By: Justin Jacobs
Johannesburg - The Audi RS3 has been a long-time favourite due to its ability to be practical for everyday use as well as its uncanny ability to decimate just about everything double its value.
Offered in Sedan and Sportback guises, the latest Audi RS3 brings a host of new driving technologies while retaining that sublime 2.5-litre in-line 5 cylinder. We spent a day behind the wheel of the new speed machine to see what it has to offer.
In 2000, BMW released an award-winning advert, with the vehicle being filmed doing a high-speed run. At the end of the advert, it is revealed that the camera car was indeed the E39 M5. BMW unashamedly stated that the M5 was the fastest four-door saloon on the planet. It was powered by a race-inspired 4.9-litre V8 that developed 294kW and 500Nm of torque.
The new RS3 develops the same amount of power. It will also hit the 100km/h mark from standstill in around 3.8 seconds. That’s how far we’ve come, where a compact sedan will easily annihilate what was claimed to be the fastest saloon car on Earth.
What makes the RS3 so special, apart form its glorious motor?
Well, the 8Y model looks fantastic, with a preference for the sedan. Key highlights include the aggressive front design with striking LED headlights, the large Audi grille and equally functional air-intakes on either side. The gloss-black treatment adds to the overall menacing look.
Just behind the front wheels are air vents that add to the bolstered wheel-arch design and allow air to move from the wheel housing, along the side of the car and out towards the rear. The RS3 has a wide stance, when viewed from the front one will notice a negative wheel camber that improves grip-levels on the racetrack.
The rear of the car is equally as wide, with an imposing rear bumper which houses the iconic RS oval exhaust pipes. The RS3 looks divine. It is available in a wide variety of colours to suit its obnoxious character.
The interior continues the theme of sportiness.
The standard equipped 12.3-inch Audi Virtual Cockpit Plus displays the revolutions per minute in the “RS Runway” design. The 10.1-inch touch display in the instrument panel also displays the coolant, engine, and transmission oil temperatures, as well as the G-force and, optionally, tyre pressure. The infotainment system is standard Audi and supports Wireless Apple CarPlay. Truth be told, we didn't fiddle with the system all that much because this car demands the driver’s attention at all times.
The expressive look is further enhanced by the carbon-fibre trim in the instrument panel and RS sport seats with RS embossing and anthracite contrast stitching. The seat upholstery is optionally available in fine Nappa leather, with RS honeycomb stitching and glossy black, red, or, for the first time, green contrast stitching.
The Audi RS3 offers seven driving modes, which include the standard four plus three new ones. The RS torque splitter, installed for the first time in an Audi, makes the driving experience even more exhilarating and provides a dynamic balance. It replaces the previous rear axle differential with an upstream multiple disc clutch package.
An electronically controlled multiple-disc clutch is used on each of the drive shafts that distributes torque between the rear wheels in a variable manner. This results in even greater stability and agility. During dynamic driving, the torque splitter increases torque delivered to the outer rear wheel with the higher wheel load, which significantly reduces the tendency to understeer.
Another new addition is the RS Torque Rear mode, which makes drifting possible. It is designed for use on closed roads. In this mode, the torque splitter induces considerable oversteer by transferring all the rearward drive torque to the wheel on the outside of the curve a.k.a Drift Mode… in an Audi.
The RS3 offers a different driving experience to that of other Audis. It feels more agile, more hard-core and more special.
You can attack corners with confidence and the front 375 x 36mm perforated disks, combined with the now 310 x 22mm rears, do a fine job of slowing you down. There is, for the first time on the RS3, a carbon ceramic option.
All in all, we could bang on about the car all day. The fact of the matter is that the RS3 lapped the infamous Nurburgring, in 7:40.748. The original 1000hp Bugatti Veyron did it in that time as well.
Let that sink in for a moment, not only is the RS3 developing the same power as the E39 M5 (the fastest four-door saloon in the world in 2000) but it also set a lap time equal to that of one of the fastest cars made.
That speaks for itself, and it also explains the price tag of R1 215 000 for the Sportback and R1 245 000 for the sedan.