Audi RS3 Review (2022-present)

What is the Audi RS3?

Well, we’ll tell you what it’s not, and that’s a hot hatch. That might sound weird, but hear us out. You see, in our book, a traditional hot hatch is a regular family hatchback with a good slug of extra power, a firmer suspension and a bunch of extra skirts and spoilers to make it look racier. Cars like the Audi RS3 – and its arch-nemesis and number one rival, the Mercedes AMG A45 S – go way, way beyond that.

Take power levels as one example. Outside of these two cars, even the most powerful hot hatches these days are making somewhere between 300- and 320 horsepower. Both these two hike that output figure to 400 horsepower and beyond.

Then there are all the other performance enhancing measures these cars have that go above and beyond those of a regular hot hatch. Yes, fettled suspension is present and correct, but so is a sophisticated four-wheel-drive system, launch control, and numerous other dynamic enhancements that really push the envelope of what a performance hatchback can achieve.

And then there’s the price. With all that extra power and technology comes extra cost, and quite a lot of it. These are not fun-yet-affordable runabouts, these are no-nonsense performance cars that just so happen to be hatchback-shaped.

So, if the RS3 isn’t a hot hatch, what is it? Well, dear friends, welcome to the age of the hyper hatch.

How practical is it?

We may consider the new RS3 to be a step on from a regular hot hatch, but it still has to do that same classic hot-hatch job of providing all that performance and fun, but doing it in a package that’s has enough practicality and enough usability for everyday life. So how does it get on?

Well, you’re a bit more short-changed for space that you are in the regular A3. The boot floor has to be set higher due to its four-wheel drive and various other mechanical components on the rear axle (more on this in a moment) and that means you lose almost 100 litres, giving you an overall capacity of just 282 litres. Crucially, that also gives it a big disadvantage compared with rivals such as the Mercedes.

That said, the rear seats fold down in a very versatile 40/20/40 split, so at least that gives you more load-carrying options.

Unlike previous RS3s, this one no longer comes as a three-door hatch, meaning only five-door RS3 Sportback or four-door RS3 saloon body styles remain, so all versions have rear doors that make it easier to get in and out. And once you’re in, you’ll find enough headroom and legroom for a six-foot adult to get comfortable, even when sitting behind a driver of similar proportions. And importantly, there’s just as much space as you get in rivals.

Climb in the front of the RS3, and owners of the previous RS3 – or regular Audi A3, for that matter - might well wonder what on earth happened. Previous A3s were rightly hailed for their sensational interior quality, with lustrous materials, tasteful finishes and beautifully damped switches. Sadly, the latest generation feels like it has taken a significant backward step in this area.

Sure, it feels reasonably acceptable in terms of its materials and its fit and finish, but there are too many cheap-feeling panels on show to make it feel as special as it once did, so that wow-factor has sadly been lost. The dark, monotone colour scheme makes things feel a little drab, too, and perhaps surprisingly, there are very few additional flourishes to let you know you’re in a super-fast Audi RS model.

What's it like to drive?

Let’s talk first about the RS3’s trademark party piece, and that’s its characterful 2.5-litre, five-cylinder engine, complete with turbo. It sounds absolutely lovely, with that unique off-beat warble you only get from a five-pot, but strangely, even with the sports exhaust fitted (optional on some models), we’re surprised that you can’t make it louder than it is if the mood takes you.

And then there’s the power it makes, which totals 400 metric horsepower (395bhp in old money). That’s exactly the same as the power level in the previous RS3, but this new version does have a shade more torque, and both the power and torque are available a bit more readily. Now, that 400 horses is undeniably a lot, but crucially in the pursuit of hyper hatch bragging rights, it’s less than the 420 horsepower you get in the Merc. And yet, the Audi still manages to claim ultimate bragging rights by banging in a 0-62mph sprint time of 3.8 seconds, 0.1 seconds faster than the Merc’s.

Tenth of a second or no tenth of a second, though, that’s still astonishingly fast for what is still a reasonably practical family hatchback, and importantly, the RS3 feels good for every single tenth of that. The standard launch control helps greatly on that score, because it dials in the perfect start each and every time, so your getaway is always clean, controlled, and rapid to the point of being borderline painful. The standard quattro all-wheel-drive system helps get the power down to the road as effectively as possible, and the seven-speed dual-clutch S tronic gearbox races through upshifts quicker than any human could hope to.

But the thing is, you don’t need to engage the launch control for the car to feel mind-bendingly fast, and that applies both away from the mark and when you’re picking up speed on the move. It’s even pretty flexible when barely ticking over, but get a few revs on the counter, either by downshifting, or by burying your right foot (or ideally both), and the sensation of acceleration you feel is genuinely supercar-like.

