Audi S3 Sportback
With a focus on refining its underlying platform rather than adding more power, could Audi have finally built an S3 worthy of its hot hatch billing?
BY THE TIME YOU READ THIS, WE’LL NO doubt have experienced a few days of ‘quattro weather’. The long and mostly dry summer will be behind us, leaves will be falling, and the roads won’t be offering quite the frictional properties they have over the past few months. When the nights and weather both begin to close in and conditions such as these prevail, the benefits of all-wheel drive become more apparent.
During the summer, though, it mostly means carrying around a load of extra weight and guzzling a little extra fuel with no significant benefit. If the car in question is an Audi, for the longest time it has also often meant dry-weather handling that feels a little inert: sometimes a touch nose-heavy, other times devoid of sensation, or if you’re really unlucky a combination of the two. They can be ideal machines for providing extra traction and a comforting security blanket in the worst conditions imaginable, but they’re frequently little more than easily guided projectiles when the roads are dry.
The S3 in particular has been guilty of this, a situation all the more curious when stablemates from Volkswagen and SEAT have used the same hardware to much more entertaining effect. It’s a situation we’re hoping might turn around with the latest, fourth-generation Audi S3, the first performance model to emerge on the updated version of the Volkswagen Group’s MQB platform.
The hardware really is a mild evolution of what went before, the Group clearly working to refine its latest generation of cars rather than redefine. So the S3’s engine and drivetrain are very similar to those of the outgoing model, with an EA888 2-litre turbocharged four sitting widthways under the bonnet and sending power through a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission to all four wheels. The all-wheel-drive set-up is a refinement of the old Haldex-style system, able to send power to either end of the car as required but not to individual wheels – perhaps Audi will grant the inevitable RS3 full torque vectoring.
Outputs and performance are also little changed: 306bhp, 295lb ft and sub-five to 62mph,
with the usual 155mph limited top speed. Not that any of these are disappointing figures in isolation, and arguably we should be relieved that Audi isn’t attempting to escalate the hot hatchback power race any further, but it’s enough to temper expectations for the firm’s latest offering. S3s get adaptive dampers for their strut (front) and multi-link (rear) suspension, influenced by the chosen Drive Select mode and independently switchable in the Individual setting.
The styling, in contrast, is probably the biggest step yet for an S3. That’s more down to the fourth-gen A3’s angular lines being a departure from the previous model’s looks than it is any S-specific plumage, but it’s much more of a shrunken RS6 this time around. In profile particularly it has that same Hot Wheels vibe as other recent S and RS models – tucked-in sides, arches stretched over the wheels, and on our test car a distinctive shade of metallic yellow I’m choosing to call Cyberpunk Banana.
Inside, the shapes are relatively inventive, the materials tactile and it’s ergonomically spot-on, but sadly there’s not the merest sliver of Cyberpunk Banana – instead everything’s an oppressive shade of Frankfurt Office Carpet Grey. You do get Audi’s interpretation of the mostly touchscreen-based controls seen in other recent MQB cars, but with the wise inclusion of physical buttons for the air conditioning. Once you’re used to the touchscreen it works pretty well, and while the novelty of Virtual Cockpit has worn off now everyone’s doing it, it remains fairly simple to configure the display to a combination that works for you.
On the move the S3 immediately feels every bit as fleet and agile as you’d expect a hot hatch to feel. Supple too, with the usual proviso that it’s difficult to find a stretch of road in Germany that locals haven’t apparently been out and
ironed overnight. But experience of other recent performance Audis suggests the company’s engineers have finally wrapped compliancy into the dynamic mix. Hopefully it’ll continue to behave itself in the UK.
Like those S4s and RS6S it’s also intuitive. This isn’t a four-wheel-drive hatch to make Gavan Kershaw raise an eyebrow with its steering feel, but in terms of response, progression, accuracy and weighting it’s right on the mark. You can charge into a corner, hard on the brakes, and provided you’re not making unreasonable demands of the front end it’ll go exactly where you’ve pointed it. It’s not a car that’s inclined to misbehave, so no change there, but it does feel lighter on its feet than previous S3s, particularly through direction changes.
Strong brakes and equally mighty traction tie the middle bit of a given corner together, but tying together corners themselves is less rewarding. In part this is down to the ubiquity of that EA888 unit and attendant dual-clutch ’box, which always perform admirably but rarely sparkle, but our test car is also hamstrung by an inoperable Drive Select system, ruling out any chance of trying the sharpest throttle response, noisiest exhaust setting and snappiest shifts, which together might draw some more character from the powertrain.
It also nixes access to the firmest damper mode and more aggressive torque-biasing characteristics. However, there’s no great desire to sample the former on the road, and the latter probably won’t have the profound effect it does on Audis with locking diffs and four-wheel steering, and it’s a testament to a well set-up chassis that neither is greatly missed. We’d be surprised if the S3 suddenly delivered laugh-out-loud entertainment even with phasers set to kill rather than stun, but first impressions are of a car that’s slightly but measurably more rewarding than its predecessor.
The real test will come when we get to pit the S3 Sportback against its closest rival, the Mercedesamg A35 4Matic. The price difference is minimal, the badge appeal similar and the styling a matter of personal taste. More importantly, the result is far from a foregone conclusion. Perhaps by then quattro weather will be in full swing too; the S3 should feel right at home among the drizzle, wet leaves and mucky lanes.
Engine In-line 4-cyl, 1984cc, turbocharged Power 306bhp @ 5450-6500rpm Torque 295lb ft @ 20005450rpm Weight 1500kg (207bhp/ton) 0-62mph 4.8sec Top speed 155mph (limited) Basic price £38,475 evo rating ★★★★ F
+ Feels less one-dimensional than its predecessor
- Uninspiring engine; breaks little new ground
‘It feels every bit as fleet and agile as you’d expect a hot hatch to feel’