Audi RS3 review

Despite being capable of dispatching 0-62mph in 3.6 seconds (Audi claims 3.8 but we’ve clocked it quicker) and 174mph (if you’ve specced the top-of-the-tree Carbon Vorsprung spec), the RS3 is actually pretty amiable when you’re just trundling about town with the adaptive suspension in its softer settings.

Yes, it can be a bit fractious at low speed over an uneven road, but it’s not something that really stands out. It’s firm, but the damping makes it a more comfortable drive than even some mass market hatches.

What about when I’m out of town?

The car manages the Jekyll and Hyde switch very well as you turn up the volume. It’s a great everyday option. It’s when the going gets tough that the RS3 really shines, though, because its steering is sharp and it maintains its damping excellence even over the roughest of surfaces. If the tyres are in contact with the road, the car is gripping – the all-wheel drive system that feels a bit front-wheel drive suddenly feels very four square and dependable, and there’s agility to spare, even on surface changes.

How’s the engine?

The turbo’d five-cylinder pulls hard, and although you can trigger some hesitancy from the seven-speed S tronic gearbox if you surprise it (best to keep it in manual mode and use the paddles), there’s plenty of torque to keep the RS3 rowing along at a startling rate. But more than that, it feels reliable and confident – an ally. Sounds glorious too. The AMG A45’s engine may be a masterful piece of engineering, but there’s something so special about five cylinders.

Add to that a set of decent brakes that hold up remarkably well even on track and it’s a heady combination. Perhaps there could be a touch more feel through the stopping pedal, but it’s not a bad effort.

What’s this torque splitter all about?

It’s probably the main reason why the RS3 feels so nimble. The torque splitter is essentially what it says on the tin: it uses a separate clutch on each side of the rear driveshaft to allow it to shove 100 per cent of the available torque to whichever wheel the system desires. That means 50 per cent of the total output, seeing as the front wheels are always driven, so this isn’t a total switch like in, say, an M5 or E63.

When you’re going fast, the splitter electronically massages the drive to throw a bit more torque to the loaded outer rear wheel to kill understeer and make the car feel more agile. You’ll feel it happening too. Plus, with the facelift it now simultaneously brakes the inside wheel to help you turn in even quicker.

The updated car is a whole five seconds faster than the previous compact car record holder at the Nürburgring – the BMW M2 – and the way it enters a corner is remarkable. Once you’ve turned in (and if you’re in the right mode) you can pretty much mash the throttle at any point and it’ll hook up and fire you out of the corner. This is the nimblest RS3 ever.

Another benefit is that the splitter can adapt: if you feel the need to make the car drift a little sideways, just stick it into RS Torque Rear mode and torque gets shoved at the loaded rear wheel, spinning it and causing the back end to kick out. However, whereas before the car would then angrily oversteer having wailed through some initial understeer, now it’ll let you have more slip with less power. It’s a slightly more natural feeling and remains alien in a fast Audi.

Before this update the fake drift mode was simply an interesting addition, but not a serious one. You wouldn’t have used it on a public road and it wasn’t that much fun on track because it was too inconsistent and needed too much force to create any movement.

But the small adjustments that Audi has made mean it now really does offer a different dynamic, even if you’re not fully sideways at every corner. It helps the RS3 feel that little bit more edgy but doesn’t hang you out to dry.