'THE KEY ELEMENT IS WHAT I CALL THE JEKYLL AND HYDE EFFECT. THE CAR ALWAYS HAS TO FASCINATE'

What truly defines an Audi RS model? From the visceral roar of a petrol engine to the spaceship hum of the latest EV, Audi Sport's Steffen Bamberger reveals the secrets behind crafting performance cars that thrill - and why chasing raw power isn't the whole story

- by ADAM TOWLER

IT’S A SIMPLE QUESTION TO BREAK THE ICE, BUT ALWAYS an effective one to see whether a car company ‘big cheese’ can elucidate what their cars really stand for: ‘Just exactly what makes an Audi RS an Audi RS, Herr Bamberger?’

Steffen Bamberger, Head of Technical Development and Project Management at Audi Sport GmbH, does not hesitate in his reply: ‘It’s not such a big secret. For sure, it’s the exterior design; you have to see the difference. Then, when you open the door, you have to see at once that it’s an Audi RS: the steering wheel, the seats, the materials, the way the stitchings are formed in the car.

‘The next step is starting the engine - the starting process, even with an EV. Then the acceleration, how the car feels, how the car and the engine vibrates, is really, really important. And steering the car, the driving dynamics. It has to always be precise, always be safe, but... it has to always be fun, and that’s our task in designing a car, that range between daily durability useage and sportiness. And the sound is really, really important: if you're driving a car really in a sporty way, the sound gives you a sense of orientation, of how you are moving the car. That doesn’t matter whether it’s a combustion engine or electric car.’

Plenty to unpack there, then, not least that, whether synthesised or not, Audi Sport places such a prominence on acar’s audio signature from the perspective of a driver. What of the new spaceship-esque sound in the RS e-tron GT?