Officially Official: 2011 Audi RS 3 Sportback unveiled

Aiolos

Aiolos

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2005 Toyota Rav4 :-/ (Mom's)
Wow, they gave it the 2.5L 5-cylinder turbo! :w00t:

Bet it sounds awesome!

Too bad it will most likely never hit these shores.

Source: Autoblog

After months of spy shots and speculation, Audi has released its official information on the RS 3 Sportback. The mean little bruiser will come to the fight with 340 horsepower and 331 pound-feet of torque courtesy of a turbo 2.5-liter five-cylinder engine mated to a seven-speed S Tronic dual-clutch transmission. With over 17 psi of boost breathing on the five-pot, Audi says that the RS 3 Sportback is good for a 0-60 mph run of just 4.6 seconds. As you might expect, the company's fantastic Quattro all-wheel drive system helps put all that power to the road.

Down below, the hatch makes use of a four-link suspension out back and a McPherson strut design up front with plenty of hardware crafted from aluminum to keep unsprung weight as low as possible. The whole kit and caboodle sits a full inch lower than the standard S3 thanks to more aggressive coilover springs and dampers.

Thus far, Audi has only confirmed the vehicle for sale in Europe, and we wouldn't hold our breath waiting for it to come to the States. It retails for a tidy 49,900 Euros in Germany, which works out to around $68,000 USD. Even accounting for The Continent's comparatively inflated vehicle prices, we're thinking that this handsome hatch won't be singing Yankee Doodle Dandy any time soon.
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Me likey! Except the huge Audi grille. I'm not a big fan of those...
 
A little expensive for "a little car" but still I think it will be a nice one! Especially with the 2.5L 5-pot engine!
 
This is still based on the normal A3, right? Hasn't this been around for quite a while? A 7-year-old model...seems odd to put out an RS version this late in it's lifespan.
 
Huge amount of power... But hey I'm not complaining.
Although I'm bit annoyed by the non-oval tailpipes. An RS-Audi should have these
audi-rs6-avant-frankfurt.jpg
 
Psirus said:
Is it going to be a Haldex AWD, or a "proper" quattro?
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Exactly not that i don't think that haldex's computer controlled wizardry isn't cool and hey good enough for the veyron good enough for me but there is something about the purely mechanical system that is quattro that i just like a whole lot.
 
It's not that I don't like the car, but I don't like the idea that every Audi needs an RS edition.
 
Canuck said:
It's not that I don't like the car, but I don't like the idea that every Audi needs an RS edition.
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exactly RS used to mean something...
 
The_Finn said:
Exactly not that i don't think that haldex's computer controlled wizardry isn't cool and hey good enough for the veyron good enough for me but there is something about the purely mechanical system that is quattro that i just like a whole lot.
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In an article I read in a car magazine, they were talking to an Audi executive about the Quattro concept. They had said that a "quattro" AWD system would be prohibitively expensive, and could make the car cost R8 v10 money, even if they produced 1,000 examples. I know, I know. Hardly an excuse.
 
NecroJoe said:
In an article I read in a car magazine, they were talking to an Audi executive about the Quattro concept. They had said that a "quattro" AWD system would be prohibitively expensive, and could make the car cost R8 v10 money, even if they produced 1,000 examples. I know, I know. Hardly an excuse.
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Exactly, why make a car commercially viable when some forum readers won't be happy?
 
Who out there would rather have an RS3 than an S4? I can't imagine that the RS3 is cheaper than the S4, and the S4 just seems better in every way.
 
NecroJoe said:
In an article I read in a car magazine, they were talking to an Audi executive about the Quattro concept. They had said that a "quattro" AWD system would be prohibitively expensive, and could make the car cost R8 v10 money, even if they produced 1,000 examples. I know, I know. Hardly an excuse.
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the cost issue makes a lot of since because it would probably require a redesign either the whole quattro system adapting it to work with a transverse motor or they would have to completely redesign the chassis to accept a longitudinal drive train or they could stick with the tried and true haldex system they already buy from the swedes for all their other cars.
 
Someone pointed this out to me earlier today:

Who would have this over a TT-RS?
 
Someone with kids, or just a 1-car family?
 
NecroJoe said:
Someone with kids, or just a 1-car family?
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...and I'd argue that they'd be better off with the S4, which makes about the same power from a supercharged V6, offers more interior space, and has a badass torque-vectoring AWD setup based upon a longitudinal engine mounting.

So between the TT-RS and the S4, I don't see much of a market for the RS3.
 
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