The new Audi RS3, which has just gone on sale in Ireland, is the ultimate hot hatch, at least until Peugeot gets around to launching its putative 500hp 308 R hybrid.
The whopping 367hp that goes through all four wheels comes from a development of the 2.5-litre five-cylinder turbo petrol engine taken from the old TT RS, which is itself a distant relative of the original Quattro Coupe’s 2.1-litre engine; 465Nm of torque is available, and Audi claims it will break the 100km/h barrier from a standing start in just 4.3 seconds.
Its top speed is nominally limited to 250km/h, but there’s an option to have that raised to 280km/h, should your daily commute include a decent length of autobahn. Or a quiet runway.
Emissions, which you would expect to be laughable, aren’t too bad, at 189g/km, which means road tax of €750 a year – or about as much as you’d pay for a 2007 Ford Mondeo 1.8-litre.
All RS3s come with seven-speed S-Tronic dual-clutch transmission as standard, and a bevy of electronic aids help to keep all of that power as fully deployed as possible.
The RS3 also has a “drift button” setting, which allows you to smoke up the rear tyres on request. In a safe, legal way, of course. The suspension, although based on that of the standard A3, is fully bespoke for the RS3, and the whole car sits 25mm closer to the tarmac than the standard model.
"There is a long tradition of five-cylinder engines at Audi," says Prof Dr Ulrich Hackenberg, board member for technical development at Audi AG. "In the 1980s such engines turned Audi into a sporty brand, both in motor sports and in production."
Christian Gussen, managing director of Audi Ireland, said the new RS3 "demonstrates Audi's transition from racetrack experience to road-car performance in its key competencies of quattro and engine technology. The enhanced driving experience is delivered thanks to engineering innovations in weight reduction, dynamic suspension improvement and quattro technology."
