New Audi RS3 is devilishly quick, and a dying breed
Like most of the automotive world, Audi is heading into an electric future, which makes cars like the new RS3 a dying breed.
To old-school petrol heads, a charismatic sound is an important part of the driving experience in a high-performance car. Thus, knowing the RS3’S successor in a few years’ time will be battery-powered and silent, hearing the heady roar of its current petrol engine took on special significance when I drove the new RS3 at its South African launch last week.
The five-cylinder howl has a unique character and becomes louder in the RS Performance mode, a setting that brings out the car’s wilder, angrier side. Apart from eliciting a more aggressive war cry through the RS sports exhaust system, RS Performance sharpens up the transmission characteristics, steering assistance, and the optional adaptive dampers — and it significantly heightens the car’s sporting vibe.
This mode also sets a racetrack-optimised mode for the RS torque splitter. The latter is used for the first time in an Audi and uses an electronically controlled multiple disc clutch for a fully variable torque distribution between the rear wheels.
The torque splitter helps ensure neutral handling and its efficacy was proven when we drove the new RS3 around the Zwartkops race circuit near Pretoria. The car maintained a balanced pose, with minimal oversteering or understeering even when driven in extremis.
The six-piston steel brakes worked well and didn’t fade after being thrashed around the circuit, but customers can choose lighter and more powerful ceramic brakes as an extracost option.
In hard driving the sevenspeed S-tronic transmission (there’s no manual available) occasionally got flustered and wouldn’t change up. However, overall I was impressed by how hard the RS3 could be pushed around the racetrack without getting unsettled, and how early you can punch the power out of turns. It’s a devilishly quick but forgiving car, and you really need to do something silly to get it out of shape.
For those who wish to practice their drifting skills, an RS Torque Rear mode makes this possible by sending all the torque to one rear wheel.
The RS3 may be the junior member of the Audi RS tribe when compared to cars like the 441kw Audi RS6, but it’s one of the most satisfying to drive because it is so compact, agile and approachable.
The car has plenty of shove without being intimidating. Behind the menacing new honeycomb radiator grille is the well-known 2.5l petrol-turbo that scored nine successive class wins in the international Engine of the Year awards. It gets a 20Nm torque boost to 500Nm, and while it produces the same 294kw as before, it’s available over a slightly broader rev range for improved tractability. The RS3 scorches from 0-100km/h in a claimed 3.8 seconds and tops out at a 250km/h top speed or 290km/h with the optional RS Dynamic package.
The RS3’S appeal also lies in how civilised it feels as a daily driver. It doesn’t rely on rockhard suspension to attain its track-taming feats and delivers a relatively cushy ride on public roads, especially with Comfort mode selected in the optional Adaptive Chassis Control.
The car is available in fourdoor Sedan and five-door Sportback guises and both lay on athletic vibes with their aggressive bodywork and flared fenders, with a 33mm wider front-wheel track that makes them look more planted.
The sporting décor is carried over into their interiors with RS sport seats, carbon fibre trim, and a flat-bottomed RS steering wheel with gearshift paddles. The digital instrument panel can be set to different display modes, and shows g-forces and lap times.
The Audi RS3 Sportback is priced at R1,215,000 and the Sedan is R1,245,000 (including a five-year Audi Freeway Plan) with standard niceties including a premium Bang & Olufsen 3D sound system, Audi smartphone interface and rear-view camera. There’s a vast list of extra-cost options on offer including Nappa leather upholstery, lane departure warning, navigation, head-up display, seat heaters and panoramic glass sunroof to mention a few.
The first allocation imported to SA is sold out.