Monthly Motor - September 2014

cars, courtesy of its muscular 206kW/380Nm outputs.
It’s the same 2-litre turbo petrol that does duty
in the VW Golf R, S3 hatch and S3 Sportback, and
later this year it will also be slotted under the bonnet
of the S3 cabriolet.
Top speed’s governed at 250km/h and Audi
quotes a sea level 0-100km/h sprint of just 5 seconds
for the S3 saloon, and the car we road-tested
in high-altitude was just a tenth slower. Helped by
its all-wheel-drive traction, 5.1 seconds is a scorchingly
fast figure. If you’re looking for a cool stat to
throw into the next barbeque discussion, tell your
mates the S3 matches a Lamborghini Gallardo
Superleggera in the 0-100 sprint.
This Lambo-esque performance comes with
typical German efficiency. Reeling off those swift
sprints is child’s play with a launch-control system
that allows the engine revs to build up while you
hold the brake with your left foot. Release the brake
and the Golf GTIs, Subaru STIs and Mitsubishi
EVOs of this world become fading dots in your
rear-view mirrors.
There’s no manual transmission option, which
may upset some purists, but the dual-clutch S tronic
is a honey of a gearbox that brings out the best of
the power unit with its swift changes. And ah, what
eager midrange torque it has, grandma, all the better
to whisk past long trucks. Turbo lag doesn’t feature
much in this Audi’s vocabulary. When you’re not
dicing with Lamborghinis the S3 also returns a very
respectable economy figure - not quite the 6.9 litres
per 100km claimed by Audi, but a still-decent 10
There’s no manual
transmission option,
which may upset some
purists, but the dualclutch
S tronic is a
honey of a gearbox that
brings out the best of
the power unit with its
swift changes.
MOTOR SEPTEMBER 2014 13