Audi RS3 (From Daily Echo)

3's company

3:54pm Friday 28th January 2011 in Cars

Technology sells, even to those who don’t necessarily appreciate its worth.

You don’t have to know how something works to appreciate how it can make your life a little easier. Audi’s quattro four-wheel-drive system first appeared on the high-performance coupe of the same name back in 1981, and simultaneously beat all comers in the World Rally Championship. The intervening 30 years have seen the system applied to every model in the range – it’s a success story in its own right.

But performance has always been the ethos behind the four-wheel drive technology, so it seems entirely appropriate that quattro’s 30th birthday is marked by the introduction of another powerhouse – the RS3.

Based on the existing A3 Sportback, a premium hatchback that has been a frequent sight on UK roads, the RS3 is a pumped-up, muscle-bound transformation of the standard car. Loaded with attractive details and aggressive elements, one look leaves you in little doubt of its credentials. The inside is special too. Even though it shares a cabin with lesser versions there is plenty of leather, suede and superb bucket seats.

The little RS badges front and rear indicate that this is the highest level of performance in the range, and it shares the 2.5-litre five-cylinder turbocharged powerplant already seen in the TT RS.

The five-cylinder configuration is extremely rare in modern cars and is a nod to the distinctive-sounding five-cylinder unit from the original Quattro. Developing a serious 335bhp backed up by 331lb.ft of torque, the RS3 puts its power down via the fiendishly clever S-tronic seven-speed gearbox through to the quattro four-wheel-drive system.

On paper then it is brimming with potential, and the story continues once you fire it up. There’s a deep, purposeful burble from the exhaust, with the unmistakable backbeat produced by the odd number of cylinders. Select drive on the S-tronic transmission and it will roll happily along, the large band of torque making life very easy for the driver. Also from the driver’s seat you could be forgiven for thinking it was a relatively humble machine.

But it only takes a moment to reveal the flip side. For the full effect the transmission needs to be switched to manual mode and the S button pressed, which activates a sound flap in the exhaust and also changes to a more aggressive throttle map. Start to squeeze the accelerator and the response is immediate, a distinct deepening of the exhaust note is accompanied by a rapid and prolonged burst of acceleration.

The engine note increases in complexity and resonance as the rev counter closes in on the red line, all the while the speedometer is reading off ever-higher numbers. Flick the right paddle behind the steering wheel and the RS3 effortlessly switches up a gear, and the engine performs its brilliant act once again.

Squeeze the brakes hard and speed is effortlessly shrugged off, and the stiff suspension keeps everything on an even keel. The steering responds quickly and accurately to inputs, but it is the traction from the quattro system that allows you to exploit all the power much more readily than in any two-wheel drive car. You have to trust the system and believe in the physics because it’s hard to get your head around what this car is capable of – press the throttle hard and early and you are catapulted out of the other side in a blur.

It is a car absolutely brimming with character, a controlled powerhouse capable of demolishing a challenging road yet it doesn’t sacrifice its ability to carry passengers with a comfortable ease. Just a few examples will reach the UK - each one will be an example to cherish.