Driving it

To be brutally frank, the S3 isn’t as sporty as its spec sheet would have you believe. If your definition of a sporty car involves the easy establishment of an engaging intimacy between man and machine, that is.

In fact, the car feels curiously remote. There’s plenty of grip, but the steering feels about the same as what you get on an arcade game. The same goes for the rest of the controls, and you do get the impression that the car’s attitude through corners is more the result of subservience to the dictates of some algorithm in the bowels of the ECU than your own physical inputs.

This makes it very difficult for you to want to explore the S3’s undisputedly high limits, and you therefore tend towards considering the car in grand tourer terms instead of as a hot hatch.

That said, the S3 is furiously quick. Whatever Audi’s done to the engine seems to have translated completely undiluted into sheer mile-munching power. 0 to 100km/h comes up in 5.7 seconds, but it’s the acceleration beyond the tonne that’s extremely impressive. Unfortunately, it doesn’t come with a commensurately inspiring soundtrack.

If you turn the wick down, the S3 works pretty well just pottering about town. The clutch weight is OK and the gearshift, which baulks if you try a quick shift, responds better to a more relaxed approach.

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It seems to have made little improvements from A3 3.2, in terms of performance, I suppose. Now S3 is only a repackage of A3 3.2!

0-100 from 6 to 5.7

Am I right?


Adding 20hp, we might see differences