Audi RS3 review

For a car that starts at a mere £29k in its bog standard tiny petrol form, it has always been a little tough to think of this as the kind of car that’s worth a cool £60k and up. But then the RS3 is an A3 in the same way that a machete is a butter knife. And that’s the way it should really be considered – a completely different vehicle. But anyone buying one will probably already know that.

You get three options to choose from with the RS3, once you’ve decided whether to go for Sportback (hatch) or Saloon (saloon). There’s standard RS3, Carbon Black (which adds a black styling pack, 10-spoke alloys and the fancy headlights) and the range-topping Carbon Vorsprung trim, which chucks in everything, like adaptive suspension, a Sonos sound kit, matrix LED lights, a panoramic roof, 360-degree parking cameras and that higher top speed (174mph versus 155mph).

Further options include £4,000 for Audi exclusive paint colours, £595 for metallic paints (much more reasonable) and £300 for red brake calipers. Go on, you know you want to.

The Sportback is ever so slightly cheaper so starts at £59,510 for the standard trim, while a matching saloon would be £60,510. You’ve then got Carbon Black trim at £64,160/£65,160 and the Carbon Vorsprung costing a terrifying £68,650/£69,650. Yep, the RS3 is nearly a £70k car these days.

Should we talk about value for money? 

Well, the Mercedes-AMG A45 S is a few grand more expensive like-for-like, so the Audi compares favourably there. If you’re considering other costs, 30.1mpg and 212g/km on the RS3 is pretty much what you get from the AMG.

The industry standard CAP measurement sees the RS3 retaining about 66 per cent of its value over three years and 60k miles, and that compares favourably with the Merc. Whacking the warranty up to four years and 75k miles only costs £455 (£970 for five years and 90k), which will give you peace of mind.

Oh, and while you’re speccing it remember that Kyalami Green is now a no-cost option after the facelift. It’s almost fluorescent and it’s fantastically loud, although don’t blame us if you regret it after six months. Still in terms of buying, the RS3 looks like a fairly predictable bet – not many surprises here, which is exactly what you want.