Probably not, it will be a little bit of a little whle before this car hits the streets.

I see red as well but I think its just a bad quality on the photo since I see more red on those photos.

Possibly. but this car looks seriously sweet. I notice that there is a lower ride heigh between this car and the std. A3, albeit not that much, which is a noticable issue I find in the S cars. All high performance cars should always sit low.

One thing you have to keep in mind is that if you keep increasing the horsepower to these little hatches, it will start going into Rs4 and M3 territory. There's no doubt that Audi and BMW can put a phenominal engine into the engine bay. For example, even though it's not BMW, Hartge managed to squeeze the m5 engine (the previous one, E39) into a 1er. They have to keep the cars from their own company from competing against themselves.

And I still agree with Stuttgarter that they should cross out the S-line.

If this is true, this would be the line-up for the A3:

S3 - 260 hp
3.2Q - 250 hp
2.0Ts - 220 hp (the 2.0T engines will come in a 220hp version in the beginning of next year)
2.0T - 200hp
etc etc...

260hp for the S3 and 250 hp for the 3.2 is really really stupid Audi... damn I feel such a shame.

And the question is why would someone buy the S3 when he can get the cheaper 6 cyl. 3.2 with only 10 hp less? I guess Audi officials have to answer that.

I bet S3 is a total different car to drive compared to 3.2. All reviews were 130i and R32 and A3 3.2 have been involved noone mentioned 3.2 to be a fun car to drive like 130i and R32.

I expect something like 280hp... that seems like it would fit the trend pretty well. Would that dissapoint you guys?
I think 300hp might be aiming a bit high.

Why get so worked up over a few horsepower? The S8 barely has any more power than the A8 W12, but the difference is really their character, I presume. Similarly, I don't care for a few more horses, what I want Audi to look at is to make the handling and driving experience much better. Many Audis have often been accused of having slightly dead steering feel and perhaps a bit of a harsh ride.

I wouldn't mind having a 260hp S3 if the driving experience was good. The S-series, as opposed to the RS-series, is more of a powerful and somewhat athletic cruiser than an all-out sports car, anyhow.

If we are talking about harsh ride then BMW probably has two of the less comfortable cars in the market. BMW 130 and X3. Top Gear had said about X3 "Don't put your children in that car" or something.
As for the steering you can't expect a FWD or AWD car to have the same steering feel with a RWD one like BMW. BTW some magazines have said that the previous M5 had a better steering feel than the new one. Sometimes great steering feel also means vibrations caused from bad quality asphalt.