Audi R8 vs Kgm Rexton

What's the difference?

The Audi R8 V10 RWD and V10 Performance Quattro have their own personalities. I'm a big fan of the lower-powered rear-wheel drive car, but the Performance is the ultimate here with better brakes and that 330km/h top speed. Either way the R8 is a true supercar, but one that doesn't have to be driven gingerly as though something may break off.

The KGM Rexton Advance is a large 4WD wagon packing an adequate amount of appeal.

It’s nice to drive on the open road, it’s comfortable and it signals continued incremental progress for KGM in terms of quality and functionality.

It’s fine for light off-roading but its 4WD efficacy is lacking. While it's not in the same class as something like the Ford Everest in terms of refinement, comfort, and general quality, ultimately, a lot of its rivals represent greater value for money and all-round driveability as family vehicles.

And even though it does offer owners a chance to take their urban-focussed SUV into the bush, its price is climbing, and other rival vehicles offer a more refined overall driving experience.

Lamborghini styling can look over the top, McLarens can sometimes appear delicate and fragile, and Ferraris seem to be everywhere, and even for me, begin to blend into one.

The R8, though, looks exactly how an Audi supercar should look – understated, tough and serious. Have you seen that Audi advert with the R8 on a dyno not wearing any pants? That sounds ridiculous but Google it because it sums up what the R8 is – a real car with a raw race car underneath, that's meant to be driven comfortably on the road and hard on a race track and the styling indicates that intent with little in the way of fanfare.

Well, there is that big window at the back which shows off the engine and the 'side blades' that surround the large vents carved into the side of the car to cool the engine.

The latest update has taken the design from the second-gen car which arrived in 2016 and added a new grille, front bumper, door sills and vents in the rear bumper. It's a more angular, sharper, and busier design with more vents and winglets than ever.

The R8 V10 RWD and R8 V10 Performance are close to identical in their styling. You can pick the Performance by its gloss carbon front spoiler, side sills, mirror caps and rear diffuser. The RWD has gloss black elements instead.

Which looks best: the Coupe or Spyder? That's a personal thing, but I reckon race cars need to have a hardtop roof, so it's the coupe for me, please.

Built using the 'Audi Space Frame' which weighs only 200kg, the R8 is 4426mm long and just 1240mm tall, but at 1940mm across it has a wide, planted stance.

The Rexton remains essentially unchanged from the previous generation and so it stays pleasant enough but generically inoffensive as are most other SUVs on the market.

Even for a city-focussed SUV, the body-on-frame Rexton looks low and while its 203mm of ground clearance is okay for daily driving it’s less than ideal for off-roading.

The only change to this Rexton over the previous generation? Pull-up sun blinds on the rear doors. Not a design change per se, but worth mentioning.

Does it set itself apart enough from other similar SUVs? Not really, but does that even matter to you?

The R8 is a two-seater supercar and practicality isn't high on its 'to do' list with limited cabin storage in the form door pockets almost as small as my jeans pockets, two cupholders hiding under a trapdoor in the centre armrest, a hidey hole in front of the shifter containing a wireless charger and two USB ports and the glove box.

As for the boot – there are two: one in the nose with a 112-litre cargo capacity and another behind the mid-mounted engine with 226 litres.

Room for people, well you and a friend, is excellent. I'm 191cm (6'3") tall with a 2.0m wingspan and found the footwell deep and spacious, while head and shoulder room is also good.

This Korean SUV has a nice but unspectacular interior, although it does have a low-key premium look and feel about it and the cabin is comfortable.

It has a familiar ease of functionality and there’s a family-friendly mix of durable plastic and soft-touch surfaces throughout the cabin.

The 2026 KGM Rexton range is a seven-seat 4WD wagon in a two-, three- (second row) and two-seat (third row) 50/50 configuration.

The leather-look seats are comfortable enough and the front seats are heated, ventilated and power-adjustable; the second-row outer seats are also heated.

The multimedia system with its 12.3-inch screen is okay to use, but I had no luck getting Apple CarPlay paired to my not-so-smart phone. And, believe it or not, that hasn’t happened to me for a long time. Note: other people were able to pair their phones to this Rexton with no problems during my week of testing.

