A HIGH-PERFORMANCE version of Audi’s already-quick S3 hot hatch is widely tipped to make an appearance at next month’s Frankfurt Motor Show, the latest in a series of fast Audis to make their debut this year.
No official word has been offered by Audi that such an event will occur, but this week a ‘tweet’ appeared on popular social networking site Twitter from Audi of Capetown, in South Africa.
“Looking forward to the unveiling of the new Audi RS3. 2.5L five-cylinder turbocharged engine, 4WD & 335Bhp. See it at Frankfurt Motor Show,” the message reads.
The V10-powered Audi R8 5.2 FSI and TT RS have already hit the market, and the RS3 is expected to arrive in showrooms before the year is out.
S3-bodied prototypes were spotted circling the Nurburgring earlier this year, and development on the RS3 appears to be well advanced.
The RS3 is expected to be powered by the same turbocharged inline-five used by the TT RS, which spits out 250kW and 450Nm of torque.
Engine output may be detuned but, like the TT RS, a six-speed manual gearbox will most likely be the only transmission available in the RS3.
Audi’s quattro all-wheel-drive system will take power to the ground and endow the RS3 with a substantial amount of grip. With its turbo AWD layout and five-door hatchback body, the RS3 should prove a worthy alternative to the Subaru Impreza WRX STI and Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X, albeit with more refined European appointments.
The Frankfurt Motor Show opens on September 15, when - if the rumours are correct - we’ll see Audi’s latest and greatest hot hatch uncovered for the first time.
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Problem is this. By all overseas reports the TT-RS has been a major drving dissapointment. The problem again is the TT or S3’s AWD system is not a match for the EVO. The Haldex system is just a FWD that sends power to the rear wheels only when traction is lost at the front, it’s not I repeat NOT a true proactive AWD like the EVO or STi for that matter. The Haldex is a different sytem to that which is found in the V8 RS4 and R8’s (which are true AWD systems). Until VW / Audi change the system completely, the Golf and A3-4 (”AWD” models) will always be nothing more than front whel drivers, also handling like an understeering front drive. Boring!
In a straight line no doubt the RS3 will be faster. Faster than any EVO or STi. But around a track or tight mountain road an EVO will have it’s measure.
Actually, I’ve just been reading these ‘overseas reports’. None of them have said it’s a major disappointment at all. Most of them have said it’s not quite as good as a Cayman S but that’s a far cry from ‘Major dissappointment’.
Personally, I’ll reserve judgement until I’ve driven one….ok, that’s not going to happen. I suppose I’ll have to put my trust in motoring journo’s….ahem!
I think you will find its not the system in the TT-RS that is different its the calibration of power sent between front and rear and I think you should read the current reviews of the S4 and then think again to whether an Evo AWD is better than an Audi AWD system not to mention how better looking an Audi is than an EVO or STI