Audi RS Q8 vs Farizon Supervan

What's the difference?

The Audi RS Q8 Performance is a lot - of everything. It offers lots of power, lots of performance, lots of space and lots of luxury. But it’s also a lot of money, and at more than $250k it’s not going to be on everyone’s shopping list. It’s a very niche proposition for a small group of buyers. For those select few, those who want a lot of everything and who crave the ultimate of whatever product they’re buying, then the RS Q8 Performance is going to be a very tempting proposition - even if they never set any lap record in it.

Note: CarsGuide attended this event as a guest of the manufacturer, with travel, accommodation and meals provided.

You’d think Farizon would be onto a winner given it has created a van with cool looks and the packaging benefits that come with a dedicated EV architecture. However, the SuperVan left a sour taste in my mouth.

There are good bones here, but Farizon has a long way to go with fixing the electric motor whine and safety systems.

It’s great the company is aware of the SuperVan’s shortcomings and is currently working on software updates, but it begs the question, why wasn’t it good in the first place?

We don’t refer to ‘facelifted’ cars for no reason, the RS Q8 Performance has a number of visual changes.

These include a new Audi ‘singleframe grille’ and new front bumper design, with a new Matt Carbon trim package available to highlight that.

There’s also a new rear bumper design as well as new digital daytime running lights at the front and digital OLED lights at the rear.

The unique forged alloy wheels are another design change, but also bring a functional element. Measuring 23 inches they do a good job of filling out the wheel arches and give the RS Q8 Performance a purposeful stance and good proportions. But they are also 5kg lighter per wheel than the 22-inch rims on the RS Q8, saving unsprung weight to help the ride and handling.

Inside, Audi hasn’t made any dramatic changes to the design, which is fine because the brand does some of the best cabins on the market in terms of look and feel.

What is new is an aluminium inlay and an optional RS interior design package which provides a unique finish to the seats, with contrasting stitching, for an additional $4100.

This electric van makes a fantastic first impression with its design. It’s futuristic and stands out on the road.

I haven’t driven a car that gets this much attention in a fair while, which is wild given this is a delivery van and traditionally they’re some of the dullest vehicles out there in terms of design.

What makes the SuperVan stand out the most is the variety of colours it comes in. Sure, you can get standard white if you want, but there’s also grey, green and blue. Our tester is finished in the latter which looks cool and modern.

The front continues the futuristic theme with a bright LED lighting signature for the headlights. They’re connected by an LED light strip, as well as an illuminated Farizon badge.

Given this van is electric, it doesn’t need a large, traditional grille to keep an engine cool. Instead there’s a small slotted opening at the bottom of the front bumper to cool the electric motor and high-voltage battery. It’s cool Farizon has made this van obviously look electric with this cue.

Beyond the stylish aero covers for the 16-inch steel wheels, there really isn’t much to talk about in terms of side profile design. It’s very slab-sided which is a classic van look.

It also leans into the trope that vans are essentially boxes on wheels. This is no bad thing because at the end of the day, a van is a work vehicle that’s meant to maximise hauling potential.

At the rear, this version of the SuperVan with the ‘Low Roof’ body style is perfectly square. It looks a little funny, but again this is a work-oriented vehicle that’s the opposite of a mullet - business at the back, party at the front.

Inside, Farizon has made a big attempt to make this electric van look luxurious and contemporary. Having synthetic leather seats is a luxury that many vans don’t have, along with the big digital instrument cluster and touchscreen multimedia system.

I’m a fan of the orange highlights around the cabin as they break up the monotonous black finishes.

Once you sit in the cabin, however, the commercial roots do begin to show. Virtually every surface is rock-hard plastic, which in a way is good because it means it’ll be hard-wearing in the long run.

While it’s easy to get swept up in the power and speed of the RS Q8 Performance, it’s important to remember that it’s an SUV and it needs to offer ‘utility’ as well as ‘sports’. 

With that in mind, the front seat occupants are well looked after with supportive and comfortable sports seats, with a good amount of small item storage spaces. 

The rear seats are surprisingly comfortable, despite the sloping roofline of this ‘coupe-style’ SUV. Audi has cut recesses into the ceiling to create more headroom, so it will be fine for anyone under six-foot tall. Despite there being five seat belts, this is realistically more of a four-seater for adults, although three smaller kids could squeeze across the back.

There’s also a pair of cupholders, two USB-C ports, a 12-volt outlet and your own climate controls for the rear passengers.

As for the boot, again it loses some volume because it’s not a wagon-style SUV, but there’s still a decent, square floor space with a claimed 605 litres of capacity.

So, overall the Q8 obviously isn’t the most practical version of an SUV, but it does well given its focus on style.

