Audi RS3 Saloon Review: A 'Junior’ Super Saloon That Wants To Smite The M2

It’s amazing what a simple change of body style can do to the appeal of a car. The Audi RS3 Sportback? Well, it’s ‘just’ another hot hatch, albeit a spectacularly quick one with an engine that seems to have the explosive force of a small yield nuclear weapon. But when Ingolstadt announced it was to create an RS3 saloon alongside an improved Sportback, suddenly the want increased dramatically.

We’re talking a ‘junior’ four-wheel drive super saloon that’ll sprint to 62mph as fast as a BMW M3 while spitting out a noise reminiscent of the old S1 Quattro rally car. How can you not be tempted by that? A saloon just seems more grown up and serious than a hatchback, and in its four-door clothing, the RS3 is arguably more neat and attractive. When a meeting with the latest addition to the RS family was arranged in sun-baked Oman, I wasn’t exactly going to say no.

So how does it drive? Identically to the Sportback, is the answer, which is why you won’t be seeing a separate review for each (it all comes down to preference and how much you like going to Ikea). The saloon is just 5kg heavier than the Sportback at 1515kg, and the difference in rigidity is - Audi tells us - negligible. And you’ll be pleased to know that the new version of Audi’s 2.5-litre inline-five - 26kg lighter than before thanks to the use of an aluminium block among other things - channels the same relentless rage as it does in the TT RS.

Power and torque figures are unchanged for the RS3, meaning 395bhp and 354lb ft of torque is at your disposal whenever you want the five-pot warbling to intensify. Although it revs to 7000rpm, the top end isn’t particularly heroic. There’s no sudden spike in power, just a wall of noise and fury that gets into full swing at 4000rpm and doesn’t end until the redline, just before the seven-speed dual clutch transmission slots in a new cog with ruthless efficiency. There’s a surprising violence to the manufactured yet oh-so satisfying pop chucked out of the oval exhaust pipes during each shift, too.

A 0-62mph time of 4.1 seconds gets you bragging rights over the BMW M2 and - as mentioned - an identical sprint time to its M3 big brother. You can even get the top speed raised to 174mph if you wish, and given how conservative electronically-limited speed limits tend to be, we wouldn’t be surprised if topping 180mph would be possible.

We’ve established it’s rather brisk, then, but how about handling? If you’re just gently pootling around the 2.5-litre turbo five powers the front wheels only, but when needed, anything from 50 - 100 per cent of the power can be sent to the rear thanks to the four-wheel drive system’s Haldex multi-plate clutch. Exactly how it behaves depends upon what driving mode you’re in, with the general rule being more will make its way rearwards if you’re in Dynamic.

It’s much the same system as in the TT RS, which we found to provide a general feeling of neutrality, bonkers levels of grip and - when pushed hard enough - understeer. But on the Omani mountain roads we sampled near Salalah, the rear of the RS3 seemed much more up for a bit of cheeky movement, both under braking and after a little provocation.

Some more committed/brave colleagues even managed full on opposite lock moments, but I have a suspicion it’ll be difficult to replicate such antics back in the UK without lubrication - whoever’s responsible for building roads in Oman has a thing for weirdly low grip tarmac, and the vast quantity of sand doesn’t help much either.

On the plus side, the frequent appearance of camels on the local back roads gave us plenty of opportunity to try the colossal eight-piston (at the front) brakes, which are mighty whether or not you option the carbon ceramic discs. Although at nearly £7000, you can probably do without the fancier stoppers.

A BMW M2 is almost certainly going to be the more playful, fluid car back on our home turf, but not everyone cares about the ‘throttle adjustability’ us motoring journalists like to drone on about. The RS3’s bombastic powerplant is a huge selling point, especially when compared to the comparatively limp straight-six in the BMW, not to mention the dull inline-four in the odd-looking Mercedes-AMG CLA45.

It’ll be hugely grippy and hugely fast whatever the prevailing conditions, and its relatively compact size makes for an entertaining package to chuck around. I’m even fond of the progressive steering which becomes more direct the more you turn the wheel: it should feel weird and unnatural, but it doesn’t. It makes light work of tight corners, and is well weighted too.

When you’re not trying to be a hero in the corners, you can relax and enjoy a typically Audi - read: jolly nice and well put together - cabin, albeit with a particularly choppy ride threatening to spoil your day. The adaptive dampers are worth considering, we reckon.

I adored the TT RS when we drove it last year, and I’m overjoyed to report that the RS3 saloon feels very much like a larger, more practical version. There aren’t any UK prices available just yet, but it looks like it’ll be at least £4000 cheaper than the TT, probably more. Where do we sign?