Road Test: Audi S3

Review by Feann Torr - 25/October/2007

The flagship model in the Audi A3 range gets all the luxury trimmings you'd expect of a premium European car, but it's also a bona fide performance car. 

Having clocked up more than a few hundred kilometres in this leather-clad, all-wheel drive turbocharged German hatchback, we can attest to the S3's dynamic prowess. This performance hatch is no pretender.

It's rivals include automobiles like the BMW 130i M Sport, which we tested last year and thoroughly enjoyed. The baby BMW is one of the only rear-wheel drive hatchbacks in the world -- but you know what? This car is better.

And faster.

But it's not just the local German competition that the S3 has to think about. Having tested the 10-cylinder and 8-cylinder premium sports models in the Audi range, the S8 and S4 respectively, the new Audi S3 has a lot to live up to. There's considerable internal pressure on this vehicle as customers have high expectations of the 'S' brand.

As such, one of the first things we wanted to find out was whether the smallest car in the range lives up to Audi's famed 'S' badge. Does it accelerate and decelerate with forceful efficiency, does it hold a tight line through a corner? 

In short, does the Audi S3 do the sports division justice? Let's find out:

With a subdued look that some passersby wouldn't even glance twice at, the Audi S3 adheres to the brand's ethos of not overdoing the makeup. But it is a confident looking car and upon closer inspection there are signs of the range-topping Audi S3's importance.

The 18-inch wheels that frame 'S3' branded brake calipers give the car a powerful grounding as does the S3's lower ride height, dropped by 25mm over the standard A3. The front and rear fascias also feature slim grey inserts that give the car a subtle motor sports look and S3 badging finishes the cosmetic upgrade in a restrained manner.

It's appearance won't slap you in the face like some performance cars (Evolution, STI, etc), but I don't think that has ever been Audi or quattro's intent. Instead it has a certain presence that's hard to describe, but easy to appreciate.

The interior has a more overtly sporty look and feel than the exterior; greeted by two-tone silk nappa seats, red leather door inserts, and alloy pedals, I was glad to see performance details in this aspect of the car's design. When a car has such strong performance, I reckon it's a shame not to communicate this. Call me an extrovert.

But I digress.

Priced at $65,500, the Audi S3 is one of the most expensive performance hatches on the Australian new car market. Luckily for Audi it's also one of the best. Key in the ignition, and the engine sparks to life with a guttural growl that you would normally only hear from a very highly strung 2.0-litre turbo engines, such as the legendary Evolution. The engine's presence is considerable.

Pumping the light clutch and shifting the 6-speed manual into first I edged gingerly out of the Audi underground car park and joined the flow of Melbourne traffic. After a few more shifts the S3 was peddling along nicely and was not hard to oversee during the peak hour chaos. 

I had no trouble getting to grips with the way the car behaved; all in all it's a pleasant daily driver. The suspension is firm, but I wouldn't call it rough as there is a level of compliance there. It's not demanding to drive either. If you don't plan on driving hard and fast you'll find all the aspects that make the standard A3 a good town car, such as ease of parking, a tight turning circle, useful boot space and so on.

It's got a small footprint which makes it easy to gauge lane changes and snaffle gaps in heavy traffic, and with a surging turbo kick that makes the Subaru WRX feel lethargic it never runs out of steam.

Make no mistake, this thing is very quick. Far quicker than I was expecting.

The benchmark 0-100km/h sprint takes 5.9 seconds, three tenths of second quicker than both the BMW 130i M Sport and the Volkswagen Golf R32. Compared to its German rivals, the engine is about 30% smaller and missing 2-cylinders, yet it accelerates and feels far quicker than both of these cars because of it's turbocharged nature. But more on that in a moment.

The electro-mechanical steering is generally pretty good but a touch wooden at lower speeds. It does tighten up the faster you go which improves certain movements, like highway lane changes. The engine will tick over at 2500rpm in 6th gear when you're cruising at 100km/h on the freeway, though the gearing leans towards acceleration and sprinting performance rather than economy. That said, we did manage to get almost 500km from just one tank of black gold.

With it's sports suspension the car responds quite precisely and it's easy to park thanks to its relatively squat length (4.21m) and proximity parking sensors.

There was only one minor issue I had with the car during everyday driving and that was when head checking; the C-pillar is quite thick and increases the blind spot. Otherwise, it's smooth sailing.

It's a well balanced city car but the S3's badges, sports wheels, and large brakes are suggestive of the cars true reason for being. After putting some kays on the clock and getting used to the way the car feels, it was time to put the Audi S3 to the test, to see how it performed at the limit.

I can report that there were no initial niggles, no hesitation, no hiccups. It has impressive grip, good handling and awesome acceleration. The Audi S3 is a purebred performance hatch with a nicely sorted chassis and a quattro AWD setup but it's the engine that excites the most.

Loosely based on the Audi TT's 2.0-litre mill (also used on the VW Golf GTI), the S3's engine has been significantly modified. It gets a larger turbocharger that increases turbo boost to 17.4 psi (1.2 bar) combined with an uprated intercooler which together push all four cylinders harder than ever before.

The significant increase in turbo boost pressure requires a number of engine component upgrades to avoid catastrophe and things like new pistons (with stronger pins) and strengthened connecting rods were added. Indeed, the Audi S3's motor gets more than just an ECU upgrade - it's a serious performance rig. 

Other changes include a new cylinder head with improved thermal dynamics, and with changes made to the exhaust camshaft timing and the addition of new high-pressure injectors, power rises from 147kW to 188kW @ 6000rpm. Audi's substantialengine mods also improve torque, increasing from 280Nm to 330Nm @ 2500rpm.

