Audi describes this latest S3 Sportback as “more than a mere product upgrade”, which has the distinct whiff of marketing hype – until you run through the list of the changes that the firm has wrought beneath the fetching camouflage wrap of our prototype test car.
The formula for a great S3 – blending premium feel, strong performance and everyday usability – is well established, and when we road tested the initial version of this 8Y generation in 2020, we found an accomplished and engaging performer let down by its ride quality and interior feel.
We suggested that the S3 felt like the “forgotten hot hatch” of the Volkswagen Group – but clearly Audi’s engineers haven’t forgotten it, judging by the tinkering they have done in the time since then.
The new S3 will arrive in a few months as part of a wider refresh for the full Audi A3 range. Because this is a prototype, we are not allowed to talk about the exterior or interior styling of the revised S3 (the latter was covered up anyway, bar the infotainment touchscreen and the digital driver display), so judgement on how much that crucial interior has been upgraded (or downgraded) must wait. For now, then, let’s focus on the grubby mechanical bits.
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Nice Golf R.
Top top car, getting expensive but how many 4wd, pure ICE, family hatchbacks left that are this quick. Buy it, buy a classic.
All that for a tenth faster?, always liked the way it sat on the road, but, peel away the lurid paint job the colours on offer doesn't get a second look these days.
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