New Audi S3 gets more power, RS3 diff

It wouldn’t be unreasonable to call the 8Y Audi S3 a disappointment. It wasn’t really any more gratifying to drive than its predecessor, while also being less enjoyable to look at and less pleasing to sit in. You know something’s up if the fast Audi isn’t even that handsome or well-built. So there’s now a new S3, and it’s a more far-reaching facelift than we’ve come to expect from Audi S and RS cars. Almost like there was some stuff to sort out. 

Power is up from the 2.0-litre turbo four, now rated at 333hp like a Golf R 20 Years rather than the 310hp of before. Moreover, Audi is promising ‘more spontaneous power delivery’ thanks to tweaks that keep the throttle valve open when really going for it and therefore the turbo primed. Just as encouragingly, the slightly slow seven-speed DSG now boasts ‘more rapid acceleration thanks to ‘higher starting torque’ (which seems to translate to an increased idle speed in dynamic mode), shift times halved under full throttle and an increase in engine speed when under partial load in Drive. Plus later upshifts and earlier downchanges, all with the aim of improving responsiveness – exactly what a sometimes sleepy powertrain could benefit from. 0-62mph is rated at 4.7 seconds.  

The introduction of the rear torque splitter differential, as found on the Golf R Performance Pack and RS3, should make a big difference to the drive. Those cars already with it feel much more willing to turn with a chunk of torque going to the outside rear wheel. The torque splitter uses an electronically controlled multiple-disc clutch on each driveshaft to ensure fully variable distribution across the rear axle. There’s even a new drive mode to take full advantage of the dynamic plus setting.

The press release states that this preset enables the torque splitter to send ‘as much drive torque as possible to the rear axle and the rear wheel on the outside of the curve, resulting in a tendency to oversteer.’ Not something we ever imagined reading about an S3. But this must surely be a setting like the Torque Rear of the RS3 and Drift for the Golf where one rear wheel gets up to 100 per cent of the 50 per cent of overall torque that can be sent rearwards. It’s not a BMW-style two-wheel drive mode. Dynamic plus also adjusts the ESC in expectation of a little silliness, promising ‘modest interventions’ to ensure ‘an even more emotional driving experience.’ 

Gets better, too, as the S3 borrows more than just the Torque Splitter from the RS3. (It’s almost like the five-cylinder car won’t be around for much longer, and so all the good stuff gets to live on for a bit longer.) There’s a new pivot bearing on the front axle, which increases negative camber by 1.5 degrees compared to before – a trick that worked nicely on the RS. There are stiffer wishbones as well, which Audi believes will further boost agility. Though progressive steering remains, the ‘characteristics’ have been adjusted, the brakes are larger and wider (357mm x 24mm up front) with bigger pads and new calipers, plus the ESC has been modified separately from the dynamic plus mode. It all points to a much more driver-focused Audi S3, which must be good news. There’s even the option of ‘particularly sporty’ tyres from Falken, with a focus on track performance. 

‘More than a mere product upgrade’ is how Audi describes this latest S3, so perhaps there’s a proper hot hatch and saloon coming out at last. The word ‘exhilarating’ has been used, no less; which does feel a bit of a stretch, but let’s see. Expect the new S3 Sportback and saloon on sale soon – best get someone to mock up this camouflage as a wrap ASAP…