While good looks can get you so far, cabin practicality is where things are a little mixed for the SuperVan.

The driver’s seat is generally comfortable, offering a decent amount of support and a centre armrest, but the driving position is heavily compromised.

The worst offender are the pedals as they’re mounted so high that I need to take my foot off the floor to press them. Then the steering wheel only offers tilt adjustment and not reach.

As a result I need to have the seat pushed further back than I’d like to make sure I can press the pedals without making my right ankle hurt in stop-start traffic. Then even with the backrest virtually upright I still need to have arms extended almost fully to reach the wheel.

It’s not the kind of place I’d like to spend a considerable amount of time, which is disappointing because many people who drive this van will likely spend hours behind the wheel at a time.

Thankfully both seats offer both heating and ventilation, which is rather luxurious.

Ahead of the driver, the steering wheel is wrapped in buttery soft synthetic leather, like the seats, and is nice to hold. I appreciate the amount of physical buttons on it. They’re all clearly marked and easy to click.

The steering wheel is also heated and gets hot super quickly. There’s only one setting – on or off.

The digital instrument cluster looks flashy and has a range of informative pages you can cycle through. One even displays a vehicle weight page which is great if you’re unsure if you’re close to the gross vehicle mass (GVM).

Moving across, the touchscreen infotainment system looks glossy and high-definition, but there’s not much to do on it. This also means it’s hard to get lost and even if you do there are shortcut buttons on the right-hand side of the screen.

As standard there’s wireless Apple CarPlay connectivity which is great if you’ve got an iPhone, but terrible if you have an Android phone. This car has no Android Auto support whatsoever.

It’s great to see a continued use of physical switchgear around the cabin for things like the drive modes, regenerative braking settings and most notably the climate control settings. The latter are big and chunky, meaning they’re hard to miss.

In terms of storage up front, it’s fairly mediocre beyond big door pockets. There’s a slide out drawer with two cupholders and another small storage section, as well as another small storage drawer and a glovebox.

Around the side you'll find one of this van's most unique features. When you open up the passenger side front door and slide open the side cargo door, you’ll see this van doesn’t have a B-pillar. There’s only a plastic partition between the passenger and cargo areas.

As a result, the seatbelt for the passenger is mounted on the door. This feels a bit weird in the passenger seat because the seatbelt cuts across more than usual and doesn’t rest on your shoulder.

The SuperVan only comes with a single sliding door. You can’t opt for one on the driver’s side in Australia which is a little disappointing from an ease-of-use standpoint.

At the back there are rear barn doors that have stops at 90 degrees and 180 degrees, before opening all the way up to 270 degrees. This is great because you’ll be able to put whatever is on a forklift into the cargo area.

Speaking of the cargo area, it’s massive. This SWB Low Roof version measures in at 2690mm long, 1795mm wide and 1440mm tall. This equals 6.95 cubic metres, which is considerably more than any similarly sized van, whether that be diesel or electric.

It’s another major benefit of this van being built on a dedicated electric vehicle architecture, rather than a combustion platform that needs to take drivetrain and exhaust components into account.

Payload is 1300kg which is fairly standard for mid-size electric vans.

I like how low the load lip is at the back. This means you don’t have to lift things too high in order to get them in the cargo area.

In terms of amenities there are some lights, tie-down points, as well as three powerpoints for vehicle-to-load (V2L) support at up to 3.3kW. Disappointingly the latter didn’t work in our tester no matter how hard I tried…

Surprisingly under the cargo area is a full-size spare wheel. This is incredibly rare for an EV, especially one that’s all about maximising cargo capacity. It’s great peace of mind if you do long-distance travelling.

The Farizon SuperVan is being offered in Australia in three trim levels. On test here is the entry-level short-wheelbase (SWB) Low Roof option.

Pricing for this variant starts at $71,490 before on-road costs. It’s worth noting that this is for private buyers. If you’re an ABN holder or are buying a fleet of SuperVans, pricing will likely be different.

This is more affordable than the Ford E-Transit Custom, Peugeot E-Expert and Volkswagen ID. Buzz Cargo, but the LDV eDeliver 7 is cheaper again. However, that rival Chinese electric van isn’t built on a dedicated electric platform and doesn’t offer as much range.

As standard the SuperVan comes with a plastic cargo partition, a single sliding side door, as well as rear barn doors that swing up to 270 degrees. You can’t option any other configuration, currently, beyond different wheelbase lengths and heights.

Standard equipment across the line-up includes LED headlights, a 7.0-inch digital instrument cluster, a 12.3-inch touchscreen multimedia system with wireless Apple CarPlay, a heated steering wheel, as well as heated and ventilated synthetic leather seats.

