The Audi Q8 and its sporty SQ8 brother are due for a facelift and it looks like Audi will take the opportunity to create more differentiation between the pair.
Spy photographers have captured both versions testing in prototype form and the most obvious takeaway is the different grille designs visible on the plain Q8 and its SQ8 brother. The current cars all use a grille with prominent vertical strakes that makes it look like they’re wearing a mask pinched from Batman nemesis Bane’s dressing-up box. But there’s no sign of that grille on any of the test cars.
Instead, the regular Q8, which stands out thanks to its bright chrome window trim and huge wheel arch gaps appears to be getting a grille inspired by table football games cabinets, though maybe that’s just our imagination. The SQ8, on the other hand, swaps its vertical grille bars for a giant honeycomb grille that’s almost a caricature of a traditional sporty Audi grille.
Blurring the boundaries between the two models is what could be a Vorsprung-trimmed version of the standard Q8. This car seems to be wearing the same jumbo honeycomb grille as the SQ8, but lacks the genuine S-model’s quad exhaust setup, offering only a single rectangular exhaust tailpipe finisher on either side of the lower bumper.
Related: Audi Q8 Facelift Makes Spy Debut Hiding Mild Changes
Other visual changes for the facelifted SUVs center on the subtly redesigned LED lights at either end. The lamp units themselves will remain the same size but the DRL signature will change to mark out the newer models. Interior upgrades will likely be limited to minor trim and upholstery tweaks and improvements to the infotainment system and connectivity.
We’re not expecting to see any huge changes to the engine lineup, which currently consists of 3.0-liter diesel and petrol powertrains for the Q8, and a 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 making 500 hp (507 PS) for the SQ8. Both the Q8 and SQ8 already come with 48-volt mild-hybrid tech, and the 55 TFSI PHEV available in Europe is sure to make the jump to the facelifted lineup.
Given that the current Q8 was launched in 2018, and how little disguise the cars are wearing we suspect they’ll be unveiled before the end of this year as 2024 models. That would make them only slightly later to market than the just-facelifted Mercedes GLE and soon-to-be-refreshed BMW X6.
