Yeah, yeah, it has S3 badges, but this prototype is a much hotter hatch than that. It's a development mule for the Audi RS3 that company engineers brought to the Nurburgring for testing this week.
If you compare photos of the Audi S3, you'll note that the air intakes on this RS3 are much larger, as are the wheels, even if they don't match. The front brake rotors are larger, too, and conspicuously cross-drilled. And the suspension looks like it has been lowered another couple centimeters.
If we could get a look under the hood of the Audi RS3 mule, we'd expect to see a version of the turbocharged 2.5-liter inline five-cylinder that makes 340 horsepower the TT RS. This should make the RS3 one very hot hatch indeed, and remember it's all-wheel-drive so it can effectively put power to the ground. The character of this engine is also well suited for a performance car, says Executive Editor Michael Jordan (based on his drive in the TT RS): "It's really something special, sharp and responsive where Audi power plants are typically powerful but kind of lazy."
Audi has never brought the 262-hp S3 to the U.S., so is there any reason to feel more optimistic about the RS3 coming here? Probably not, since we're getting the Golf R and maybe a Jetta R, but if there's hope for the TT RS, maybe there's small hope for the RS3, too.
notabigdeal says:
03:16 PM, 04/29/10
I'm going with no hope. the WRX and the MS3 are the best we're gonna get (mini doesn't count for me cause i need a back seat).
fuhbreezee says:
03:47 PM, 04/29/10
Forbidden fruit of the worst kind
mountainking says:
04:22 PM, 04/29/10
If it doesn't include a real manual (not the Fisher-Price "My First Manual" pretend like you're really shifting, dual clutch manumatic crap) they can keep it. Same with the Golf R, I was all excited about that, and then read they wouldn't be bringing a manual version to the States. What's the point?
danparedes says:
04:41 PM, 04/29/10
The S3 is available here in Mexico. I think it's not that hard to import it to the USA.
subytrojan says:
06:27 PM, 04/29/10
notabigdeal, what about the STI?
rabbitrusso says:
08:01 PM, 10/18/10
Much powerful then the S3 but still far away from the new BMW M1 - 6 inline twin turbo 352 hp, pure driving experience.