Island Life Magazine Ltd August/September 2015 | Page 77

For now, the Audi RS3 is the most
powerful super hot hatchback you
can buy. And while it may not rank
as the finest handling hatchback
on the market, there’s no denying
how quickly it can cover straight
pieces of tarmac.

Price from: £39,955
Engine: 2.5-litre 5cyl turbo
Power/torque: 362bhp/465Nm
Transmission: Seven-speed S Tronic, all-wheel drive
0-62mph: 4.3 seconds
Top speed: 174mph
Economy/CO2: 34.9mpg/189g/km

This car is fast - in fact it’s almost
up there with the Supercars that cost
you over 100K for the privilege. A
Ferrari or Porsche owner will be pig
sick when they see the performance
of this car first hand. They certainly
won’t be seeing you in their rear
view mirror. Zero to 62mph is gone
in 4.3sec and, for an additional fee,
you can have the 155mph limiter
pointlessly upped to 174mph. Now
that’s a waste of money!
How does it drive? To be honest
a car that’s been tuned to the
maximum, so it’s not exactly a
plodder, and I reckon people who buy
these cars have already accepted this.
Refinement is excellent on smooth
surfaces, although the standard RS
sports suspension can feel harsh
when the surface breaks up – we’d
recommend forking out for the
optional adaptive dampers. But being
civilised isn’t what the RS3 is about.
All this seems to fade away when
you flick that paddle on the steering
column, and don’t forget they have
crammed the 19” wheels under those
flared arches.

MOTORING

A launch con