Audi’s S3 Sedan Simply Turned The Greatest Sleeper In Its Class: Assessment

In a market crowded with hyper hatches like the Audi RS3 and Mercedes-AMG A forty five S, it’d appear to be there’s little room or want for a automotive just like the Audi S3. But with the RS3 now beginning at greater than AU$105,000 ($68,500) for the Sedan in Australia, the S3 makes a powerful case for itself because the extra attainable possibility in Audi’s efficiency lineup.

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Throughout the broader scorching compact crowd, the S3 nonetheless manages to carve out its personal area of interest. It’s all-wheel drive, similar to the VW Golf R and Toyota GR Corolla, and combines thrilling efficiency with luxurious and model cache that solely BMW and Mercedes-Benz can compete with on this phase.

The brand new 2026 S3 must also be higher than its predecessors. It has extra energy, edgier seems to be, and has additionally lately acquired a facelift. The query is, how nicely does it maintain up in its extra conventional sedan kind?

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What Do You Get For Your Cash?

Sharing a lot of its componentry with the associated VW Golf R, which, as everyone knows, took a monumental leap ahead for its eighth technology, the present S3 has a lot going for it. Within the seems to be division, nevertheless, there’s not that a lot to separate it from a lesser A3 mannequin.

Provided that the usual A3, in each Sportback and Sedan guises, is already fairly hanging, Audi’s designers maybe didn’t have a lot room to amp up the design of the S3 with out stepping on the toes of the RS3. To most, the S3 will look similar to an A3 with the S Line bundle, and it doesn’t even have an S3 badge on the grille, arguably making it slightly too delicate.

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Whereas the Ingoldstadt model maybe might have made extra of an effort to make sure the S3 seems to be the half, it has a minimum of given it a significantly spritely engine.

Very similar to the Golf R, the brand new Audi S3 options VW’s famend EA288 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine. The previous-gen S3 had 221 kW (296 hp), however Audi upped this to 238 kW (319 hp) for the automotive’s fourth technology. Now, in facelifted 2026MY guise, energy has been upped once more, now sitting at 245 kW (329 hp) and 420 Nm (310 lb-ft) of torque. That ought to be greater than sufficient to get even probably the most power-hungry fanatic excited.

Nonetheless, it’s not the engine modifications that basically separate this new S3 from all of its predecessors. As an alternative, it’s the all-wheel drive system. Relatively than that includes VW’s conventional Haldex-style rear differential, it has the identical ‘torque splitter’ differential because the RS3, which reworked the way in which that hyper hatch handles. It does the identical for the S3.

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In Australia, costs begin at AU$81,800 (equal to $53,400 at present alternate charges), however our tester had the AU$1,450 ($947) Launch version bundle. This provides 19-inch Audi Sport wheels, black tailpipe trims, black mirror caps, privateness glass, and puddle lights with the S emblem.

That is some huge cash, there’s no query about it. By comparability, the mechanically associated Mk 8.5 VW Golf R begins at a extra palpable AU$70,990 ($46,300), whereas the automatic-equipped Toyota GR Corolla is priced from AU$70,490 ($46,000).

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An Nearly Normal A3 Inside

Inside, there’s little to separate the S3 from cheaper A3 fashions. Meaning there’s the identical dashboard format, the 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster, and the identical 10.1-inch MMI infotainment show. The S3 additionally comes with the identical piano black plastic middle console as most different new Audis, full with a small toggle to shift between the gears.

Like many current Audi interiors, there’s an extreme quantity of laborious black plastic for my liking, significantly throughout the sprint and on the door panels. Nonetheless, there’s one neat characteristic with the door panels. A big space within the middle is trimmed in Alcantara, with lots of of tiny cutouts that the configurable ambient lighting shines by.

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Moreover, the S3 comes with distinctive Superb Nappa leather-based seats with diamond distinction stitching and S embossing. There may be additionally an excellent Sonos 3D premium sound system with 15 audio system, DAB+ digital radio, and each wi-fi Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

Pictures Brad Anderson / Carscoops

Functionally, the cabin is nice. It’s good to see Audi has saved bodily controls for the local weather system. Moreover, the S3 doesn’t have the identical horrible capacitive steering wheel buttons as different new-generation Audi fashions, choosing extra conventional buttons and scroll wheels as an alternative.

