Forty grand turismo

And you don’t
even get the TT’s
funky virtual
cockpit. Gah!
pure five-pot pleasure, and the sound effects are all
real, not microchip-generated. BMW’s M135i, and
Golfs GTI and R, all rely on synthesised sounds.
But who cares when they’re all also fast and
flighty, nimble things that goad you into driving
like a loon at every opportunity? The old RS3,
whizzy but wooden, was so one-dimensional it
made watching South Park feel like an IMAX
3D experience. Is this one any better? None of the
new RS3 test cars came with the optional magnetorheological
adaptive dampers, but from the
way it crashes into urban potholes, we’d say you’d
be wise to add them to yours. The standard 19in
wheels transmit too much shock back into the
cabin at low speeds, but up the pace and leave the
city behind and the RS3 starts to shine brighter.
It feels eager and alert, its two-turns lock-to-lock
variable-ratio rack, colossal grip and tight body
control making direction changes instant, and
there’s more fingertip feel this time around.
Audi’s engineers say that it’ll even oversteer
in low-grip situations, though on the hot, dry
tarmac of Vallelunga, the most we could feel
was a subtle yawing that helped twist
the nose but never required anything as
unseemly as opposite lock. Even with the
latest-generation four-wheel-drive system
working twice as fast to apportion torque,
this is still a car that responds better to
measured inputs. Barrel clumsily into a
corner and understeer awaits. Try a neater
approach, use the excellent brakes (front
ceramics as an option from the autumn)
to shed speed, and carve your way cleanly
through and you’ll be faster and have more fun.
We’d be surprised, though, if the RS3’s entertainment
factor isn’t thrown into sharp perspective
by Ford’s also four-wheel-drive Focus RS and
its ‘Drift’ mode when we drive it later this year. For
all its competence, the RS3 never really feels quite
naughty enough to justify that badge, or its price.
What the Focus can’t hope to emulate is the
Audi’s stunning interior finish. It’s largely conventional,
with no TT-like full TFT display, but
Five doors, battleship
paintjob… looks so
innocent, doesn’t it?
UP AGAINST
BETTER THAN
AMG A45 Though RS3 can’t
touch Merc’s 40mpg
WORSE THAN
Audi RS4 £48k buys a year-old
5k-mile minter
WE’D BUY
Golf R Similar oily bits,
more fun, less dough
the materials are first rate and details
such as the red insert in the circular
heater vents that moves as you pull
the central plunger to alter that
volume of airflow really lift the ambience.
The only real disappointments
are the cheap-feeling plastic gearshift
paddles, and the use of a boring old
black plastic switch for the Drive
Select controller governing throttle
response (always slightly dull), steering
weight and, if fitted, the sport
exhaust and adaptive dampers.
If it’s a surprise to find that the RS3
comes only in five-door Sportback
form, the reality is there’s no demand
among big-money hatch buyers for
three doors, and the five-door shell’s
35mm longer wheelbase helps make
this a comfortable four-seater. It’s
a pity the measly 280-litre boot,
compromised by the space-sappping
battery relocated beneath its floor,
severely limits its touring talents.
There’s a four-door saloon version
due next year, but it isn’t for the UK.
But let’s get back to that price,
which would buy a Porsche Macan S,
Merc’s excellent C450 AMG estate, or
the sublime, and vastly cheaper, Golf
R. On the one hand it seems scandalous
that even if you can get your head around
paying £40k for a hot hatch, you’ll still have to
find more cash to get the sports exhaust, adaptive
dampers, proper Recaros and even sat-nav that
you’ll inevitably want. But that Golf R, ostensibly
£10k cheaper on paper, doesn’t have any of those
morsels either, and when you option one up with
five doors, DSG and Nappa leather to give it the
stuff the RS3 does come with, you’re a lot closer to
£40k – and still down 67bhp. That said, improved
as the second-gen RS3 is, I’d put money on the
eventual group test showing that the Golf, and not
the Audi, is VW’s finest, most exciting, hot hatch.
CHRIS CHILTON @chrischiltoncar
Audi RS3
> Price £39,950 > Engine 2480cc 20v 5cyl, 362bhp
@ 5500-6800rpm, 343lb ft @ 1625-5550rpm >
Transmission Seven-speed dual-clutch, four-wheel
drive > Performance 4.3sec 0-62mph, 155mph,
34.9mpg, 189g/km CO2 > Weight 1520kg > On Sale
Summer
LOVE
Rapid, refined,
strong residuals
HATE
Price, stif
ride, good bits
optional
VERDICT
Good… but not
£50k good
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
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CARMAGAZINE.CO.UK | June 2015