Flinging Audi's most powerful EV sedan through a whiteout landscape took me back to a seminal drive in a first-gen Ford Taurus. It's one of my earliest recollections of driving in the snow and dates to a time when I could barely reach the pedals. The memory sticks with me—and with my mother too. She stood at the kitchen sink gazing out the window to see her fecal-brown Ford go zipping past in the snow.
My best friend and I had swiped the keys when she wasn't looking and proceeded to turn the yard into a rally circuit. Oh, the Taurus also went past the window in reverse. We could gain enough speed around the shed to pull off glorious J-turns in the front yard. Snow sprayed off the tires, then we started tearing up the grass. My father couldn't have cared less about the lawn. As a transmission technician, he was far more pained to learn about mom's car slamming from reverse to drive. Over and over.
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Like so many others that live in frigid winter climates, I advanced to empty snow-covered parking lots, where I cranked out more donuts than Dunkin' on a Sunday. Those vacant spaces are prime real estate to learn car control. At least until the cops or security show up.
Those that are not lucky enough to have iced-over lots at their disposal, or those who wish to learn the fundamentals of ice driving and car control in a safe and controlled environment, should investigate ice-driving experiences, such as Audi's program in Seefeld, Austria.
While similar programs are offered around the globe, we traveled to the Alpine region to dial in our tank-slapping and drifting hooliganism. Audi offers three vehicles here: the forbidden fruit that are the RS 3 Sportback and the S5 Avant wagon, and our ice-and-snow thrower of choice, the 2025 Audi RS e-tron GT Performance.
The new-for-2025 RS e-tron GT Performance boasts impressive elements: There are optional carbon-ceramic brakes and active dampers, the battery is larger, and DC fast-charging is now quicker. Most important, the peak horsepower is up to a whopping 912 ponies. But out on a frozen pasture, none of those things really matter.
The biggest players here are the studded tires: handcrafted Nokian Hakkapeliitta 10 EVs with three-millimeter nails. (The longest street-legal stud is two mills.) On these tires, the studs scratch across the ice sounding like a mouse clawing away at sheet of drywall. As the e-tron GT snakes through the slalom course, slight brake pressure plants the front end before the backside predictably swings around. The RS e-tron GT Performance's rear-axle steering helps it dance like Cinderella at Disney on Ice. It's a balance of speed and timing. Carry too much momentum, and the roughly 5200-pound sedan understeers into oblivion.
In many ways, controlling a big, snowy drift with an electric vehicle is almost like cheating compared to an internal-combustion counterpart. Without having the need for an engine's turbos to spool up or a conventional automatic transmission to shuffle though its gearing, the instantaneous torque delivered by the electric motors adds to the ease of flicking around the RS e-tron GT Performance. With the powertrain set to Dynamic mode, the torque bias shifts reward. A big stomp on the accelerator unsettles the rear end to set up the ultimate Scandinavian flick. As the e-tron snaps back around, feathering of the right pedal makes even the most inexperienced ice drivers look like all-stars around the drift circle.
For roughly $2000, Audi's ice experience includes a two-day class, hotel accommodations, transfers to the facility, and meals, and it is open to anyone of legal driving age. For just $20, I'll show you how to execute a J-turn in my parents' yard. You supply the Ford Taurus.
Specifications
Specifications
2025 Audi RS e-tron GT Performance
Vehicle Type: front- and rear-motor, all-wheel-drive, 5-passenger, 4-door sedan
PRICE
Base: $168,295
POWERTRAIN
Front Motor: permanent-magnet synchronous AC
Rear Motor: permanent-magnet synchronous AC
Combined Power: 912 hp
Battery Pack: liquid-cooled lithium-ion, 97.0 kWh
Onboard Charger: 9.6 kW
Peak DC Fast-Charge Rate: 320 kW
Transmissions, F/R: direct-drive, 2-speed automatic
DIMENSIONS
Wheelbase: 114.2 in
Length: 196.7 in
Width: 77.3 in
Height: 54.9 in
Passenger Volume, F/R: 52/37 ft3
Trunk Volume: 9 ft3
Front Trunk Volume: 2 ft3
Curb Weight (C/D est): 5200 lb
PERFORMANCE (C/D EST)
60 mph: 2.2 sec
100 mph: 4.5 sec
1/4-Mile: 9.6 sec
Top Speed: 155 mph
EPA FUEL ECONOMY (C/D EST)
Combined/City/Highway: 90/90/90 MPGe
Range: 300 mi
