7:30 am, August 18, 2011
The RS3 is the latest Audi to wear the fabled badge, but can it match its predecessors? JAMES BATCHELOR finds out
WHAT IS IT?
It’s the RS treatment given to an A3, creating not only the car that sits at the top of the A3 range, but also the cheapest RS model currently on sale.
That RS treatment means a deeper front apron with larger air intakes, a diamond-patterned grille, side skirts and a rear spoiler. However, don’t be expecting customers to be coming to your doors – 2011’s 500-car allocation has all been sold.
WHAT’S UNDER THE BONNET?
An awe-inspiring 2.5-litre, five- cylinder turbocharged lump that churns out 335bhp and 450Nm of torque. That torque is available at 1,600rpm allowing stonking mid- range performance, and a seven-speed S tronic gearbox helps the RS3’s dash to 60mph take just over four seconds. Audi has worked hard to make the RS3 sound like the original quattro, and they’ve done a good job.
WHAT’S THE SPEC LIKE?
As you’d expect from the best A3. Nineteen-inch ‘five-arm rotor’ alloys come as standard, shielding the RS sports suspension. Inside, owners will have fine nappa leather-covered, RS-embossed sports seats which are heated, though manually adjustable; parking sensors; electronic climate control; DVD-based sat nav; and xenon headlamps with LED day-running lamps.
WHAT’S IT LIKE TO DRIVE?
At low speeds, the RS3 is slightly unexciting. But push on and it’s devastatingly fast. The quattro system is extraordinarily adept on the twisty stuff, feeling planted and assured. Provoke it, and you feel a chassis that is alive and loves four-wheel drifts. But it’s the five-cylinder soundtrack that thrills the most. At full chat, it whines and splutters, enticing you to play.
WHAT DO THE PRESS THINK OF IT?
Car Magazine said that while £40k sounds madness for an ageing hatchback, the RS3 looks good, goes quickly and is a ‘step in the right direction for RS’. Autocar said that it’s a ‘genuinely impressive piece of kit’ but felt ‘if it added a little more driver involvement it would be perfect’. Top Gear said it’s ‘the perfect package’.
WHAT DO WE THINK OF IT?
There’s no doubt Audi is letting the A3 go out with a bang. One-third of all Audis sold in the UK are A3s – and this halo version is a celebration of that. It’s probably one of the most complete hot hatches around, and is a fitting car to wear the RS badge. While plush, the interior feels slightly old but is better than, say, a BMW 1M, and the red wheels are nasty. Not that any of this will matter – as we’ve said, 2011’s allocation is all sold.
