Review: Audi RS 3 sedan
Pretoria – As the decade progresses, it’s becoming increasingly depressing as manufactures continue to send out media releases espousing the virtues of electrification, and by which date they will stop making internal combustion engines.
Fortunately though, for now, we can still enjoy the thrill of a V8, V6 or in this case Audi’s magnificent 2.5-litre five-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine in the RS3 sedan. I might be sticking my neck out here but I reckon it’s one of the best all-round every day cars out there, if you’re a petrolhead.
It’s a bit of a sleeper if you will, with four doors, nothing too outrageous in terms of body kit or go-fast stripes to give away that it will get to 100km/h in a brisk 3.8 seconds.
Sure, the aggressive grille, air intakes, rear diffuser and large tail pipes set it apart from the regular S3 but it’s done with understated style and quality.
It’s easy to live with too, whether you’re burbling around on the work or school run or want to have a bit of fun on a Sunday morning breakfast run on the twisties.
Because when you press the accelerator and the full 294kW and 500Nm comes into play driving all four wheels via a seven-speed dual clutch, Audi’s brilliant Quattro system bolts it forward like a spirited thoroughbred.
The interior is also rather understated with a digital cockpit that displays a graph-style rev counter and speedometer rather than a traditional dial layout, which I’m not yet convinced about.
One piece backrest sport seats, strategically placed RS design logos, reverse camera and a B&O sound system make time behind the wheel very pleasant.
Not that you’ll be spending too much time listening to music or talk radio because it’s all about the sound from the tailpipes. It howls and screams and pops and cracks which may not enamour cyclists or some road-users, but they can wait till the electric vehicle (EV) revolution while we drive around with a Cheshire grin.
Its DNA may be sports car but the ride is surprisingly comfortable and while handling may be go-kart like, the well-tuned suspension and chassis iron out road imperfections well belying the 19-inch alloys covered in low-profile rubber.
The Audi RS3 will make you feel like a better driver than you actually are thanks to the Quattro drive, and I can’t remember when last a car gave so much confidence around tight corners and long sweeping bends.
Blip the gears down or up on the paddles and it responds in kind, helped too by a torque splitter fitted with an electronically controlled multiple-disc clutch that will send power to one of the rear wheels if required.
Dial it down again, and it will trundle through the suburbs with the kids comfortably on the passenger seats.
While EV legislation starts ever-more to encroach on the internal combustion engine, and buying patterns alarmingly continue to flock towards nondescript SUVs and crossovers, the Audi RS3 sedan stands proudly as a beacon for brilliant handling and engineering to show why driving is done with the heart, and not with the head.