Audi puts the boot into RS 3
Kiwis buy more Audi Sport models per capita than anywhere else. That will strengthen with the new RS 3 sedan and TT RS coupe, says Paul Owen.
Whenever I jump into a new model from Audi Sport, I know what to expect – lots of grip and go, often accompanied by interesting acoustic effects.
These four-ring specials really do make driving feel special, and the latest RS 3 sedan and TT RS sportscoupe take that mission even more seriously. For Audi Sport has really put more boot into both. For the coupe, that statement only applies to the new engine, while the RS3 sedan packages the increased performance into a three-box body structure for the first time as well.
Driving both cars over the highest sealed road in this country – the one that crosses the Crown Range from Wanaka to Queenstown – it was clear that the new five-cylinder direct-injection turbocharged engine does more to the dynamics of the cars than increase their potential to reel in the horizon.
The power and torque output increases are rather substantial ones, lifting the former from 250kW to 294, and upping the maximum driving force available from 450Nm to 480Nm. This lowers the 0-100kmh intervals for both cars to less than four seconds. If you’re mad enough to pay the extra dollars required to have the 250kmh top speed limiters removed, these new five-cylinder Audi Sportsters will then top out at 280kmh.
Just imagine the front page headlines that speeding ticket will generate… instant celebrity awaits at the wheels of both.
A more realizable statistic of the new seven-speed, twin-clutch powertrain is that it is 35kg lighter than the one that it replaces. And most of that weight has been removed from the engine bay, which means that mass equivalent to that of a sack of spuds has been pruned from the noses of the RS 3 sedan and TT RS. So they now point towards your intended direction a lot more readily before you deploy their extra squirt.
The previous RS3 Sportback was one of the finest hot hatches on the market, offering such limited opportunities for criticism that it became my personal Car of the Year in 2015. But this new sedan version has it well beaten in terms of the increased agility that it offers, along with the banishment of understeer to higher cornering trajectories.
What relevance does this have to driving these cars on Kiwi roads like the Crown? In every day terms probably very little due to the mean traffic speeds encountered. But it’s comforting to have such a deep well of chassis performance to delve into whenever there’s a sudden drought of driving skill. You might misjudge the radius of a corner and enter it going a lot faster than intended. At such times, the RS3 Sedan/TTRS will take care of everything so long as you have the courage of keeping the car steering in the direction of the road.
Such is the depth of the cornering talent possessed by these two sporty adaptive allwheel-drive cars that they’ll hold the cornering line at unfathomable speeds and still not trigger the stability controls that they hold in reserve.
Audi’s previous 2.5-litre inline five was so likeable and characterful that it topped its capacity bracket for seven years in a row at the annual Engine of the Year awards. The new one maintains the same architecture, but substitutes the heavy cast-iron cylinder block for an all-aluminum structure that is 26kg lighter. A further 9kg is saved via the adoption of a new hollow forged crankshaft, and this lowering of rotating mass has given the engine a more rev-happy persona.
Heard through the sports exhaust fitted to both new Audi Sport models, the five maintains its distinctive growl, but there’s now a hint of Ducati V-twin in its increased willingness to reach the 6300rpm redline.
This latest engine is the culmination of 40 years of evolution for Audi inline fives, and it seems incredible that the new RS3 Sedan is the first time that a turbocharged five has been fitted to a four-door saloon. The result is a highly-drivable yet practical sports-sedan, the three-box body structure offering both rigidity and luggage security benefits over the RS3 Sportback (which will receive the new powertrain in the final quarter of 2017).
Helping this car fulfill any aspirations its buyer may have for a family-friendly vehicle is the magna-ride adaptive suspension fitted as standard equipment to it. This can adjust its flow of damping oil in milliseconds due to a special fluid that can alter its viscosity while reacting to changes in the strength of an electric current. As a result both the RS3 Sedan and TT RS can deliver surface-calming ride quality, even when driven in their sportiest driving modes.
Audi New Zealand expects to sell 80 RS 3 sedans ($106,900) and 20 TT RS coupes ($132,900) over the remaining half of the year. The price differential between the two models possibly reflects the more competitive environment that the sedan lands in, where it has a serious sibling rival in the form of the RS Q3 sports-SUV ($104,900).
Helping sweeten the deal on the TT RS is that a racetrack wardrobe comes with it, consisting of an Arai helmet, and Alpinestars driving gloves and shoes.
There’ll be no excuses then for not dressing up to enjoy this R8 supercar-in-miniature to its fullest performance at the exclusive track days Audi NZ lays on for RS-model owners.