Otherwise, functionality, storage and charge points around the cabin are satisfactory, including two USB-C ports up front (centre console) and a 12V power outlet.

The second-row seats – a 60/40 configuration, which folds, reclines and tumbles – are supportive without being overly so.

In the second row, as mentioned earlier, the only changes evident to this Rexton over the previous generation are the pull-up sun blinds on the rear doors.

There’s actually a decent amount of space for passengers in the third row here, but an adult still wouldn’t love to spend too much time back there.

The rear cargo area space of the 2026 KGM Rexton range is listed as 236 litres (with all three rows of seats in use), 641 litres (with third row stowed away), and 1806 litres (with second and third row stowed away).

There’s a 12V power outlet in the cargo area.

This new Rexton offers reasonable practicality but rivals such as the Mahindra Scorpio and LDV D90 offer just as much, sometimes more, all-round family suitability but for $5000-$10,000 less, depending on the variant.

The KGM Rexton is available in four variants: ELX, Advance, Ultimate – and the Ultimate with the optional Rexton Sport Pack.

The Advance as standard has recommended drive-away pricing of $58,200 (correct at the time of writing and includes $700 Marble Grey metallic paint). But our test vehicle also has a $1842 tow bar fitted, and a $665 electronic brake controller fitted, pushing its as-tested price to $60,707.

Standard features in the Advance include C-type design LED daytime running lights, a 12.3-inch touchscreen multimedia system (with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto), a 12.3-inch digital LCD instrument cluster, leather-accented heated and ventilated, power-adjustable front seats, ambient interior mood lighting, walk-away automatic door locking, a power tailgate, 18-inch 'diamond cut' alloy wheels and a suite of driver-assist tech including a tyre pressure monitoring system, but it misses out on the higher grades’ 360-degree surround view monitor.

The only change to this Rexton over the previous version? Pull-up sun blinds on the rear doors.

This new Rexton has plenty going for it, in terms of standard features, but rivals such as the GWM Tank 300, Mahindra Scorpio and LDV D90 offer just as much onboard but for $5000-$10,000 less, depending on the variant.

Exterior paint choices include Grand White, Marble Grey (metallic paint), Pearl White (metallic paint), and Space Black (metallic paint). Metallic paint is available for $700 on all grades, but is included in the price of the Sport Pack.

There are two grades in the Audi R8 range – the entry-point R8 V10 RWD which has rear-wheel drive (RWD), and the R8 V10 Performance Quattro which has all-wheel drive (AWD).

Both obviously have V10 engines, it's a naturally aspirated 5.2-litre petrol unit (so no turbos here), but the RWD makes less power and torque at 397kW and 540Nm, while the Performance produces 449kW and 560Nm.

The V10 is mounted behind the driver's seat but ahead of the rear axle making it mid-engined car. The engine even has its own window and you can see it in there with its face pressed up against the glass.

There are two body styles as well – the Coupe and Spyder (convertible, roadster, just another word for a retractable soft roof). We'll get to the prices in the next section, but let's talk about the more interesting numbers such as top speeds.

The V10 RWD in coupe form can reach 324km/h and the Spyder can hit 322km/h while the V10 Performance Coupe and Spyder are both a smidge quicker at 330km/h.

Those are all go-straight-to-jail speeds in Australia, so if you're tempted to fact check my numbers then do it on a racetrack. Audi holds excellent track days – I've done them and you'll not only get to drive the R8 as fast as you can, the instructors will help you improve your advanced driving skills, too. Do it, it could save your life.

Acceleration from 0-100km/h is rapid – 3.7 seconds and 3.8 seconds for the V10 RWD Coupe and Spyder respectively, while the V10 Performance Coupe and Spyder can nail it in 3.2 seconds and 3.3 seconds.

The V10 engine has a cylinder-on-demand feature which can shut down five of the cylinders while cruising on a motorway, say at 110km/h. It's a fuel-saving system, but keep in mind this V10 loves petrol and lots of it – I've hidden that all the way down the bottom of this review.

