With the 416 horsepower A45 S, Mercedes and AMG have shown that horse wars are far from over. Of course, there is more to a successful hot tailgate recipe than stuffing large amounts of power under the hood, which is why the three-pointed star gave his fiery compact car an ace up its sleeve – a drift mode. While we don’t know if Audi is planning something similar for its Quattro to make it more elegant, various reports indicate that the inline-five gets a little more power.
We have now rendered the next generation RS3 in the Sportback flavor using the plethora of spy shots we have in our database as a basis. From giant air intakes at the front to large side brakes, it’s easy to understand that we’re dealing with a model a few steps above an A3 base. The intermediate S3 will soon be released with just over 300 horsepower, while the full-fat RS3 will have an output starting with “4”.
The latest information suggests that it could have up to 415 hp with the award-winning 2.5 liter TFSI, German media indicating that an RS3 performance could hold nearly 450 hp. That would allow Audi to recover the lost power crown for the boys and girls of Affalterbach, but it remains to be seen whether any of these rumors will come true.
The previous generation RS3 had a difficult life in Europe due to tighter emission regulations, forcing Audi Sport to temporarily withdraw the model from the Old Continent. The four rings finally found a way to make the five-cylinder turbocharged engine WLTP-compliant and have since installed the powertrain in the new RS Q3 and RS Q3 Sportback.
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Audi Sport Chief Sales and Marketing Officer Frank Michl said Auto Express we will have to wait “a few months” to see the hood of the RS3 break, without revealing whether the sedan will be presented next to the hatch. The first order of business is to unveil the S3, which was spotted recently with no camouflage, hinting at an imminent revelation.
Once again, the Sportback will remain a banned fruit in the United States where only the sedan will be available in the basic specifications, S and RS. The previous iteration of the five-door hatch has been offered for a while in North America as an E-Tron plug-in hybrid, but it’s too early to say if it’s coming back for the new generation.
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