AUDI EXPANDS ITS SPORTING RANGE: NEW S3 SEDAN

Audi_S3_sedan
The Germans love cars and driving and are well aware that Australians think exactly the same way. Which means the hot variants of all German marques are big sellers downunder.

Audi has a comprehensive lineup of sporting models in various market segments; everything from the S-Line which looks sporting but is close to standard under the add-on components, through the hot ‘S’ models, to the very hot ‘RS’, followed by the R8 and finally, with a some imagination in play, the Le Mans 24-hour cars that have dominated the world’s best known endurance range for over a decade.

Now comes a new entry, the Audi S3, in what’s often referred to as the ‘hot-hatch’ segment. Except in this case it’s a ‘hot-sedan’ – which for some unknown reason isn’t a term you normally hear mentioned.

Audi_S3_sedan_rear
Anyhow, the new Audi S3 is undoubtedly a ‘hot-sedan’ and is likely to appeal to those who have driven Subaru WRX sedans for a number of years and now find themselves with the money to afford one of the upmarket German brands.

ENGINES / TRANSMISSIONS
Audi S3 sedan is powered by a turbo-petrol four-cylinder TFSI unit producing 206 kW of power and a very sporting 380 Newton metres of torque. It drives all four wheels through the latest iteration of Audi’s quattro system and a six-speed dual-clutch (S tronic in Audi speak). The combination of a powerful engine and drive through all four tyres gives the S3 sedan a zero to 100 km/h time of just 5.0 seconds.

The engineers must have been tearing their hair out when they couldn’t quite get it down to 4.9 seconds. Perhaps next time around…

As is becoming increasingly the norm there is no manual gearbox option.

Audi_S3_sedan_interior
STYLING
Starting with the sort of budget you can gain from being an upmarket marque has given Audi the freedom to design what’s virtually an all-new body from the sedan compared with the hatch. Though there are obvious similarities because the share the same ‘skeleton’, the sedan can boast it doesn’t share a single visible panel with the Sportback hatch.

The S3 sedan is 25 mm lower than its A3 brother and the squat look, bigger wheels (18-inch), revised lower panels and quad exhausts give it a purposeful look.

SAFETY
As well as the numerous built-in features that let you avoid a crash, Audi S3 has numerous occupant protection items so had no problem gaining an NCAP score of five stars when crash tested.

DRIVING
The sports suspension gives rock solid feel to the small-medium Audi. We had the opportunity to drive the S3 not only on the road but also at Phillip Island raceway. The fast, flowing, sometimes scary corners at ‘The Island’ were handled with ease.

These days we tend to leave all the driver aids switched on even when track testing. That’s because what we used to call ‘electronic nannies’ are so refined these days that they actually let you set faster lap times than when they’re off. The old saying about motorsport improving the breed continues to be true – refer to our above remarks about the Audi at Le Mans.

The old bugbear of tyre noise on coarse-chip road surfaces showed up during our on-road test driving. It’s something that’s hard to dial out in a car that’s aimed at Euro roads and which has fashionably big-diameter wheels.

The sporting seats look good but don’t really offer the sort of support needed for track driving. We guess there have to be compromises in a car that not a full-on RS sports beast. The seats are finished in Nappa leather.

Normally we aren’t keen on flat-bottomed steering wheels, feeling they are a bit of an affectation, but the one in the Audi S3 didn’t irritate as much as most others do.

SUMMING UP
Audi S3 sedan is an excellent cross between a track-day special and a normal day-to-day car so should appeal to those with $62,200 to spend. Should you want more Audi can sell you an S performance package; for an added $4900 it gives you 19-inch wheels, magnetic ride adaptable suspension, red paint on the brake calipers, diamond stitching on the Nappa leather seats. When you’re not chasing the best performance from the S3 you can enjoy the Bang & Olufsen 14-speaker system.

About Ewan Kennedy

Ewan Kennedy, a long-time car enthusiast, was Technical Research Librarian with the NRMA from 1970 until 1985. He worked part-time as a freelance motoring journalist from 1977 until 1985, when he took a full-time position as Technical Editor with Modern Motor magazine. Late in 1987 he left to set up a full-time business as a freelance motoring journalist. Ewan is an associate member of the Society of Automotive Engineers - International. An economy driving expert, he set the Guinness World Record for the greatest distance travelled in a standard road vehicle on a single fuel fill. He lists his hobbies as stage acting, travelling, boating and reading.
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