This is generous for a commercial vehicle that’s going to be a workhorse and will need to stand the test of time.

This is the latest iteration of Audi’s twin-turbo 4.0-litre V8 petrol engine - and it’s a beauty.

While this engine is used in a variety of models, for the RS Q8 Performance Audi has taken power to 471kW with 850Nm of torque, which, as mentioned earlier, makes it the most powerful internal combustion engine Audi has ever offered in a production car.

That’s also a big boost over the previous RS Q8, which managed 441kW/800Nm, and is only just shy of the 485kW/850Nm offered by its ‘cousin’, the Porsche Cayenne Turbo GT.

Audi claims that the RS Q8 Performance will launch 0-100km/h in just 3.6 seconds and keep going to an electronically limited top speed of 250km/h. We tried to test the acceleration time on a closed circuit, but driving into a very strong headwind the big SUV could manage only 4.4 seconds - which is still a very quick time given its size and luxury.

The engine is paired to an eight-speed automatic transmission and Audi’s trademark quattro all-wheel-drive system to help smoothly transmit so much power to the road.

All versions of the Farizon SuperVan in Australia are powered by a single, front-mounted electric motor that produces 170kW and 336Nm.

This is fed by an 83kWh lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery which is sourced from Chinese battery producer CATL.

Farizon doesn’t quote an official 0-100km/h time, though it claims the top speed is 135km/h.

Unfortunately you don’t get the most powerful production engine without some trade-off, and for the RS Q8 Performance that means significant fuel consumption. The official fuel economy rating is a very thirsty 12.2L/100km, but that's the best-case scenario too. If you partake in some spirited driving that unleashes the full potential of the engine will result in a higher rate of premium unleaded being consumed by the big V8. We saw returns in the high teens across our time, but that was largely open road driving, so we’ll reserve final judgement for an extended test drive across more varied conditions.

Thankfully there’s a fairly large 85L fuel tank, so if you can hit the claimed average you can get a theoretical 696km of range.

Claimed range for the SuperVan depends on the body configuration, but it’s up to 376km according to WLTP testing for the SWB Low Roof body style.

The battery pack can be DC fast-charged at rates up to 140kW, which would see the battery charge from 20 to 80 per cent in 36 minutes.

The battery pack can also be AC charged at rates up to 11kW, which would see the battery charge from 15 to 100 per cent in seven hours.

The SuperVan also offers vehicle-to-load through Australian domestic household plugs at up to 3.3kW of continuous power. This allows you to use the van’s battery pack to power appliances, tools, or other emergency backup systems.

Farizon doesn’t quote an official energy consumption figure for the SuperVan, but during my unladen testing I saw an average of 23.5kWh/100km, which would give a theoretical range of 350km. This would likely drop with a heavier load onboard.

Obviously the RS Q8 Performance is all about speed, Audi made its intention clear by sending it to the Nurburgring to set a new SUV lap record for an SUV. But the reality is most owners are unlikely to hit the racetrack in the RS Q8, so what’s it like on the road?

In a word? Impressive.

While the engine is undoubtedly the star attraction offering up so much effortless performance, the RS Q8 Performance wouldn’t be so quick around the Nurburgring or as nice to drive on the road without its highly advanced chassis systems.

It has an array of technology to help it handle, it has active air suspension, adaptive dampers, active roll stabilisation and all-wheel steering, which help to make this big SUV handle like a much smaller car.

The suspension does a remarkable job of providing a compliant ride on such large alloy wheels, while also providing responsiveness.

The handling is certainly helped by the all-wheel steering, which gets the rear wheels to turn in the opposite direction to the fronts at low speed (below 50km/h), but in the same direction at high speed (above 80km/h), making the big SUV feels much more direct when changing direction.

As for the overall experience, that’s helped by Audi’s surprising decision to actually remove some of the sound insulation, which allows you to hear the engine even more than you ordinarily would. This really plays to the dynamic nature of the RS Q8 Performance.

Driving this van is punishing. It’s quite unlike any other modern van I’ve experienced as they can be fun to drive. This SuperVan, however, leaves me feeling like a lot of the elements need finessing.

First up there’s the electric motor. It makes a decent amount of power and easily gets this big box on wheels moving. In Sport mode the front wheels can get overwhelmed if you’re not careful.

However, this van has an incredibly loud electric motor whine. It builds as you gain speed, then once you reach your desired speed it hovers at an annoying high pitch. Some extra sound deadening would likely help.

Additionally, there’s a pedestrian warning sound that plays under 25km/h, as well as a beeping tone when reversing. While this is common for EVs, this one feels like it’s louder on the inside rather than the outside. This somewhat defeats the purpose.

