Down on all fours – the Audi S3 Sportback Quattro

Who in their right mind buys a grey car? Not silver, but grey – battleship grey. Silver is cool, but grey is the colour of paint primer, so who would actually fork out money for a grey car? Me, I would. But it has to be Nano Grey, as found on the recently sampled Audi S3 Sportback.

Now it's not only the colour that tickled my fancy, the entire package is quite appealing with only one small drawback... ok, perhaps two. Firstly, it's a pricey piece of kit, and secondly, it's the Sportback approach that gets to me. I don't have a family or kids (that I know of) so opting for the 5-door layout is somewhat unnecessary. I'd much rather go for the 3-door hatch, but that's just me. Why drive a “practical” car when you don't have to. While I can still get away with a 3-door or coupe, I'm sure as hell going to.

Concept

The Audi S3 Sportback keeps company with the likes of the Mercedes-AMG A45, Volkswagen Golf R and the Ford Focus RS... and that's about it, because there aren't too many manufacturers that offer AWD, turbocharged hyper hatches. Even Subaru went back to the sedan shape.

Some may argue that this is largely unnecessary and that mating an AWD system to a 200kW+ motor is a surefire way to appeal to those with the driving skills of an amoeba. The lure of AWD safety and go-fast-in-a-straight-line capabilities appeal to those with trousers that hang disturbingly low around the crotch. Real drivers should be trying to tame the rear-drive BMWs and left foot braking in the overpowered front-wheel drive Renaults, or so you will hear them bleat.

But I quite enjoyed my time with the Audi S3 Sportback.

Styling

While not overly aggressive on the styling side, the combination of Nano Grey (a few shades darker than Nardo Grey) and the pulled, tweaked and emphasised lines of the S-bodykit did well to separate it from the crowd, eliciting a few second takes from the odd passerby. It is the sort of car and colour combination that can easily blend into the background, but can also stand out – all depending on where you park it. Standing out is best achieved when you worm your way in between a slew of white double cab offerings. Personally, I believe that the 3-door is more of a looker, but the Sportback is a respectable blend of practicality and athleticism.

Interior

Audi interiors have, for me, always had a certain appeal. While not as ergonomically sound as some of the Japanese offerings, their blend of build quality, tech and layout design has resonated with my slightly OCD tendencies and love for switchgear. Simple, it is not.

Naturally, as is the norm these days, if you want any sort of comfort or convenience in your Audi, you need to A) be prepared to check of a myriad of options and B) be prepared to pay for each and every one dearly. Extensive options lists make sense, they allow you to customise a car to your individual preferences, but their pricing has gotten out of hand and can quickly thrust a seemingly affordable vehicle into the realm of dreams.

Fitted with Audi's Virtual Cockpit and MMI Navigation Plus, the S3 checked all the right boxes for me in the way of customisability and tech. Drive Select is a must on a car like this and it genuinely allow me to cruise along in relative comfort one minute and then relive my Group-B fantasies the next.

Power

And that's possibly why the S3 resonated with me in the way that it did. It's probably the closest I'll get to driving an 80's Group-B Audi S1... even the shape is similar, sort of. Yes, it's missing the iconic 5-cylinder soundtrack, but having the DSG gearbox at hand and a very respectable helping of power underfoot certainly didn't hurt the experience.

Powered by a 2.0-liter, 4-cylinder turbo-petrol engine, the S3 produces 228kW with a healthy 400Nm on tap. Mating this to the 7-speed S Tronic dual-clutch gearbox and driving all four wheels means that the S3 can rocket to 100km/h from a standstill in a mere 4.6-seconds. And I believe it will. Activate the launch control and plant your right foot and the S3 gets off the mark at a very brisk rate. It may not be a hypercar sub-3 second launch, but in a sub-R1mil car, that's mighty impressive.

It's an easy car to drive fast. It truly does favours for the driver, luring him into a false sense of self. And that's not necessarily a bad thing. Virtually all enthusiasts like driving enthusiastically, but not all possess racecar driver-like reflexes or skills. That's where the AWD system and the smorgasbord of driver aides comes to the rescue. I'm by no means condoning law-breaking driving behaviour, but when you factor in the capabilities of the car and the myriad of potentially unseen circumstances, it's nice to know that the S3 has your back, should something unexpected dart out from a side street.

Roadholding

It goes without saying that the AWD system fitted to the S3 Sportback Quattro is a highly advanced piece of kit. It's come a long way since the initial Haldex systems of the early 8L model. Still, the S3 is predominantly Front-Wheel Drive (FWD) biased, with the majority of the power being sent to the front until it is required at the rear.

You're not going to find the pin-point turn-in precision of a Lotus 7 here, but it's considerably sharper than most, and only slightly plagued with a numb-steering feel. Thank you electronic power steering.

But this is the purist complaining, when in actual fact, the S3 finds a very respectable balance between rewarding the driver for spirited driving and still managing to retain a healthy dose of sanity and sensibility for daily driving and dare I say it, traffic.

Results

The Audi S3 Sportback Quattro is therefore a pleasant balance between performance, handling, practicality, convenience and style. It's a well-rounded and considerably spacious hatchback with enough poke under the hood to keep you entertained for many months. It was lighter on fuel than expected, more comfortable than anticipated and slotted into my lifestyle surprisingly well (even if I didn't need the back doors).

My only gripe is the price tag and the associated costs of the options. It really does work out expensive when you spec it the way that we had it here. You certainly could do without the Virtual Cockpit, but then you have to explain to your friends why you didn't select it, and that's not a conversations I look forward to having.

2017 Audi S3 Sportback Quattro                            R646 000