The new generation Audi RS3 Sedan was recently spotted rubbing shoulders with its hot hatch sibling, the RS3 Sportback, on public roads in Germany. The two cars look just about ready for their official launch, but if previous reports are correct, then they will likely debut this fall, with the four-door model making its way to the United States as a 2022MY.
Both versions will feature a beefier body
kit, with new bumpers, bigger side skirts, blown up fenders and a more aggressively
shaped diffuser over regular A3 Sedan and Sportback. They will also get oval
exhaust tips, bigger wheels and the usual RS badges on the outside, which will
also adorn certain parts of the cockpit, likely on the bespoke steering wheel,
gear selector and front sports seats.
The new RS3s will use the 2.5-liter
five-pot of their predecessors, albeit with a few upgrades. It’s been said that
the base model will get 420 PS and 500 Nm of
torque, while the rumored ‘Performance Edition’ is understood to have up to 450
PS available on tap.
The engine will be coupled to a
seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission, and if reports from Germany are
to believed, the same tweaked Haldex-based all-wheel drive system as the new
Volkswagen Golf R. In the latter, it can direct up to 100 percent of the rear
torque to a specific wheel, for improved cornering. And if this is indeed Audi
Sport’s recipe for the new RS3, then it could have a dedicated Drift mode too.
