Audi reveals the menacing 2015 RS3

Edging out the Mercedes-Benz A45 AMG by a nose, the Audi RS3 Sportback is the most powerful compact car in its league. Featuring the most menacing five-pot mill in Audi RS' history, the new five-door Sportback is due for a world debut at the Geneva Auto Show next year. 

The new RS 3 comes equipped with a turbocharged 2.5-liter five-cylinder engine which rates in at 362 bhp and 465 NM of peak torque. The unit comes mated to a seven-speed S tronic dual-clutch transmission as standard and with its quick shifts, the car accelerates from standstill to 100 kmph in just 4.3 seconds. The power is transferred to all four wheels via a permanent quattro all-wheel-drive system, which features an electronically-controlled, hydraulically-activated multi-plate clutch, helping it to divert torque between the axles. Interestingly, between 50 to 100 percent of the available torque can be sent to the rear axle, whenever required. 

“There is a long tradition of five-cylinder engines at Audi,” says Prof. Dr. Ulrich Hackenberg, Board Member for Technical Development at AUDI AG. “In the 80s, they turned Audi into a sporty brand, both in motor sports and in production. The new Audi RS 3 Sportback features the latest generation of our 2.5 liter, five€‘cylinder engine – the most powerful production engine in the modular transverse matrix.”

To enhance the handling, it comes with sports suspension that sits one inch lower compared to the standard A3 model. High-strength aluminum pivot bearings and a wider track also makes its way into it. Vented steel discs comes as standard, measuring at 14.6 inches up front, and 12.2 inches in the rear. These sits within 19-inch alloys shod with 235/35 size tyres.

Deliveries of the new RS 3 Sportback will commence this summer in Europe, while its Indian debut is still in doubt and nothing official is out yet.