This Audi RS3 Prototype Fills The Nurburgring With Glorious Five-Pot Warble

The last RS3 wasn’t really all that good, with numb steering, rock hard suspension and so-so handling. Hopefully the next RS3, pictured here undergoing testing, will be another story. It sits on VW’s very good MQB chassis, and will have more power, so things do seem a little more promising. The old car came with 335bhp, but this one is expected to have in the region of 360bhp from the same 2.5-litre turbocharged five-cylinder, an engine which is also found in the RSQ3.

This test version is in a five-door ‘Sportback’ form, the only body style confirmed for the RS3, but the recent four-door A3 Clubsport concept could have been a hint that a saloon version will be arriving later. Whatever the body style, it’ll come with a dual-clutch automatic gearbox, but a manual hasn’t been ruled out.