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Weekend roadtest: Gagging for the Audi RS 3 Sportback
publication date: Jun 25, 2011
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author/source: David Miles
The new flagship for the
Audi A3 Sportback range is the RS 3 quattro at £39,930 on-the-road.
Just 500 units were
allocated to the UK and all are already sold with deliveries due to customers
next month.
Jeremy Hicks, director for Audi in the UK said, "The fact that
customers are prepared to invest in one of our cars before they have seen or
driven it is a testament to our brand."
What is more surprising is
that the RS 3 has sold out so easily when a new A3 range will be introduced
from March next year although the RS variant tends to arrive later in the car's
life. |  | The Audi RS 3 competes in a
select group of premium, high performance compacts such as the new BMW 1 Series
M Coupe, the BMW M3 DCT and the Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG.
Hicks said, "We must avoid
being complacent, we are at the top of our game and we need to stay there. The
high performance RS brand is emblematic of our range and now we have the RS 3
to add to it."
The RS 3 is the first
compact Audi to carry the famous RS badge.
First seen in the TT RS, this five-cylinder petrol turbo unit channels 340PS
and 450Nm of torque to the road through a standard-fit seven-speed S tronic
twin-clutch transmission and quattro all-wheel-drive.
Maximum torque is readily available from around 1,600 rpm, and remains constant
up to 5,300 revolutions.
As befits an RS model the impressive output of this engine is reflected in the
performance with 0-62mph taking just 4.6 seconds and top speed is electronically
governed down to 155mph and produced the real-life consumption figure of
28.1mpg during the vigorous media test drive event.
But CO2 emissions are a costly
212g/km so VED road tax for the First Year rate is £580 reducing to £260 for
the second year onwards. For business
users the Benefit-in-Kind tax rate is 32 per cent and insurance costs do not
come cheap either with a group 42 rating.
The significant performance is accommodated quite happily by a chassis that
lowers the RS 3 Sportback by 25mm compared with the standard A3. The suspension
comprises McPherson struts at the front and a four-link rear layout.
The ride of course is firm but
not uncomfortable. Balance and composure are boosted by a widened, 1,564
millimetre track, and grip by 19-inch alloy wheels shod with 235/35 series
tyres at the front and 225/35 at the rear.
Electromechanical rack-and-pinion steering is used to provide suitably direct
response with relatively good feedback to the driver. In the stopping
department internally ventilated 370mm disc brakes are used at the front and
310mm units at the rear and these were strong and fade free during the high
speed, sharp corners and steep down and up hill road test route in the Austria
Alps where the ‘Sound of Music' was the bellow of the RS 3 exhausts resonated
through the mountains and valleys.
| Inside, sports seats are upholstered in Nappa leather with silver contrasting
stitching, and inlays are finished in Piano black or the new Aluminium Race
look (right).
A flat-bottomed RS steering wheel and an exclusive design for the
instruments and S tronic gear selector lever also highlight this car's status,
as does a specially configured Driver's Information System which displays boost
pressure and oil temperature and doubles as a lap timer.
|  | For me, the RS 3 high performer has been sanitised too much with the adoption
of the quattro all-wheel drive system which seems to be the case for some
Audi's.
Four wheel drive Audi's have in
some cases lacked the raw pace and agility when compared to the BMW M and
Mercedes-Benz AMG rear wheel driven cars due to the weight and power absorption
of the quattro system.
Over a four hour fast driving
route using Austria's Turracher Hohe demanding winding mountainous roads with
sweeping bends the RS 3 made light work of the task and felt very capable and
surefooted. Why the Austrian Alps? |  | Well in 1978 the first quattro
was ‘fired-up' and demonstrated to the Audi Board members using these roads and
they duly signed off the technology and the rest is history.
The RS 3 will get you from
point-point very quickly and safely, it is extremely fast, feels very safe and
responsive and sure footed but being so capable takes away some on the
seat-of-the-pants extreme driving fun.
The car wants to speak to the
driver but it just felt as though it had a gagging order placed upon it, apart from
the howl of the exhaust system.
© David Miles
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MILESTONES.
| Audi RS 3 quattro 5-Door Sportback
£39,930.
Engine/transmission: 2.5-litre, five-cylinder, turbocharger with
intercooler, direct injection petrol engine, 340PS (335bhp) 450Nm (331lb ft)
from 1,600rpm, 7-speed S tronic twin-clutch gearbox and quattro all-wheel
drive.
Performance: 155mph (restricted),
0-62mph 4.6 seconds, 31mpg (28.1mpg on test), CO2 212g/km, VED road tax First
Year rate £580 then £260 second year onwards, BIK company car tax 32%.
Insurance group: 42.
For:
Desirable so all are sold, surefooted handling, loads of grip, easy to
drive, very fast, high level of specification, good sporty looks.
Against:
A good high performance car but not an
‘edgy' or an involving one. | |
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