There’s a shocking quantity of room in each the entrance and rear of the automotive, and it may carry 4 adults in relative consolation.

An AWD Sprinter

Given how a lot energy the S3 has, mixed with its excellent all-wheel drive system and seven-speed S-tronic transmission, I knew it’d really feel fast. Nonetheless, it proved to be faster than Audi claims. Based on the model, it wants 4.7 seconds to hit 100 km/h (62 mph), however I used to be capable of rattle off repeatable 4.5-second instances within the dry, and 4.7-second runs within the moist.

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Like loads of different VW Group merchandise, there’s a huge choice of driving modes obtainable, together with a brand new one for the facelifted S3 referred to as ‘Dynamic Plus.’ I primarily drove in Particular person mode, with choices just like the engine, exhaust notice, and torque splitter of their sportiest modes, however the suspension in its softest.

The all-wheel drive system, mixed with the brand new rear differential, is a revelation. The previous S3, in addition to the Mk7-generation VW Golf, each had a bent to push into understeer the second you even thought of getting into a nook with slightly an excessive amount of pace. That’s not the case.

The totally variable torque splitter differential can ship as much as 100% of rear torque to one of many rear wheels, and in Dynamic mode, it helps to present the automotive a rear-biased really feel, a lot in order that the rear will usually let free earlier than the entrance. Due to the trick new diff, the 2026MY S3 is rather more confidence-inspiring to hustle laborious than its forebears.

Those that’d want a barely extra impartial really feel can change the torque splitter into Sport mode. Or, if you wish to go the opposite manner, the S3’s Dynamic Plus mode makes it much more thrilling to drive on the restrict, permitting it to chew up the pavement at horrifying speeds and with stunning ease. Aiding within the immense quantities of grip are a set of sticky Goodyear Eagle F1 Tremendous Sport tires.

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The handling-focused modifications made to this current-gen S3 don’t cease there. There’s now 1.5 levels of camber on the entrance and stiffened entrance wishbone bearings. The result’s a automotive that not solely feels correctly speedy alongside a twisty, mountain street, however can also be heaps of enjoyable to drive.

When pushed in one of many sportier modes, the S3 additionally delivers an intoxicating notice from its 4 tailpipes, creating some beautiful burbles on the overrun and between gear modifications. Consumers in search of the last word auditory expertise can even possibility a full Akrapovic titanium exhaust, though at AU$9,900 ($6,400), it’s actually not low-cost.

Pictures Brad Anderson / Carscoops

The texture by the steering wheel is nice, albeit not class-leading. Luckily, it’s direct and well-weighted, making certain the S3 is simply as simple to string by a sweeping nook as it’s to maneuver round a parking lot or by visitors.

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In contrast to many different scorching compacts in the marketplace, the Audi S3 doesn’t really feel in any respect compromised as a every day driver. It’s fitted as customary with adaptive dampers and stays poised over even the roughest and trickiest roads. With the drivetrain switched into its least aggressive modes, and the gearbox left in automated to do its personal factor, it may be simple to neglect that you just’re really driving an S3, not simply a regular A3.

Verdict

After residing with the brand new Audi S3 for every week, I used to be left questioning if it’d simply be probably the most well-rounded scorching compacts in the marketplace, regardless if it’s a hatch or a sedan. Positive, it could not often be talked about in the identical breath because the likes of the VW Golf R, Toyota GR Yaris/GR Corolla, and raucous front-wheel drive fashions just like the Honda Civic Kind R, however it deserves to be.

Is it probably the most fun-to-drive scorching compact obtainable? No, eager drivers will in all probability discover the likes of the Toyota and Honda extra pleasant throughout a fast blast up a mountain street. However, very similar to the Golf R, the S3 is best suited to the every day grind than a few of its opponents, but nonetheless gives heaps of enjoyable while you need to have it. Whether or not you’re driving to the retailers or planning a monitor day, the most recent S3 will likely be as much as the duty, which makes it one of the vital versatile selections within the phase.

Pictures Brad Anderson / Carscoops