Does Audi’s RS3 pinch the hyper-hatchback crown from Mercedes?

Just how hot can a hatch get? It seems Audi is trying to find out by pushing the humble A3 small hatchback into potent RS territory.

Audi has launched its potent RS3 in Australia for the first time, bringing vicious performance and hatchback practicality Down Under.

Sorry, let’s get the terminology correct — Audi’s most affordable RS model to date is not a hatchback. According to the German car-maker, its new RS3 is a Sportback, but whatever phrase you prefer to coin, the newest addition to the Audi performance stable is a pure powerhouse dressed up in hatchback threads.

While many other manufacturers play around with 2.0-litre four-cylinder engines tuned up to dizzying outputs, Audi has taken a different approach and has given itself the distinct advantage of 2.5-litres and an extra cylinder.

Audi lovers (this one included) will fawn over the five-pot engine and regale over its rich heritage, which began in the 1980s under the bonnet of the Group B rally-dominating Audi Sport quattro S1 and its Ur-quattro road-going equivalent.

The RS3 is undoubtedly related to the original Audi quattro which changed the direction of sports sedans in the 1980s.

Naysayers at the time said the heavy four-wheel drive system would never work and its weird in-line five-cylinder would never balance, but you know what? It did, and in spectacular fashion. A quarter of a century later, the same recipe is still working.

Browse these shots of Audi’s new RS3 and you might just glimpse a little of that heritage peering through the pretty Sportback skin because, like the first quattro, the new RS3 has an evolved five-cylinder, all-paw quattro grip and day-to-day practicality.

With talon-like all-paw grip, the RS3 is a serious performance car in all conditions

Small high-performance cars have sure come a long way. While baby bruisers like the original Golf GTI and Peugeot 205 GTi had sub-100kW outputs to play with, Audi’s new-gen RS3 has, wait for it, 270kW and a massive 465Nm.

That’s enough to blast the RS3 to 100km/h in just 4.3 seconds and on to a top speed of 280km/h.

Its RS fettled quattro system shares power between the two axles depending on the conditions and driver behaviour, but in true performance car fashion, 100 per cent of torque can be diverted to the rear end.

Nothing sounds quite like a five-cylinder engine, and the RS3’s active exhaust shouts the five-pot anthem.

Its odd number of cylinders are not quite as unique as when they first emerged years ago, with many manufacturers including Volvo, Fiat, Ford and Mazda all having a go in the past, but one thing that remains unique is the bark of a five-banger.

Audi is really making the most of the RS3’s voice, giving it an active exhaust system, which remains subdued and well behaved at sedate speeds about town, but then opens up to scare wildlife when in its element.

What is the RS3’s element though? That’s the beauty of the latest addition to the esteemed RS stable. With its A3 underpinnings, the RS3 has five seats, five doors, seven airbags and a big boot. A spot of shopping or dropping Mum at the doctor is no problem for the barmy Sportback.

That’s 2.5-litres of turbocharged 20-valve five-cylinder grunt wrapped up in a sensible hatchback. We can’t wait to get our hands on one.

But when the daily grind is over the RS3 rolls up is sleeves and packs a punch that could put some serious sportscar contenders on their behinds.

The RS influence on the exterior includes 19-inch alloy wheels, RS-specific front and rear bumpers and bodykit, with the sports seats and leather/suede sports steering wheel with aluminium shift paddles completing the look within.

Brakes are as grown-up as the power plant, with eight-pot front callipers gripping 370mm drilled front discs, and 310mm rear discs wrapped in single-piston callipers; the system also supplies torque vectoring force on the inside wheels.

Only a few RS exterior treatments give the game away. The RS3 is a true wolf in sheep’s clothing.

But if that isn’t enough stopping power Audi will upgrade the anchors to ultra-modern carbon ceramic discs, shaving a third of the weight from the iron versions and adding $8990 to the price. By other manufacturer’s standards that’s a bit of a bargain.

Power is sent to the blacktop via a seven-speed S tronic dual-clutch automatic transmission with steering wheel paddle shifters, of course. No manual option is offered.

It has the pace of a pure RS model, the sound of a Group B rally car, quattro grip and everyday practicality, but most importantly, the new RS3 has a price tag of $78,900 before on-road costs, making it the most accessible model to carry the RS badge.

Purveyors of other highly strung hatchbacks should be worried indeed.

Unlike many sportscars, the RS3 has a hatchback interior so you can show four friends just what 270kW feels like.

In fact, the imminent arrival of the RS3 prompted arch rival Mercedes to pump the power of its hyper-hatch offering to keep it just ahead in the performance stakes.

The A45 AMG now has a whopping 280kW and 475Nm from just 2.0-litres, dropping 0-100km/h acceleration to just 4.2-seconds, but that is an awful lot from just two cartons of orange juice and Audi has a whole half a litre and one more piston to play with. Watch this space.

With such a comprehensive performance package, Audi Australia managing director Andrew Doyle is confident the new model will be well received by the Australian market.

“We see genuine volume appeal for this newest RS model, in fact we believe it has the potential to double our RS and Audi Sport sales overall,” he said.

With a sharp price, even sharper performance and a little quattro heritage shining through, will Audi achieve its target of doubling RS sales with just one model?

Daniel Gardner GoAuto.com.au

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