2022 Audi S3 Road Test Review: Cute-sized performance. https://youtu.be/iJypt4ACYX4
The S3 tries its best to be pretty dang good at everything.
The Audi S3 has long been an enthusiast’s luxury sedan alternative to the Volkswagen Golf R. These two have shared chassis, powertrains and driving dynamics, but always varied widely when it came to pricing. No longer is the Golf R its sole comparison, though, as others like the Mercedes-AMG CLA 35 and BMW M235i Gran Coupe are now here to challenge it. And despite its more natural luxury competition being in the fold, that Golf R comparison is more valid than ever, as the freshly redesigned S3, starting at $46,925 with destination, is priced nearly identically to a Golf R.
With competitors knocking on the door from every which way, it’s a good thing that the S3 is still a small storm of a sedan to drive. The 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder makes a strong 306 horsepower and 295 pound-feet of torque, which is good enough to crack off 4.5-second 0-60-mph times using the car’s launch control function. This little bugger is quick, and it’s happy to shout about it with the active exhaust system. Put it in “Present” mode — yes, Audi is being polite about its exhaust mode setting names — and it crackles, pops and bangs on shifts like every other performance car out of Germany tends to do these days. There’s nothing unique or particularly special about the noise, but it's indeed present. Onlookers will never mistake it for an A3, and we’re going to count that as a point in the S3’s favor.
In the realm of less positive news, Audi’s recent downward trend in terms of interior luxury hits the A3/S3 models, too. The design is sure to catch your attention upon first glance, but spend more time with the materials used throughout the cabin, and you’ll quickly conclude that this S3 is of a lower quality than the outgoing one. If you’re one who favors a Blade Runner-esque look to your interior, though, this S3 is for you. It’s all sharp edges and brutalism in style. Functionality is shockingly good, with the exception of the perplexing touch volume scroller that operates like an old iPod Nano. The old little knob was better. Besides that, Audi provides physical, easily read controls for the climate and radio. It’s the direct opposite of a Golf R in this respect, which is one reason why the S3 is so tempting. Trying to operate the Golf R’s frustrating climate/multimedia interface at night might be all that's needed to win you over to Audi’s side.
Start hustling an S3 down a twisty road, though, and favor quickly returns to the Golf R. That’s because Audi doesn’t equip the S3 with the new torque-vectoring rear differential found on the Golf R. At Audi, this awesome handling (and drifting) tech is reserved for the five-cylinder RS 3 — a shame, seeing that this new rear differential genuinely made the new Golf R far more fun to drive than the previous one.
Instead, the Quattro all-wheel-drive system does its job of quell
The S3 tries its best to be pretty dang good at everything.
The Audi S3 has long been an enthusiast’s luxury sedan alternative to the Volkswagen Golf R. These two have shared chassis, powertrains and driving dynamics, but always varied widely when it came to pricing. No longer is the Golf R its sole comparison, though, as others like the Mercedes-AMG CLA 35 and BMW M235i Gran Coupe are now here to challenge it. And despite its more natural luxury competition being in the fold, that Golf R comparison is more valid than ever, as the freshly redesigned S3, starting at $46,925 with destination, is priced nearly identically to a Golf R.
With competitors knocking on the door from every which way, it’s a good thing that the S3 is still a small storm of a sedan to drive. The 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder makes a strong 306 horsepower and 295 pound-feet of torque, which is good enough to crack off 4.5-second 0-60-mph times using the car’s launch control function. This little bugger is quick, and it’s happy to shout about it with the active exhaust system. Put it in “Present” mode — yes, Audi is being polite about its exhaust mode setting names — and it crackles, pops and bangs on shifts like every other performance car out of Germany tends to do these days. There’s nothing unique or particularly special about the noise, but it's indeed present. Onlookers will never mistake it for an A3, and we’re going to count that as a point in the S3’s favor.
In the realm of less positive news, Audi’s recent downward trend in terms of interior luxury hits the A3/S3 models, too. The design is sure to catch your attention upon first glance, but spend more time with the materials used throughout the cabin, and you’ll quickly conclude that this S3 is of a lower quality than the outgoing one. If you’re one who favors a Blade Runner-esque look to your interior, though, this S3 is for you. It’s all sharp edges and brutalism in style. Functionality is shockingly good, with the exception of the perplexing touch volume scroller that operates like an old iPod Nano. The old little knob was better. Besides that, Audi provides physical, easily read controls for the climate and radio. It’s the direct opposite of a Golf R in this respect, which is one reason why the S3 is so tempting. Trying to operate the Golf R’s frustrating climate/multimedia interface at night might be all that's needed to win you over to Audi’s side.
Start hustling an S3 down a twisty road, though, and favor quickly returns to the Golf R. That’s because Audi doesn’t equip the S3 with the new torque-vectoring rear differential found on the Golf R. At Audi, this awesome handling (and drifting) tech is reserved for the five-cylinder RS 3 — a shame, seeing that this new rear differential genuinely made the new Golf R far more fun to drive than the previous one.
Instead, the Quattro all-wheel-drive system does its job of quell
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