Audi RS3 sedan – 1st compact Audi RS sedan takes pole position in its segment

Where you’d normally associate Audi RS cars with large sedans/estates/sports cars and the name RS3 with the Sportback shape, Audi has now done something new – RS engineering and styling mixed with the 5-cylinder Audi RS engine… on its smallest sedan.  When you open the blender, you find inside the first-ever Audi RS3 sedan.

The first compact Audi sedan to bear the RS label

Previous RS Audi sedan cars were the Audi RS4 and RS6 – at the moment there is no RS4 sedan or RS6 sedan (RS6 Avant, only) so the RS3 sedan steps up to represent.

The unique sound of the 5-cylinder unit intensifies an already emotionally charged driving experience.  Its sound comes from having the ignition alternate between directly adjacent cylinders and widely spaced ones.  The sound can also be modified via Audi drive select.

With lightning-fast shifting, the S tronic 7-speed dual-clutch transmission transmits the power of the 2.5 TFSI to the quattro permanent all-wheel drive, using an electro-hydraulic multi-plate clutch which distributes the drive torque variably between the axles.  The electronic control combines superior stability with a high level of driving pleasure.  The sportier the driving, the faster and more often will a large share of the torque reach the rear axle.  The result: especially agile driving characteristics.

The RS-specifically tuned Electronic Stability Control comes with a sport mode for controlled drifting.  The ESC can also be fully deactivated for especially sporty driving characteristics.

Distinctive RS design outside and inside

The new top athlete in the compact segment also expresses its sporty character visually.  The single-frame grille with its 3D honeycomb bears the quattro logo along the bottom.  Underneath, a blade extends across the entire width of the front into the side air inlets, where it forms narrow funnels for better air flow through the wheel arches.

Compared with an A3 sedan, the front track of the RS3 sedan is wider by 20 millimetres, and the front wheel arches are, accordingly, wider flared.

LED headlights with their distinctive daytime running light signature are standard, and Audi also offers matrix LED headlights as an option.

A fixed spoiler lip on the luggage compartment lid improves the separation of air flow.  A distinctive diffusor insert with vertical struts and the large oval tailpipes of the RS exhaust system finish off the Audi RS look at the rear.  Audi exclusively offers the RS-specific paint colours Nardo Grey and Catalunya Red as options on the RS3 sedan.

The dark-toned interior welcomes the driver and passengers with illuminated door sills bearing the RS3 logo.  Black fine Nappa leather sport seats with RS logos on the backrests are standard, while available optionally are contoured RS sport seats with integrated head restraints in diamond-patterned colour-perforated seat covers (as shown in article interior images).  The RS sport leather steering wheel is flattened at the bottom.

Pole position in the compact sedan segment

Its creation takes Audi straight to the top – the RS3 sedan is the highest-performance compact sedan you can buy.  Indeed, it overtook the Mercedes-AMG CLA45 to take pole position as the quickest compact sedan around.  

Bizarrely, BMW – originator of the fast small-sedan + big-engine sports sedan in the 1st 2 3 Series – is nowhere to be seen.  The 1 Series sedan it will only build for China – not even for its home market!  Sure, the BMW M2 exists as coupé, which is the current small BMW M car product, without an Audi RS or AMG rival.

The tussle is now on between the duo of high-power compact sedans… between RS3 sedan and CLA45:  the AMG’s 4-cylinder 2-litre may be the most powerful for its engine-size (280kW and 475Nm) and its 4Matic also gives it 4-wheel grip like the Audi’s quattro, but Audi has managed to get their 2.5-litre 5-cylinder into the A3 sedan engine bay – it now puts out 294kW (400bhp) and has 480Nm available for torque.  This means the Audi RS3 sedan does a photo-finish ahead of the CLA45’s time of 4.2 seconds by coming in with a 4.1.  Both cars are limited to 250km/h, and both can be ordered with a raised limit of 280km/h.  Unthinkable a few years back, to have these speeds in a small sedan.

Sedan-favouring markets

The Audi RS3 sedan will be launched in large sedan-favouring markets, being China and the USA, from northern-hemisphere summer 2017.  It is likely that the RS3 Sportback facelift (as per A3 and S3 facelift) rather than RS3 sedan will be sold in South Africa.