The 2025 Audi A3 and S3 Sedan have landed in the U.S. with a sharp new design, more performance-focused features, and a longer standard equipment list. However, buyers will have to cough up quite a bit more for this new and improved model. Sitting at the base of the range is the regular 2025 A3 Premium, priced from US$ 39,495, including a US$ 1,295 destination fee. This represents a US$ 2,600 increase over last year’s model, a significant increase when you consider this is only a mid-life facelift and not an all-new generation model.
Fortunately, the price hike hasn’t been
made without at least some good reason. Power continues to come with a
2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder with 201 hp and 320 Nm of
torque mated to a seven-speed S tronic transmission. That means the new model
offers 20 Nm of extra torque. Of even more importance is the fact
that the standard front-wheel drive setup has been ditched in favor of Quattro
all-wheel drive as standard, reducing the 0-96 km/h time by 0.3
seconds to 6.0 seconds flat. The 2025 A3 is also offered in Premium Plus guise.
This version is available from US$ 42,095 or US$ 1,600 more than last year.
Among other key updates made across the new range are revised LED headlights
and taillights, two new wheel designs, a three-spoke steering wheel, and
configurable ambient lighting.
The potent S3 is also now more costly than
ever. For 2025, it is available in Premium, Premium Plus, and Prestige guises,
priced from US$ 49,995 (+US$ 1,500), US$ 52,395 (+US$ 1,000), and US$ 56,195 (+US$
800), respectively. Again, these price hikes are quite substantial, but the
2025 S3 promises improved performance. Audi’s engineers have tweaked the
2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder to now deliver 328 hp, or 22 hp more than
the 2024 model. Torque remains the same at 400 Nm. The S3 also gets
the same trick rear torque splitter and swivel bearing suspension of the RS3,
as well as a new Dynamic Plus mode which optimizes this torque splitter,
alongside the ESC and engine.
Similar visual tweaks have been made to the S3 as the standard model. One key change is that the new headlights and taillights have LED DRLs that can be configured to show one of four different light signatures.RLs that can be configured to show one of four different light signatures.