Shifting gears in all R8s is a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission.

The entire KGM Rexton line-up has a 2.2-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel engine producing 148kW of power and 441Nm of torque.

It has an eight-speed automatic transmission, part-time 4x4 with high and low range, and an auto-locking rear differential.

This is a sluggish combination and not a particularly efficient powertrain, but it does the job, albeit in a lacklustre fashion.

Drive modes include Normal, Sport and Winter modes.

That's like asking how many calories are in this pavlova that I'm about to push into my mouth? Seriously if you're asking then you shouldn't be eating it – or driving the R8.

But just for the record, according to Audi the RWD R8 uses 12.0L/100km in Coupe form and 12.2L/100km in Spyder guise after a combination of urban and open roads, while the AWD R8 of course will use more at 13.4L/100km for both Coupe and Spyder.

Official fuel consumption for the Rexton is listed as 8.7L/100km.

On this test, I recorded 10.6L/100km, but I have done a chunk of high and low-range, four-wheel driving.

The Rexton has a 70-litre fuel tank. So going by that on-test fuel figure from a full tank, you could reasonably expect a driving range of about 660km.

But remember, I'm travelling with just me and some vehicle recovery gear. You'll be traveling with your kids, your mates, your pets, your camping gear, your sporting gear, all that sort of stuff. And that extra weight will have an impact on the vehicle's fuel consumption, so just keep that in mind.

A race circuit is the best place to test the performance of an Audi R8. I've been lucky enough to have done this in the past, but for this update of the R8 the Australian launch was held on public roads and included a convoy of RS models such as the RS 6 Avant, RS 7, RS Q3 and TT RS.

Even then I think I was 'stitched up' because I began the day in the R8 V10 Performance Coupe but spent almost the entirety of my allocated time in roadworks at 40km/h before swapping to an RS Q3.

So, while I can't honesty comment about the dynamics on this updated R8 V10 Performance Coupe I can tell you that having driven every iteration of the R8 since 2012 that it's a weapon, with helicopter-like visibility out of that large front window.

If, like me, you think turbos are 'cheating' (superchargers are fine), then you'll love the linear power delivery of the R8's naturally aspirated V10, and while I love front-engined sportscars, nothing beats a mid-engined car for the feeling of balance and lightness in the nose while having the sound of thousands of explosions going off just behind your back.

Having AWD is not just great for acceleration and perfect traction from Audi's quattro system, I think it's a good safety feature in a supercar, and while only your judgements can stop things going pear shaped, the system will be there to help on slippery roads.

The following day was different. I was in the R8 V10 RWD, the country roads were superb and while it wasn't a racetrack it was enough to get a hint of the capabilities of the RWD R8.

While the R8 V10 RWD feels the same to sit in with the same great view, it feels different to drive than its faster sibling, in a good way. First there's the noticeable power difference – more than 50kW and 20Nm less – but also the lack of AWD makes the front end feel more pointable, and the car feel more like a traditional sportscar that pushes from behind rather than pulling from the front. Less power, but more fun.

The RS cars in our test convoy were all awesome machines, but stepping out of even the RS6 Avant and slipping down into the R8 cockpit was like getting into a UFO – it's so far ahead dynamically of any other Audi that all I could do was laugh like an idiot. Corners which were making an RS 7 really struggle, were handled effortlessly by the R8. And in a straight line it's a bullet in a barrel.

The Performance has the better brakes: 380mm ceramic discs with six piston calipers up front and 356mm discs with four piston calipers at the rear. The RWD has steel discs – 365mm with eight piston calipers up front and 356mm discs with four piston calipers in the rear.

Keep in mind if you are planning on track days, you'll find the ceramic discs costly to replace, and beside the stopping power of the steel ones is excellent.

And yet, on pot holed course bitumen the ride is a lot more comfortable than you might think and having driven the Performance in traffic it's a much nicer place to sit than the claustrophobic cabin of a McLaren 570S. You could honestly use the R8 daily.

