Official: Updated Audi S3 shows extra power (2024)

About a month ago, Audi lifted the curtain on the A3 facelift and it’s more tasteful than ever. Sure, the three-door A3 is no longer available, but you can still find the C-segment as a five-door ‘Sportback’ and as a four-door sedan. However, a third version was added, because from now on you can also order the A3 as an upgraded ‘Allstreet’… And even then they hadn’t said everything.

Between Golf R and RS 3

Audi has now unveiled its facelift for the S3, a mid-engined sports range. There’s always the powerful RS 3, although the S3 now comes close to that. From now on, its 2.0-liter petrol engine does not produce 310 hp and 400 Nm of torque, but 333 hp and 420 Nm of torque – barely 67 hp less than the RS 3. If those figures seem ordinary, then that is not a coincidence. . : Technically related Volkswagen Golf R previously received a few special editions with exactly the same specifications and will probably also be standard on the next raised copy.

The Audi S3 gets one thing the Golfs didn’t: the rear differential of the RS 3. That works closely with the Quattro all-wheel drive to transmit torque to the rear wheels. As a result, the S3 should focus even more and combine that with its extra power, and you have a real one sleeper in the hands. How about, for example, time from 0 to 100 in 4.7 seconds and a maximum speed of 250 km / h … In a car that looks like a regular A3 with the S-Line package?

It (almost) looks the same as the S-Line

Fortunately, there are few differences between this S3 and the regular A3, S-Line or not. For example, the two air scoops on each side of the front bumper are real here, compared to the closed ones on the more civilian model. At the rear, however, you’ll find a more interesting landmark because even though the large diffuser under the bumper is the same, the S3 still has four-spoke diffusers where the standard A3 has fake ones. Additionally, the S3 is also a little lower against the pavement as usual and you can even optionally fit it with dynamic controls. Finally, looking behind its rims, you’ll find 18-inch brake discs that are a full 4 millimeters thicker than before.