The Q8 E-tron’s standard air suspension strikes a different compromise to that of say, a similarly-specified Mercedes. It removes you from the road surface passing underwheel by isolating and filtering noise and disturbance, rather than by soaking up every last lump and bump.
Find a relatively smooth road, then, and the Q8 E-tron will prove supremely relaxing. On a bumpy UK road, however, there can be a bit of head toss.
You wouldn’t call the Q8 E-tron particularly sporty. It handles tidily, with decent grip, tight body control, well-weighted, progressive steering and a subtle sense of rear bias, but it’s too big and heavy for you to really want to chuck it around.
That’s more of a problem for the supposedly sporty SQ8 E-tron than the standard car. With its firmer suspension settings, its ride gains some additional restlessness. It stops short of being truly bothersome, but then the tradeoff in handling isn’t really there.
You might expect those twin rear motors to give the SQ8 E-tron a unique dynamic character, but apart from slightly improved agility, you would be hard pressed to notice the difference from the regular car on a dry road.
