bonnet and flat windscreen merge elegantly into a rapidly sloping roofline and the glasshouse extends tautly over the powerful body, drawing in particularly sharply towards the rear, where gently inclined C-pillars blend beautifully with the body's muscular shoulders. Sharp edges give particular definition to the large wheel arches, forming 'quattro blisters', which visually reference the presence of a different generation of electric quattro all wheel drive. We're not sure if the front aesthetics are quite as successful. Some of it's great, like the way the swept-back windscreen flows down into the dramatic bonnet. We're not quite so taken with this car's version of Audi's Singleframe grille, most of which is filled up by a rather ugly 'Hekla Grey' front panel. At the rear, the full-width light strip is a familiar Audi touch, but the e-tron GT is set apart from other models in the brand's portfolio by this visually offset lower diffuser. And inside? Well if you happen to be familiar with the driver-focused 'monoposto'-style cockpit design of the brand's R8 sports car, you'll feel right at home in an e-tron GT, its cosseting low-set driving position placing you right at the centre of the action. Just as you would be in this model's Taycan cousin though, as we were promised, the front-of-cabin experience here is very different - and actually far more interesting. The upper section of this light, lean instrument panel with its pronounced three-dimensional look forms an elegant arc, within which the display of the 12.3-inch Audi 'virtual cockpit' instrument screen stands freely, while the 10.1-inch 'MMI touch' central infotainment monitor with its piano black-finished bezel appears to 'float' in this central space. The wide centre console, which houses the gear selector switch, runs higher between the seats than it does in the Porsche, which makes the cabin feel more cockpit-like. And the dramatic design left no space for the second lower climate screen you'd get in other expensive Audis from this period. But it's certainly very high end inside this car, full of suede, carbon fibre and immaculately stitched leather. The rear seat footwells might look conventional but they're actually hollowed-out sections of the floorplan - Audi calls them 'foot garages' - that allow your feet to be positioned at the same lower height as the battery pack, rather than being placed on top of it. For a GT-style sports saloon, headroom is actually pretty good - slightly better than a Taycan, despite the standard fitment of a vast panoramic glass roof, without which this part of the cabin would feel rather dark and claustrophobic. In theory, the cabin's wide enough to take three adults, but that's discouraged by the sculpting of the two outer seats and the prominence of the central transmission tunnel (the kind of thing you'd think you wouldn't need in an EV). The rear cargo area is accessed via a power-operated boot lid, which can be activated by a swipe of your foot beneath the bumper and which rises to reveal a rather narrow opening and a 366-litre space (that's 39-litres more than you'd get in a Taycan). You can attach a provided net to the usual floor tie-down points and thanks to the flexible 40:20:40-split of the rear seat back, longer items like skis can be pushed forward between two rear-seated passengers. If you need to flatten everything, the space available expands to 1,171-litres. Under the bonnet, there's also an 85-litre 'frunk' for the charging leads.

To see the full road test text contact us on 0330 0020 227