Skip to main content

Where ya headed? Jon Olsson’s 1,000-horsepower Audi RS6 is the ‘uber’ Uber

Looks like everyone with a spare car is getting into the Uber game these days. This now includes professional skier and car enthusiast Jon Olsson, who hit the streets of Stockholm, shuttling Uber users around in his street-legal 1,000-horsepower Audi RS6.

No, he’s not trying to make ends meet during the off-season. Olsson is participating in this year’s Gumball 3000 rally event, which kicks off in the Swedish city and ends in Las Vegas. To drum up publicity, Olsson partnered up with the app-based taxi service to take some of the locals for a few wild rides.

Jon Olsson Audi RS6
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Olsson and his high-powered Audi was available to call up on the Uber app for a block of six hours on the 15th of Friday, during which he received 5,700 booking requests. A lucky 11 plus their friends got a chance to have Olsson drive them around town, to a cafe, or wherever Stockholm Uber users normally go.

Recommended Videos

The car itself it s a DTM-insipred RS6 designed by Koenigsegg’s former chief engineer. Under all the extra racing bodywork is a 4.0-liter V8 mounted with 18-karat gold anodized turbochargers. This blinged-out power plant can churn up 950 horsepower with regular gas, which can jump over 1,000 hp with race fuel.

Jon Olsson Audi RS6
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Naturally, the skier has a custom carbon fiber roof box mounted on the top for his powder-cutting blades.

The notorious rally event will kick off this Sunday, May 24th where the participants will head out on their transcontinental irresponsibility tour through Europe, ending up in Amsterdam, where the first leg ends. Cars then arrive in Reno, Nevada, looping through California, then ending at the illustrious casino mecca on the 30th.

Alexander Kalogianni
Alex K is an automotive writer based in New York. When not at his keyboard or behind the wheel of a car, Alex spends a lot of…
Plug-in hybrids are becoming more popular. Why? And will it continue?
Kia Niro EV Charging Port

There's a lot of talk about the idea that the growth in electric car sales has kind of slowed a little. It's not all that surprising -- EVs are still expensive, early adopters all have one by now, and they're still new enough to where there aren't too many ultra-affordable used EVs available. But plenty of people still want a greener vehicle, and that has given rise to an explosion in hybrid vehicle sales.

That's especially true of plug-in hybrid vehicles, which can be charged like an EV and driven in all-electric mode for short distances, and have a gas engine as a backup for longer distances or to be used in combination with electric mode for more efficient driving.

Read more
EV drivers are not going back to gas cars, global survey says
ev drivers are not going back to gas cars global survey says screenshot

Nearly all current owners of electric vehicles (EVs) are either satisfied or very satisfied with the experience, and 92% of them plan to buy another EV, according to a survey by the Global EV Drivers Alliance.

The survey of 23,000 EV drivers worldwide found that only 1% would return to a petrol or diesel car, while 4% would opt for a plug-in hybrid (PHEV) if they had to replace their car.

Read more
Trump team in sync with Tesla on ending crash-reporting requirements, report says
Beta of Tesla's FSD in a car.

The transition team of President-elect Donald Trump is planning to end existing car-crash reporting requirements to safety regulators, according to a Reuters report.

The report cites a document obtained by Reuters that lays out the transition team’s 100-day strategy for automotive policy. In the document, the team says the crash-reporting requirement leads to “excessive” data collection, Reuters says.

Read more