Audi S3 Sportback, Audi S4: High Performance, Low Emissions

Motoring Channel Staff - 28/Apr/2008

Sydney, Australia — Audi's new S3 Sportback has broken cover, looking sharper than ever.

The AWD performance version of the 5-door A3 Sportback will arrive in Australia with a dynamic new look sporting LED driving lights, 18-inch wheels, and aggressive ground-hugging body work

Audi says the new S3 Sportback will go on sale in Australia in late 2008.

The new model also shows how the face of the new Audi A3 range will look which, in line with the updated A4 models, will feature technical LED driving lights.

With more practicality than the standard Audi S3 thanks to it's larger boot and 5-doors, the quattro all-wheel drive performance car is powered by a 188kW TFSI powerplant, a turbocharged and intercooled 2.0-litre 4-cylinder petrol engine.

The new S3 Sportback will rival vehicles such as the BMW 135i hatch and the Subaru WRX hatch to a lesser extent.

Performance levels are high, with a fast zero to 100km/h sprint time of 5.8 seconds thanks to the S3 Sportback's strong midrange torque of 350Nm from just 2500rpm. 

The German car's maximum speed is electronically limited to 250km/h.

On top of the strong engine performance, the S3 Sportback's small size means that it can also be fuel efficient, using a claimed 8.5L/100km on average, which is impressive for a high performance car.

Pricing is yet to be confirmed for the new model which arrives in Australia at the end of 2008, but it is expected to be slightly more than the 3-door Audi S3, which is priced at$65,550.

There is already a fully independent road test of the Audi S3 here on the Motoring Channel, where it scored 4.25 out of 5. With added practicality, the new S3 Sportback could score even higher.

Standard equipment on the new model will include a 6-speed manual gearbox, quattro AWD driveline, sport suspension that lowers the body 25 millimetres,roof spoiler, leather sports seats, deluxe automatic air conditioning, aluminium pedals, an anti-theft alarm, and xenon headlamps with LED daytime running lights

In other Audi news, the next generation Audi S4 will swap its current 4.2-litre V8 for a blown 6-cylinder engine.

The German press is reporting that Audi wants to reduce the fuel consumption in many of its performance cars and also keep the larger V8 and V10 engines for its range-topping vehicles such as the RS models and the R8 sports car.

While it's likely the new generation Audi RS4 will keep the 300kW+ V8, which incidentally is the only car to ever score a perfect 5 out of 5 in Motoring Channel Road Tests, the S4 will instead get a V6 with forced induction.

While turbocharging is the most common form of forced induction to boost an engine's power in modern cars, Audi will use a supercharged V6 in the upcoming 2009 model S4 which is due to go on sale in late 2008.

It will output around 260kW (350hp) of power in the Audi S4 and detuned versions of the supercharged V6 engine will bow in the Audi A6 according to reports out of Germany, outputting around 216kW (290hp) and 420Nm of torque for the A6 models.

Considered to be a rival of the BMW 335i sedan, the new Audi S4 will be around 45kg lighter than the previous Audi S4. 

While the engine may have ditched a couple of cylinders and lost some displacement, the lighter car is expected to offer even better performance and efficiency. 

While as a supercharger doesn't traditionally have as much boost lag as a turbocharger tending to reach boost almost instantly, the smaller size of the V6 engine will also improve fuel economy and CO2 emissions.

Related Articles:
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- Audi A4 (2008)
- Audi TT 1.8 TFSI (2008)
- Audi A3 Cabriolet (2008)
- Audi TT Coupe (Road Test)
- Audi RS 6 (2008)
- Audi Metroproject quattro Concept (2009)
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- Audi S8 (Road Test)