Audi RS 3: More grille, more drifts WHAT STANDS OUT THE MOST?
The hottest of Audi’s hot hatches is almost here, but we got a special preview of a left-hook version of the new RS 3 a few months before the RHD models arrive here for lucky customers.
MAKE ME AN INSTANT EXPERT: WHAT DO I NEED TO KNOW?
The RS 3 is pretty much a legend these days. While not quite nudging over into ‘‘iconic’’ status like the RS 4 (yet, at least), just like the base Audi A3 launched the ‘‘premium hatch’’ segmentwhen it first appeared back in 1996, the hot RS version led the charge into the current bonkers ‘‘hyper hatch’’ segment when it launched in 2011, quickly followed by other premium manufacturers.
That is how we get a small hatch with a frankly ridiculous 294kW of power and 500Nm of torque.
The RS 3 packs the same fantastic 2.5-litre five-cylinder engine that it always has, albeit a tweaked version that produces the same peak power as before, but lower down in the revs (now at 5600rpm), while bumping the torque up by 20Nm.
The RS 3 pumps all that power and torque through a seven-speed dual clutch transmission and a quattroAWDsystem that now features an ‘‘RS Torque Splitter’’ at the rear, replacing the rear axle differential. The torque splitter uses an electronically controlled multiple disc clutch on each of the drive shafts to ensure that ‘‘the right amount of torque is optimally distributed along the rear axle.’’
Audi says that during ‘‘more dynamic driving’’, the torque splitter increases the drive torque to the respective outer rear wheel with the higherwheel load, significantly reducing the tendency to understeer. But more importantly, the torque splitter can, in ‘‘RS Torque Rear’’ mode, direct all the power to the rear wheels for, you guessed it, a proper drift mode. Of course, as the car reminds you, this is for track use only.
The RS 3 is a $100,000-plus
Audi, so naturally you get a superb interior packed with tech and some super-sexy RS sports seats.
There is precious little of the standard A3’s tendency towards hard plastics, with the RS 3 boasting mainly soft touch and high quality surfaces throughout – there is a lot of carbon fibre too.
On the outside, the RS 3 is probably the most nicely judged example of an RS car in Audi’s line up – not as wildly over the top as the RS 6, yet bristlingwith subtlemenace and aggression thanks to its seriously wide stance (it’s 51mm wider than the standard A3 and packs a 33mm wider track).
WHERE DID YOU DRIVE IT?
I had a brief drive in a single lefthand drive pre-production RS 3 Audi has bought intoNew Zealand for promotional purposes. It involved amix of motorway and urban roads, so no chance to really stretch the RS 3’s legs, but easily enough to get a handle on how fantastically flexible the 2.5-litre five-cylinder engine is now.
While the five was always a wonderfully flexible thing, the changes made to it for the new model have made it noticeably more so, with a Porsche-like ability to be utterly docile and happy to lug along at low revs, and switch to utterly feral at the merest flex of your right ankle – the RS 3 will scamper to 100kmh from a standing start in just 3.8 seconds and, frankly, feels faster than that.
Like other German hyper hatches, the ferocious volleys of bangs and pops have been scaled back, but the brilliantly off-beat throaty five-cylinder warble is still front and centre.
Even though it was a brief experience in a left-hook car, it left me truly excited about the RS 3’s proper arrival here.
Whereas my last experience with the Audi’smain rival – the Mercedes-AMG A 45 S – left me a bit cold, it certainly feels like Audi has done whatAMGtried to do; namely civilise the RS 3 by making it more flexible and suitable to being a daily driver, but without diluting the ferocious performance they are both renowned for.
WHYWOULD I BUY IT?
Because you want a seriously fast, wonderfully agile small hatch that can frighten supercars. Because you have always bought RS 3s and will until either you or the model dies. Or because you want to get what will likely be the last nonhybridised hyper hatch.
WHYWOULDN’T I BUY IT?
You don’t get the whole hyper hatch thing – damn-near 300kW from a small five-door hatch seems like lunacy to you. But then, that is exactly the point!