INGOLSTADT - Audi Sport has lifted the lid on its new RS3 line-up, which can now go drifting thanks to an all-new quattro drivetrain setup and truck loads of torque from a 2.5-litre in-line five cylinder turbocharged petrol engine. The all-new 2022 Audi RS3 has been unleashed and its coming in both sedan and Sportback formats. Audi South Africa says it's planning to introduce the pocket rocket from Ingolstadt to Mzansi audiences from Q2 2022, which means you can start saving now for what we expect to be the most exhilarating compact car luxury car ever made.
With its sniper scope set sqaurely on the Mercedes-Benz CLA45S AMG and A45S AMG, the new Audi RS3 sedan and Sportback bring a cannon to a gunfight, packing a 2.5-litre straight-five turbocharged petrol engine. Audi says the engine is good for 294kW of power and 500Nm of torque, which is slightly down in horsepower terms compared to the Stuttgart-sled, however, the RS3 is said to pull harder; able to accelerate from a standstill to 100km/h in just 3.8 seconds. Keep your right foot flat in the new RS3 and you'll quickly reach its standard 250km/h top speed. If that's not enough for you and you're willing to pay more for it, Audi will raise the limiter to 290km/h once you check the RS Dynamic options box.
Away from the sheer pace of the thing, which looks absolutely mind-bending on paper and in some of the promotional videos Audi has distributed, the RS3 is expected to be one of the best-handling cars Audi’s ever made thanks to an RS Torque Splitter on the rear axle. Ford tried this in the Focus RS more than half a decade ago and its become an option in the A45S and forthcoming Golf R, and now Audi's jumped on the bandwagon in this segment to offer a more rear-bias driving experience if you like to throw shapes in your neighbourhood. The RS Torque Splitter sends more power to the wheel with more road contact, enabling it to turn sharper, hopefully quelling some of that understeer that the previous generation car was known for when you were really pushing the limits of adhesion in it.
We'd opt for the sedan if we were shopping in this segment because there's just something “Subaru WRX” and “Mitsubishi Evo” about the three-box variant when we look at it, and we mean this in a good way. There's a menacing rally-esque look to the outside of the vehicle and inside and underneath it's packed with technology that's all working together to make you feel like a driving god.
Expect the new RS3 to land in Mzansi for around R1,3 million depending on final specification for our market next year. We'll bring you more information on the cars destined for South Africa as it becomes available.