UK drive: Audi’s five-cylinder RS3 hot hatchback is a dying breed

If you like your hot hatchbacks to be big-engined, four-wheel driven and emit a sonorous engine note, the end is nigh. The Audi RS3 has been a charismatic big shot for the last 14 years, but the curtain is waiting to fall on this most hot-rod of hot hatches, thanks to ever-tightening emissions controls and the looming future of pure-electric motoring.

But the German brand wants its sizzling hot five-door to go out with a bang and has updated it for 2025. This is our first go at it.

The outgoing RS3 was never shy and retiring, but Audi has given the styling a bit of a makeover to keep the kerb appeal strong.

However there’s more to this updated RS3 than just fatter bumpers and fancier headlights, for Audi Sport has given the car’s torque splitter, steering and adaptive dampers some attention, along with tweaking the software that’s in charge of those features. The engine remains the same as before.

A mid-life update is normally a chance for engineers to squeeze even more power out of a car’s engine, but here Audi Sport has left well alone. That’s a good thing as the car’s fabulously charismatic 2.5-litre five-cylinder turbocharged engine remains.

And while it may still have the same 349bhp and 500Nm credentials as the outgoing model, it can still hurtle to 60mph in 3.6 seconds and top out at 174mph. There’s no manual gearbox option, but that’s par for the course these days with super-fast German performance cars.

In many ways, the RS3 is the ultimate hot hatchback because it does all the simple and mundane things right, but it can outrun a supercar on the right road. Around town it’s quiet, refined, comfortable even; but prod the throttle and the car can perform a decent impression of a 1980s rally car.

Of course, to get the best fire-breathing performance you need to dive into the car’s numerous settings and modes – a bewildering task at first, but master it and each cranks up the excitement. ‘Torque Rear Mode’ is a highlight – it’s Audi-speak for drift mode, and can send 100 per cent of the car’s rear torque to one of the rear wheels if you wish. It turns what you would expect to be a safe and predictable four-wheel drive hatchback into a showboating rally car.

Aside from this clever torque vectoring and splitting tech, the RS3 steers well and has prodigious levels of traction. The howling five-cylinder engine is utterly intoxicating, but only really makes itself known when you’ve got the throttle pinned – that’s a shame.

For this mid-life update, Audi has injected even more aggression into the design – the boxy arches, high roof-top wing, and fat tailpipes scream power. Our test car was the hatchback – there’s a saloon version that looks ever so slightly more sophisticated – and from some angles, it looks like a scrunched-up RS6.

Like the standard A3, the facelift has brought in new LED day-running lights with different designs to choose from, new rear lights and alloy wheel designs.

There are a few tweaks here and there, particularly a new steering wheel with a flat top and bottom design, and two red buttons that act as shortcuts to unlock the RS3’s potent power reserves. Audi has introduced a few materials, and the seats can have carbon fibre backs if you wish (for £2,000). Aside from this, it’s the same as before, so the quality seems decent but is plagued with a few low-rent plastics in some areas, there are physical controls for the climate control, and a pair of screens. The touchscreen infotainment system is a delight to use.

There are decent levels of space in the back, although your passengers might complain if they’re over six feet and you’ve opted for the carbon fibre-backed front chairs – prepare for some sore knees. The boot is fine for this type of car – 282 litres and 1,104 with the rear seats folded.

Our test car was the top-rung Carbon Vorsprung which is fully loaded with a panoramic roof, electric front seats, intricately designed 19-inch alloys, adaptive suspension and the top speed limit raised from 155mph to 174mph. At £68,650 it isn’t cheap – but it was never going to be.

The standard, 155mph RS3 is a chunky £9,140 cheaper and is probably the pick of the range, while the Carbon Black, at £64,160, adds a smattering of black trim and other luxuries. The RS3 Saloon commands a £1,000 premium across the range and has a marginally larger boot (321 litres) and mini-Touring Car styling.

Other hot hatchbacks like the Mercedes-AMG A45, Volkswagen Golf R, BMW M135i and Audi’s very own S3 do a very similar job to the RS3. They too offer relentless point-to-point performance, but the RS3’s gem has always been its engine. In all honesty, the engine’s power upgrade is only really unlocked at licence-losing speeds, and Audi charges you a hefty whack for that extra cylinder. But in a world that is increasingly becoming dominated by silent, electric power, a drive in an RS3 is still an intoxicating experience.