Audi has confirmed the new generation Audi RS3 set to officially launch in South Africa this month, and trust that it has not deterred enthusiasts from being first on the list and getting their orders in on the relaunched sporty top-of-the-line pair in the high-performance segment.
The RS3 has retained it sporty heritage when moving to the interior. The cockpit comes fitted with a 12.3 inch Audi virtual interface that run displays that revolutions per minute in the “RS Runway” design in addition to the g-force, lap times, acceleration from 0-100km/h, 0-200km/h quarter mile and eighth of a mile.
The expressive look is enhanced by the carbon-fibre trim finish on the instrument panel and the RS sports seats with the notable RS embossing & anthracite contrast stitching. The car comes with special floor mats as well as seatbelts with matching edges. New owners can expect the seat shoulders, stitching of the seat belt and floor mat as well as the accents around the air vents also come in matching red or green in the RS design package.
The third generation RS3 is available in both Sportback and Sedan and both are packed with features and technology alongside of refined engines set to fill the high-performance segment in the market. The 2.5 TFSI five-cylinder engines has been tuned to put out more torque than its predecessor making it more powerful, with an extra 500Nm running between 2250 – 5600rpm (peaking at 7000rpm) at 294kW of power – mental when you think about it considering that it will take you 0-100km at just 3.8 seconds. The top speed has been electronically limited to 250km/h but can be increased to 290km/h if the RS Dynamic Plus package is selected.
The exterior has seen a significant touch up aswell, will a slightly more aggressive body kit from its predecessor in terms of design. The wide front RS bumper has a redesigned singleframe with a distinctive honeycomb grille, added with large air intakes to the car a more expressive appearance. The RS3 comes standard with Matrix LED headlights and a darkened bezel around the outer downturned angles that will make the car stand out, even when running daytime running lights.
The RS3 will set you back R1 215 000 for the base model on the Sportback and R1 245 000 for the Sedan (VAT incl) and includes a 5 Year Audi Freeway Plan as standard.
