Audi tweaks its electric RS Q e-tron

The three teams of drivers drove the prototype bearing chassis number 103 for a total of over 2,500 kilometers over the most hostile terrain.

During the various system tests, the engineers in particular imposed artificially high temperatures on the Audi RS Q e-tron: Stéphane Peterhansel made the desert bolide pass through the bed of a dry river, the air intakes of cooling being deliberately sealed off with tape to simulate high outside temperatures.

A test that the electric propulsion prototype with energy converter passed without problem. This was not the case for the whole test: tire damage on the rocky tracks forced the Frenchman, like Mattias Ekström, to repeated interruptions.

A wishbone bent by a rock, a leaking driveshaft bellows and other components had to be replaced; the body required minor repairs. Peterhansel, Ekström and Carlos Sainz also worked intensively on the chassis settings.

Serious things will start in Saudi Arabia at the end of December, when the Audi RS Q e-tron will make its baptism of fire at the Dakar Rally.