The Audi RS3 Saloon Is A Four-Door 395bhp Weapon

I’ve always said saloons are cooler than hatchbacks, so right now I am salivating rather furiously. Yep, Audi has created a four-door cousin to its RS3 Sportback, and hot damn - does it look promising.

Thanks to the fitting of the newer version of Audi’s 2.5-litre turbocharged inline-five - first seen in the TT RS - power is up from 362 to 395bhp. And of course, it’ll have a cracking soundtrack people like us will describe as warbly.

Under the skin, the track has been widened by 20mm at the front and 14mm at the rear compared to the boggo A3 saloon, with the wheel arches ever so slightly flared to compensate. It also sits 25mm lower on adaptive dampers.

The 2.5-litre five-banger sends its furious, warbly (sorry) power to all four wheels via a seven-speed DCT gearbox (no manual option, I’m afraid) and an electro-hydraulic multi-plate clutch. According to Audi, the harder you drive, the more power goes to the rear wheels. Good.

Mash your foot into the carpet hard enough from a standstill, and you’ll see 0-62mph happen in 4.1 seconds - 0.2sec quicker than the Sportback, and 0.4sec slower than the TT RS. Top speed is the predictable 155mph electronically limited deal, although there is the option to up that to 174mph should you be an autobahn fiend. And on the subject of options, carbon ceramic brakes are on the menu also.

It’s expected to go on sale in the UK soon, and will be launched in the US and China in summer 2017. Price-wise, expect it to sit somewhere in the region of £43,000 - £45,000.

So it’s this, a Mercedes-AMG CLA45 or a BMW M2. Which would you pick?