We get our first look at the
high-performance Audi RS3 Sportback variant. Unlike its lesser sibling, the Audi Sport prototype is fully wrapped
in camouflage but it’s pretty clear that we’re dealing with the final
production body. The camouflage tape cannot hide design elements typically
found on Audi Sport models.
Those include the aggressive bumpers with big air
intakes at the front and massive oval tailpipes flanking a diffuser at the
rear, the sharp side skirts and the wider wheel arches. Other elements indicating this is
not an ordinary Audi A3 include the big alloy wheels, uprated brakes with
ventilated discs and sizable calipers at the front, and the honeycomb pattern
on the grille with some of the biggest cells we’ve ever seen.
Overall, the all-new RS3 promises to look sharper
than ever and we hope the performance will evolve as well from the current
model. The posh hot hatch is expected to pack a 2.5-liter five-cylinder
turbocharged gasoline engine with a slight power increase compared to the
current model.
Expect 420 PS and 500 Nm of
torque in the standard model and 450 PS in the Performance version
that should launch later on. Germany’s Auto Bild claims the engine will be
updated with water injection and gasoline particle filter to meet the upcoming
Euro 7 emissions standard.
A dual-clutch automatic transmission and an updated
quattro all-wheel drive system with a RWD drift function are expected to be
part of the package as well. The all-new RS3 Sportback should launch after the
upcoming Audi S3 in early 2021.
