AUDI RS3 SEDAN

BIBLICAL BANG FOR YOUR BUCK

WITH A BIRTHDAY imminent I’ve been dropping none too subtle hints about the perfect present. It’s German, its grille has four rings, its body has four doors and it delivers drive through four wheels.

It’s the formidable Audi RS3 sedan and it’s totally and utterly addictive: stratospherically fast, corners like it’s on rails, stops in a heartbeat and is lavishly appointed and ultra-refined.

To me it is the consumate driver’s car and no surprise to learn it’s the biggest seller in the Audi Sport range.

Every time my bum hit the leather-clad sport-seat my face lit up with a huge grin.

Push the start button and the 294kW/480Nm turbocharged 2.5-litre five-cylinder engine wakens with a roar. Its huge oval shape exhausts ensure quiet getaways aren’t possible.

When let loose, all that grunt feeds through a seven-speed dual clutch auto and the Quattro driveline to fire the RS3 sedan to 100km/h in 4.1 seconds. That’s less than a second slower than $390,000 V10 Audi R8 plus supercar. Top speed is 280/kmh.

What’s more, the pricetag of $84,900 makes the RS 3 sedan a bit of a bargain, considering what you get.

It’s sleek shape isn’t covered in bolt-on body bits and the only hints it’s the fastest one of the pack are a lower ride height (by 25mm) over a standard A3 on which it is based, a wider track, a single-frame grille, guard-filling 19-inch alloy wheels on low profile Pirelli’s, huge brakes with big red brake callipers, drainpipe exhausts, rear diffuser, small boot lip spoiler and a chin spoiler with ‘Quattro’ stamped on it.

Inside it’s typical Audi: well crafted and appointed. Nobody does interiors better. Leather covers the body hugging quilted sports seats and flat-bottom steering wheel that also wears a touch of Alcantara. At your fingertips are aluminium shift paddles and controls for the adaptive cruise, wipers and indicators. You also get dual zone aircon with rear vents, auto wipers and lights, an auto-dimming mirror, heated front pews and lashings of brushed aluminium and carbon garnish throughout.

The driving position is low slung and facing