Matt Prior joins the development team working on Audi's new turbocharged five-cylinder mega-hatch as it enters its final testing stagesDevelopment of Audi’s new RS3 Sportback is only a few months from completion, following a summer of final testing at the Nürburgring.
The new mega-hatch’s hardware has already been signed off; only software and geometry changes will now be made before the programme finishes in February.The RS3 retains a 2.5-litre turbo five-cylinder engine, as in the previous model. Audi still won’t officially reveal its power output beyond confirming that it’ll have more than the previous RS3’s 335bhp.
Expect it to make 355bhp, but, either way, Audi’s head of development, Stephan Reil, says the five-cylinder’s “electrifying sound” and strong torque appeal more to Audi than a four-cylinder engine like the Mercedes-Benz A45 AMG’s. “All other rivals power engines up, but there is no special engine for the performance version,” he said.
The RS3’s in-line five will be offered with an optional sports exhaust to amplify its sound. It will drive all four wheels through a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic gearbox and Haldex all-wheel drive system.
As on the latest TT, the four-wheel drive system has been tuned to send more power to the rear whenever possible, to improve throttle adjustability and even drift in the right conditions. “It doesn’t drive like a rear-drive car,” said Reil, “but if you’re sliding, it won’t just pull straight.”
The previous-generation RS3 had wider tyres on its front than its rear to improve chassis adjustability. As standard, the new version has the same 235/35 R19s all round, but 255-wide tyres for the front only are an option.
“The 20mm-wider front tyres offer you higher grip, a stronger turn-in and a sharper dynamic, which makes it really fun to drive,” said Reil.
Dynamics should also be improved by the MQB platform weighing 50kg less than the previous one, and weight distribution has been helped by placing the battery in the rear.
Also optional on the front are carbon-ceramic brakes, a class first. Reil said that because carbon-ceramics are expensive and unnecessary on the back, the rear discs remain steel.
Other options include adaptive magnetorheological dampers and a sports exhaust. The production RS3 will arrive in the middle of next year, priced at about £40,000.
A ride in the new Audi RS3 at the Nürburgring
Like most major European manufacturers, Audi’s Quattro division has a workshop at the Nürburgring for both chassis and durability testing, and it retains the services of some tame racing drivers.
Which is enough to make you nervous about ride quality. But former DTM and current GT driver Frank Stippler, who drove us around a soaking wet Nordschleife in the RS3, said: “The new bosses [new managing director Heinz Hollerweger, who replaced Franciscus van Meel at the start of the year] like a softer car.”
Unlike the RS4, in which, Stippler said, he never engaged the Dynamic chassis mode because it is so harsh that it’s “stiffer even than a race car”, the new RS3 is “at the softer end of the scale”.
Also evident on the wet track was the RS3’s throttle adjustability — a willingness to begin sliding at the rear on turn-in, and strong resistance to understeer under power. “Before, a TT or RS3 would drift like this only on ice,” said Stippler. “Now it can do it in the wet.”
The RS3 has three ESP modes: all on, a more liberal setting and an all-off mode, which doesn’t even cut in under braking to avoid annoying advanced drivers who like to left-foot brake.
And given that ride harshness and a propensity to understeer have been our primary concerns about fast Audi hatches in the past, the RS3’s signs are encouraging.
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