Audi will launch an all-new A3 Sportback in 2019,
and this model’s range will include an S variant and an RS variant. IAB’s
automotive illustrator Shoeb Kalania has created a rendering that envisages the
2019 Audi RS 3.
The third generation Audi A3 hatchback was available
in 3-door and 5-door (Sportback), and its RS variant was exclusive to the
5-door (Sportback) version. Audi stopped producing the 3-door version last year
citing a significant decline in demand. The fourth generation Audi A3 hatchback
will come in only as a 5-door, and yet again, we won’t see a 3-door Audi RS
3.
The next-gen Audi RS 3 Sportback rendering borrows
cues from the latest Audi A1 Sportback and Audi Q3. It features a more angular
hexagonal Singleframe inspired by that of the A1 Sportback, sharper,
wedge-shaped headlamps with LED DRLs in a pattern reminiscent of the Q3,
reshaped side air vents and revised lower air intake.
The current Audi RS 3 Sportback employs the
2.5-litre TFSI turbocharged five-cylinder petrol engine that produces 400 PS and 480 Nm of torque. The 7-speed S tronic DCT and the quattro
permanent AWD system work together to send power to the wheels. Audi claims a
0-100 km/h acceleration time of 4.1 seconds and a top speed of 280 km/h. The next-gen
Audi RS 3 Sportback is said to get an uprated version of the 2.5-litre TFSI
engine, but that’s about what is known of this car.
The next-gen Audi A3 Sportback will likely hit the
first markets by early 2019. The next-gen Audi RS 3 Sportback may follow a
little later, in 2020.