On the road you feel the extra poke immediately. As soon as the engine revs rise to about 2000rpm you can feel the turbo begin its spin cycle and the fun really begins at about 3000rpm and doesn't stop until you close in on the rev limiter. The engine was happy to rev out to 6500rpm, complete with angrycracks and belches on the overrun which added to the acoustic experience.

In a straight line the S3 motivates very quickly, and feels far faster than its 5.9 second sprint suggests; the acceleration is forceful enough to steadfastly pin you into your seat. As the engine revs build, the torque levels increase rapidly which provides that push-in-the-stomach feeling that allows you to really feel the car accelerate, not just be party to it. 

Driver involvement is impressive, but it's not until you find an extended section of winding road that the S3 really gets to shine.

Fitted with chunky tyres at all four corners (225/40 R18s), and putting power down to all four wheels through a Haldex coupling system, the Audi S3 has impressively high levels of grip. Body roll is not too bad thanks to the competently tuned suspension system making for an impressively balanced car.

It's not super light, weighing 1455kg, but isn't too lardy either and it's surfeit of torque ensures that it never feels sluggish. When you ask for more speed, you get it.

The steering can be so-so at lower speeds, but when you crack the whip the car seems to understand your intent and feels far more focussed. At speed the steering is fairly progressive and there's virtually no under steer from the front end except under extreme duress. 

It doesn't have the crisp initial turn in that the 6-cylinder BMW 130i hatch exhibits, but the Audi S3's turbo engine and quattro AWD allow for higher corner speeds and less ESP intervention when you're pushing towards nine tenths.

Because there's a smaller 4-cylinder engine hanging over the front axle, there's also less weight at the front end (along with lighter aluminium components on the front suspension) and this helps the S3 change direction fairly rapidly without wallowing too much.

Through most corners the Audi S3 loads up the suspension rapidly but progressively, sits on its outside wheels and charges past apexes like it's on rails. Guiding it through changing radii corners feels awesome - just add a bit more steering lock and keep the accelerator pedal nailed.

Not only a very quick car on almost any type of road - even poor quality roads don't upset the chassis too badly - it's highly rewarding. The huge surge of turbo boost through every corner, in every gear, is undeniably addictive and gives the car a turn of speed unlike any of its rivals. 

It's a turbo rush that hits hard and rarely lets up. Because the car has scads of tyre grip, is AWD, and has firm suspension you can really get on the throttle early in most corners without traction loss. The way it punches out of (and sometimes through!) corners is just astounding.

And if you do manage to overcook it the ESP system is always there to stop the car skidding or veering away from where you point the steering wheel. Of course you can always switch it off for a completely undiluted experience.

The chassis balance is very good, and inspires confidence in the driver. It's very poised through tight corners, feels planted under full throttle and doesn't get skittish under hard brakes. All told, it does the famous quattro 'S' brand justice.

Speaking of brakes, the stoppers provide good feel and strong deceleration, with only mild levels of fade - and that was after hours of torture. The discs measure 345mm at the front and 310mm at the rear.

There's no automatic gearbox option which leaves the 6-speed manual gearbox as the only choice. The transmission provides fairly rapid gear changes, but I wouldn't call it a 'short throw' box. It's possibly the weakest part of the powertrain, as the distance between gates can sometimes cause a snag, which can be upsetting when you've got a Aston Martin on your six. It exhibits good clutch feel and in retrospect I think I'm only nitpicking here in a bid to avoid sounding smitten.

With serious punch out of corners, to the point where you'll be grinning like an idiot for hours afterwards, the free revving 2.0-litre engine has huge reserves of power and though turbo lag does creep in if you ask for full throttle at the wrong road speed, it's usually forgotten by the time it's recognised. This slight lack of response is rare and occurs because the turbo is pumping such high boost pressures, far more than the standard 147kW version of this engine which sees use in the Audi TT.

The interior of the car features well bolstered but comfortable leather seats that do a fair job of keeping bodies in place, and like most modern Audi automobiles the interior controls are intuitive and easy to reach. Some of the options in our test car included adaptive cornering lights ($800), the homelink remote garage door opening ($550), silk nappa leather ($400), the sporty flat bottomed steering wheel ($700) and a sat nav and TV tuner system ($8500). I'd definitely go with the silk nappa leather and flat bottomed steering wheel, but the other options I could live without.

The Audi S3's safety suite include things like ESP, ABS, and six airbags. Some of the other standard S3 features are xenon 'plus' headlights, deluxe automatic air conditioning, luxury sports seats, a thumping Bose stereo system with 8-speakers and a 6-stack CD player, plus a multifunction leather sports steering. 

Overall: 4.25/5

The preeminent luxury performance hatch? For my money, I wouldn't go past it. As a performance hatch, it delivers by the bucket load. 

The engine packs a seriously powerful (not to mention addictive) punch, and the driving experience is far more rewarding than I had anticipated.

The S3 lives up to the high standards set by the other S models, such as the S4 and S8, despite being the smallest in the clan. But the S3 is not so singled-minded that it's forgotten how to be civil. It retains all the elements that make modern day premium hatches practical and easy to drive, plus it's safe, has a great sound system, and is comfortable to drive.

Audi is currently experiencing a global sales boom with Australia leading the charge with a 40% surge in sales, and with halo cars like the S3 it's not hard to see why. Simply put, it does a lot of things well and has very few drawbacks. There are a few issues with the car such as the chunky blind spots, the high asking price, and the Australian models' detuned enginesdue to our hotter climate. But overall, I found it difficult to fault his car.

While I loved the way the BMW 130i M Sport motivated thanks to its rear-wheel drive layout, the Audi S3's AWD turbo power delivery is much stronger and far more addictive. It surges forward in a way that the Beemer can't match, and until the twin turbo BMW 135i hits the streets the Audi S3 is King of the hill. 

In a word, unmatched.