The Audi S3 has been with us now for 16 years and from that day on been at the top of the hot hatchback game. Remember, this was a time where the Golf GTI (the hot hatchback to beat) had a frankly miserable 150 HP and Audi came along with a 210 horsepower speed and agility machine.
Years pass and today the current Audi S3 has an amazing 300 HP from a 2.0 litre TFSI engine. I can report that that power flings the car forwards at quite a nice pace. Around five seconds is enough to achieve 100 km/h and if you keep your ankle fully extended it will keep on going to a limited top speed of 250 km/h. With these performance numbers the S3 is challenging some serious sports cars. As in the previous S3's it has the quattro four wheel drive system to keep everything under control. Add to that the optional Audi Magnetic Ride suspension and brakes that stop the car so fast that when it has stopped you immediately check if your eyeballs are still in your head. You are going to have a hard time crashing the thing.
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| Audi S3 Sportback in Monsoon Gray metallic with the traditional silver side mirrors. |
And this feeling of safety is apparent all the time. Even when your going at full speed it feels very controlled, like a German health and safety person monitoring everything you do from the passenger seat. Even though the speed is impressive and the handling is very well balanced it lacks a sense of danger. But most depressingly it lacks a sense of real joy, which in my view is the essence of a hot hatch.
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| The three door version looks better. This looks a tad bloated. |
To help you have the fun the S3 has Audi's drive select system. Here you can choose the driving mode and the characteristics of the car. You can choose between efficiency, comfort, auto and dynamic. Obviously I chose dynamic first which makes the car more racy in many different ways. Throttle response becomes quicker as does the gear changes but most importantly valves open in the exhaust to make it louder. The S-tronic gearbox also keeps on moderately high revs for that ready to race feel at all times. In this mode the car also lets out a sort of burp noise when changing gear.
The driving mode most people will choose is the comfort mode, which is rather nice. Some of the sportiness is evidently lost when engine quietens down. If you make the change from dynamic to comfort while driving the gears go up by one or two for efficiency. It becomes a normal hatchback.
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| Four exhaust pipes are not really necessary. But it does look good. |
Finally the interior. It's one of the best interiors for a small car money can buy. It's stylish and of great quality. The buttons are laid out perfectly and the display is the correct size and easy to use. But for heavens sake don't use it while driving it's just as bad as texting while driving, just don't.
The seating is good too. Sporty seats but not too hard or cramped. And as it has five doors it's easier to jump in the back. I have to report that the leg room is poor, so I wouldn't recommend the backseat for adults.
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| It's a very nice place to be, no complaints here. |
The new Audi S3 Sportback is a great car, which it should be since it costs with the S-tronic gearbox and some other optional extras over 60 000€. Even though it packs an overwhelming amount of technology in a 1,500 kg package, in my opinion that's too much money for a small car. But then again it's a serious price for a serious car.