The Rexton is 4850mm long (with a 2865mm wheelbase), 1960mm wide and 1825mm high with a listed kerb weight of 2136kg.

With a turning circle of 11m, the Rexton is quite nimble around town.

On road, it’s okay. It's reasonably quiet and comfortable, and though it’s not particularly dynamic – the engine and auto make for a sluggish pairing – the Rexton is sufficiently driveable all round.

Its suspension – double wishbones and coil springs at the front, independent multi-link and coil springs at the rear – is firm, mostly controlled, but ride becomes jittery on irregular sealed surfaces and that characteristic is only amplified on even mildly corrugated dirt tracks.

And it’s in the dirt where the Rexton’s limitations are quickly exposed.

The Rexton is best considered a light-duty four-wheel drive: it is quite low; its stock tyres – Nexen NPriz RH7 (255/60R18 108H) – though marketed as “all season” aren't well suited for four-wheel driving. And the Rexton’s 4WD mechanicals and off-road traction control feel dated in operation, they just don't feel as effective as they should in a very competitive SUV market.

It doesn't have a lot of ground clearance or wheel travel and its shallow off-road angles – approach (20.5 degrees), departure (20.5) and ramp over (20) – are best suited to light-duty off-roading (i.e. well-maintained tracks in national parks in dry weather).

There's a decent spread of revs here, but there's not a lot to work with in terms of how effective the Rexton is as an off-road package so if you are here for a hardcore 4WD review with tyres-ripping-the-dirt action you're in the wrong place, because the Rexton just isn't up to that. And that's perfectly fine because people won't be using it for that purpose.

Having said that, the Rexton does reasonably well with what it has on board: there’s a decent amount of torque across a spread of revs; steering has a direct feel and nice liveliness to it; throttle response is quite sharp; and there is plenty of visibility forward over the bonnet.

Its auto rear diff lock is clunky in operation, disengaging abruptly, sometimes when you’re not even up, over or through the particular off-road challenge you’re tackling. I’ve noted similar issues with the Mahindra Scorpio in the past.

But driven with careful consideration the Rexton may do – at a stretch – the type of terrain you might not think it would be capable of.

And a decent set of all-terrain tyres would also help the Rexton, but it is what it is: a light-duty, four-wheel drive.

If you're thinking of using your family go-mobile as a touring vehicle, it’s worth noting the payload is 824kg, gross vehicle mass is 2960kg and gross combined mass is 6460kg.

Towing capacity is 750kg (unbraked) and 3500kg (braked).

The GWM Tank 300, Mahindra Scorpio and LDV D90 have similarly old-school type powertrains and 4WD set-ups, but the Tank is more comfortably capable off-road and yields a better general driveability than the Rexton and those others.

The Rexton does not have an ANCAP rating because it has not been officially tested.

As standard, it has nine airbags, auto emergency braking (AEB), adaptive cruise control, forward collision warning, lane keeping assist, blind spot warning, lane change-collision warning, rear cross-traffic warning, trailer sway control, driver attention alert, front vehicle start alert and more.

Though it doesn’t have an ANCAP rating, the Rexton holds its own in terms of driver-assist tech against rivals such as GWM Tank 300, Mahindra Scorpio and LDV D90.

The R8 is covered by Audi's three-year, unlimited kilometre warranty which not only falls behind in duration compared to mainstream brands but also its direct rival Mercedes-Benz which now has five-year, unlimited kilometre coverage.

Service intervals are every 12 months or 15,000km but unlike other Audi models there isn't a three-year or five-year plan available.

The MY26 Rexton range is covered by a seven-year/unlimited kilometre new-vehicle warranty, and five years of roadside assistance.

A service is required every 12 months or 15,000km, whichever occurs soonest with cost per service either $418 or $522.

KGM Australia has more than 50 dealerships across the country with a decent spread across metro and regional areas. Rextons can be serviced at those dealers or at approved workshops.

The Rexton offers a competitive warranty when pitched against the likes of the GWM Tank 300 (seven-year/unlimited kilometre), Mahindra Scorpio (seven-year/150,000 km) and LDV D90 (seven-year/200,000km warranty).