Pace isn’t a problem, then, but pace isn’t the only constituent part of what makes a car fun to drive, a fact demonstrated by both the previous two versions of the RS3. Both those cars were also tremendously fast, but they weren’t all that much fun because there was way more understeer in corners than you’d expect in a four-wheel-drive car, which limited handling ability, and the controls didn’t give you the level of feedback that those of rivals did. So, is the latest RS3 any better?

Well, on the first point, yes. The rear axle has a new gizmo called an RS torque splitter that increases the drive torque to the outer rear wheel when you’re cornering. It's designed to reduce understeer and generally make the car feel a bit more agile. And it works. Understeer isn’t completely eliminated, but the latest RS3 feels considerably less nose-heavy and more keen to turn than the RS3s that went before, so it feels pointier and more nimble on a b-road.

The adaptive suspension (standard on top-spec Vorsprung models, optional on the base-level RS3 and Carbon Black trims) fitted to the RS3s we’ve driven also helps on that score, because it is, frankly, tremendous. Stick it in its comfiest mode, and it wafts you along serenely with barely any intervention from the road surface. Select one of the racier modes, and you can feel the dampers hunker down and become stiffer, but it’s still surprisingly comfortable. The grip and traction are absolutely mighty as well, and so as a point-to-point machine, the RS3 is right up there with even the most exotic of supercars.

With all that being said, the latest RS3 still has those remote-feeling controls that just take a bit of the shine off the driving experience, particularly where the steering is concerned. Yes, it’s accurate enough, and the weighting will be fine for most drivers, but it’s a fraction slower to react than you’d expect, and it still doesn’t give you the feedback and the sensation through the steering wheel to deliver that last layer of engagement and reward.

That remains the case whatever you do with the car’s various driving modes, of which there seem to be millions, and to be honest, they’re a bit of a faff. Each one delivers different settings for the steering, powertrain, suspension (where the adaptive system is fitted), stability control, engine sound and torque splitter, but many of these modes don’t ultimately feel all that different from one another. There’s also an RS Individual mode where you can program your own settings for each individual parameter. Yes, this gives you lots of choice, and makes the car capable in a wide variety of situations and environments, but it takes ages to work through it all.

Technology, equipment & infotainment

The RS3 is available to order in three trim levels, known as RS3, Carbon Black and Vorsprung. The base-level trim comes with 19-inch alloy wheels, heated front sports seats, leather upholstery, dual-zone climate control, cruise control, automatic lights and wipers and a comprehensive suite of active safety systems.

Carbon Black cars add styling tweaks inside and out, the sports exhaust and clever Audi Matrix LED headlights, while the Vorsprung trim comes with the adaptive suspension, a panoramic roof, a powered tailgate, electric front seat adjustment, a Bang & Olufsen premium stereo and even more driver assistance systems.

If you’re looking for an RS3 on the used market, try to find one of the Launch Edition cars, although this might be difficult as only 96 were sold in the UK. These provided many of the same features as the Vorsprung, but for a good slice less cash, which will also mean lower prices on the used market.

All versions get the same impressive-looking infotainment system, which combines Audi’s 12.3-inch Virtual Cockpit digital instrument display with a 10.1-inch central touchscreen. As touchscreens go, it’s one of the better ones, because the graphics are sharp, it’s reasonably easy to find your way around and it’s very responsive to your inputs. However, it’s still not as intuitive to operate as the system on older Audis, which was controlled with a user-friendly rotary dial.

Audi RS3 running costs

As we’ve alluded to, the RS3 is not a cheap car. Buy one brand new, and all versions will cost you upwards of £50,000, while the top-end versions go for around sixty. This is not a car that provides cheap thrills, and one of the variety of reasons it should be considered a hyper hatch rather than a traditional hot hatch.

The RS3’s desirable badge and comparative rarity will mean that its resale values are also likely to remain strong. This is good news for new car buyers whose investment will enjoy more protection, but it’s less positive for buyers on the used market, because it means the RS3 will shed less of its value over time, meaning it will also be an expensive used car.

Insurance costs will also be fairly eye-watering on a car with 400 horsepower, and complex mechanics won’t make servicing and maintenance costs any cheaper, either. You should also budget plenty for tyres if you plan to use all that performance on a regular basis. Doing so will also result in fairly astronomical fuel bills. If you can resist that temptation and drive very, very gently, the official WLTP figures suggest you can manage an average of just over 30mpg, but the likelihood is that you’ll succumb to temptation, and if you don’t, then you’ve probably bought the wrong car anyway.

Audi RS3 reliability

This version of the RS3 is way too new for there to be any meaningful reliability data available. However, Audi’s recent performances in various reliability surveys might not fill buyers with a huge amount of confidence.

In the most recent JD Power UK Vehicle Dependability Study, Audi placed 22nd out of 24 manufacturers, with only Fiat and BMW performing worse. A recent What Car? Reliability Survey made for slightly more positive reading, with a mid-table finish, but you might well be expecting a more solid performance from a premium manufacturer.