Audi S3 review

Audi’s 2024 facelift of the A3 range doesn’t feature too many changes, but it’s clear that a lot of the effort has been put into making the S3 a stronger performer... especially with the likes of the Golf R nipping at its heels for less cash and a facelifted version of that car coming at the end of 2024.

The S3 is a great all-rounder, benign around town and economical at a cruise, but show it a decent strip of winding tarmac and it’ll cut loose with the best of them. The previous version of the car felt like it was more suited to being a perky long distance tourer, but the changes that Audi’s made (more power, perkier gearbox, borrowing the rear torque splitter from the RS3) have drastically improved the S3’s credentials. 

You’ve got the poise and the balance of a four-wheel drive car, which makes it a great year-round option, but the tech that livens things up and makes the S3 behave more like a rear-driven car when you want it to.

Give me some numbers.

The S3 produces 328bhp and 310lb ft of torque (23bhp up on the previous version), which makes it good for a conservative 0–62mph time of 4.7 seconds (only 0.9s behind the RS3, which has 67bhp extra). The top speed has been electronically limited to 155mph, and the economy is rated at 32.5mpg and 198g/km CO2.

What are the oily bits like? 

Volkswagen Group numbers fans will spot the similarity between the S3’s power figures and those from the Golf R 20 Years model that was launched in 2022. It gets the same ‘preloaded turbocharger’ setup that spins the thing up to minimise lag and get you straight on the boost. 

The other bit of borrowed tech is the rear torque splitter that’s been nabbed from the much racier RS3. You get electronically controlled clutches on each drive shaft to portion out torque between the rear wheels, directing power where it’s most needed. It can send up to 100 per cent of the torque to either wheel, so it’ll send more power to the inside wheel in slippery conditions or in the more reserved drive modes, or it’ll send more to the outside wheel in sportier drive modes to tuck the nose of the car in through bends. 

Alternatively, if you’re in the new Dynamic Plus mode (which puts the ESC in its sport setting, ups the rpms at idle and improves throttle response) and you give it a boot-full of power mid-corner, then it’ll rapidly overspeed the outside wheel and stick you sideways. It's not the most natural way to induce a slide and the outside wheel overspeeding is a strange sensation, but it's an S3 with a playful side. 

Audi’s engineers have also done some solid work on the seven-speed S Tronic gearbox, halving shift times and allowing faster takeoffs thanks to higher starting torque. The S3 powers through gear changes with more assertiveness than before, adding to the theatre of the drive and helping you push on. It really is rapid for a warm hatch.

What about the rest of the car?

The S3 sits on 19in alloys as standard in the UK. The suspension has been upgraded over the previous pre-facelift version of the S3, and is dropped 15mm over the standard A3. It rides a little on the firm side when on bigger wheels and with the adaptive dampers in their sportier settings, but doesn't everything on potted UK roads these days? We wish the smaller 18-inch wheels were offered here.