There are three levels of regenerative braking as standard and all of them require you to use the brake pedal to come to a complete stop. This means there’s no one-pedal driving mode.

With all the settings the regen braking is either completely on or off. There’s no in between which creates a thrashy feeling in the cabin, especially when travelling down a hill and you’re trying to coast along without activating regen braking too much. As a result, I like the weakest regen setting the most.

Surprisingly the interaction between the regenerative braking and the traditional friction brakes is rather seamless. Even the brake pedal feels relatively normal, compared to a regular combustion vehicle, which is sometimes uncommon for EVs.

As standard there’s an electric power steering system which, unlike some other new Chinese vehicles, feels like it’s actually connected to the wheels. While you can tell the steering is electrically assisted, you can still feel what the wheels are doing.

Thanks to the dedicated electric architecture, the turning circle is surprisingly good for such a large vehicle. It measures in at 12.2 metres kerb-to-kerb.

Like many commercial vans, the SuperVan has a double wishbone independent front and a rear leaf spring suspension setup. This typically prioritises cargo-carrying ability rather than on-road comfort.

When unladen the SuperVan’s suspension is incredibly jittery and harsh. You can feel every single bump in the road and crossing a speed bump makes me grit my teeth. It doesn’t help that the tyres need to be pumped up high. As standard the rear tyres need to be pumped up to 61psi.

With some added weight onboard the SuperVan’s suspension does settle, but it’s still quite choppy. We didn’t get a chance to test this vehicle at the full GVM, but it would be interesting to see whether the rear springs get a little more compliant then. Range would likely plummet though.

In terms of visibility, you sit up high in the cabin and there’s a large windscreen. These are both big ticks. It also helps there are large side windows and side mirrors that make seeing kerbs easier.

Like many vans however, over-the-shoulder checks aren’t possible in the SuperVan as there are no rear windows, plus seeing out the back through the tiny envelope is virtually impossible.

Thankfully there are front and rear parking sensors as standard, as well as a surround-view camera that has good quality but a choppy camera feed. Having the standard sensors and camera system is great while doing tricky parking manoeuvres.

Lastly, let’s talk about the chimes… They are some of the loudest and most incessant I have ever experienced in a new car. They’re so loud that they honestly scared me at first.

There are a variety of different tones for all the different safety systems. One that grates the most are the intelligent speed limit assist which bongs each time it detects a new speed limit, then again if the system thinks you’re travelling over that limit. It’s particularly annoying because it picks up 40km/h school zones even when it’s not school zone times.

Another chime plays for the driver monitoring system when it can’t detect your eyes. This is annoying if you want to wear sunglasses while driving.

You can turn off these settings in a menu on the touchscreen, but they all default back to on when you restart the car.

Other loud bongs play when you change the drive mode, the regenerative braking setting, even when you turn on the adaptive cruise control. You just can’t escape it.

The Farizon SuperVan hasn’t been crash tested by ANCAP just yet, however it was awarded a five-star rating by Euro NCAP earlier this year.

As standard there’s autonomous emergency braking (AEB), blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, lane-keep assist, adaptive cruise control, traffic sign recognition, intelligent speed limit assist, a driver monitoring system, front and rear parking sensors, as well as a surround-view camera.

This is a lot of safety kit, especially for a commercial van, but as mentioned above a lot of safety systems are rather intrusive and have obnoxiously loud chimes.

Thankfully Farizon is currently working on a software fix that’ll see all the chimes reduced by 20 decibels. It’s also planning some tweaks to the lane-keep assist and reverse camera which may form as part of the same update.

Despite the extra power and fancy new brakes, the RS Q8 Performance costs the same to service as the existing RS Q8.

That means $4690 for Audi’s five-year service plan, and $5720 for the Audi Advantage.

The latter package includes an extra two-year, unlimited kilometre warranty on top of Audi’s five year/unlimited km coverage. It also includes two extra services and two more years of roadside assistance, to keep you covered for seven years total.

That’s good, but it’s still an extra cost when many mainstream brands already offer seven years of coverage as standard.

The Farizon SuperVan is covered by a five-year, 200,000km warranty, while the high-voltage battery pack is covered for eight years or 200,000km.

There’s also five years of complimentary roadside assistance.

Logbook servicing is required every 12 months or 30,000km, which is relatively standard for commercial vehicles.

The first five services are capped and all up cost $2730. This averages out to around $550 per service, which is a little on the expensive side for an EV. However, diesel vans can be much more expensive to maintain in the long-term.

Farizon currently doesn’t have a dealer network in Australia and only sells vehicles in Queensland through its website. The company is working on setting up a dealer network in the coming months and is prioritising the eastern seaboard.