2025 Audi RS3 Review: A Non-Stop Physics-Defying Romp

More so than any of its predecessors, the latest Audi RS3 could have gotten away with being a five-cylinder engine wrapped in an otherwise unremarkable car. After all, back in 2011, when the RS3 arrived feeling like little more than a more powerful S3, the world still forgave it for its incredible engine.

That was back when there were other five-pot cars around. In 2025, the RS3 is the sole representative of the breed, so more than ever, we could have overlooked dynamic mediocrity. Thankfully, we don’t have to.

This is the facelifted version of the third-gen RS3, and almost certainly the final one with the 2.5-litre turbocharged five-cylinder that’s been the car’s USP since day one. That update, unveiled in summer 2024 and applied to both the saloon that we drove and the hatchback, didn’t bring any increase to the engine’s 395bhp and 396lb ft. 

Instead, Audi focused on unlocking even more agility from what was already the most playful version of the RS3 yet. It adjusted the car’s adaptive dampers, stability control, and clever torque-juggling rear differential, all with an eye on making it feel even more like a big five-cylinder Labrador puppy.

It should go without saying that the RS3 is cartoonishly fast. Those chunky power and torque numbers are deployed to great effect through the four-wheel drive system, and 0-62mph is dusted off in a quoted 3.8 seconds. Top speed is 155mph, unless you plump for the top Carbon Vorsprung version we drove, in which case the limiter is thrown in the bin and it’ll hit a quoted 174.

The way it gathers pace is astonishing, the tyres hooking up instantly from a standstill and the seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox shifting seamlessly. But – and it’s still not too often you can say this about an Audi – the way it corners is just as impressive.

The steering is hyperactively quick, the front end reacting with immediate precision to the smallest of inputs. This can be a misstep in some cars, but it suits the RS3’s "I’ve just knocked back six espressos" attitude. It offers decent feel for a modern car too, all of which allows you to really flick the RS3 around, getting it tucked into tight bends.

It’s here that the clever four-wheel drive system really shines. Powering out of a corner, you can feel the torque splitter doing its thing as soon as understeer begins creeping in, pushing the rear end round to keep the car beautifully balanced. Though it’s all handled electronically, it feels like a properly mechanical process.

You can provoke it into little squirts of oversteer here and there, but the ability to lean on the four-wheel drive only enhances the experience rather than dulling it. It still has that superb point-to-point pace you expect from an RS-badged Audi, but it deploys it in a way that feels spirited and lively rather than serious and businesslike.

And obviously, it’s soundtracked by that engine. It's a little muted from the outside thanks to particulate filters, but on the inside (as artificially enhanced as it may be), it sounds like Chewbacca's swallowed a turbocharger. It’s not just the noise that makes this engine a delight, either – it has a swelling, linear power delivery that a four-pot just wouldn’t be able to match.

There’s only one major chink in the RS3’s dynamic armour, and it’s the brakes. The pedal could use more firmness, and the brakes themselves more bite, just to really give you a little extra confidence approaching a tight corner.

And of course, all this dynamic hilarity does alter the RS3’s ability to settle down and act like a regular A3 when you want it to. The ride is pretty aggressive and jostling when you’re just driving about, small throttle inputs can send you jolting forward, and left to its own devices, the ’box likes to hang on to lower gears a bit too long in anticipation of a burst of acceleration. You’ll also struggle to crack 30mpg, even if you’re being really sensible.

The driving position isn’t the greatest, either – I could have done with sitting lower down and less upright. The seats themselves, though – big leathery buckets – are perfectly acceptable either on a motorway slog or hammering along a B-road.

The general material quality and fit and finish of this latest A3 is excellent – better, in fact, than it is on the newer, bigger A5. Audi has also made a big deal about the inside smelling nicer than the pre-facelift car. We’re not kidding.

You get proper climate control switches too, although changing drive mode is still a faff that requires multiple pushes of a button located inconveniently far away. Luckily, you can solve this on an RS3 by just leaving it in Comfort around town, then programming all your favourite hair-on-fire settings to be accessed via the RS Individual button on the steering wheel. Our advice would be the softest dampers paired with the snappiest throttle and gearbox map and slackest ESP setting.

There’s another little button here, marked with a chequered flag, to turn absolutely everything up to 11, although sensibly, the RS3’s much-discussed Drift Mode – sorry, ‘RS Torque Rear’ mode – is less immediately accessible. Chances for me to try this tyre-slaying setup were not forthcoming, but keep an eye on the CT YouTube channel, where our crack helmsmith Alex Gassman will be exploring it in the safe confines of Bedford Autodrome.

The RS3, then, does the usual fast Audi stuff well, but it’s no blunt instrument. It’s undoubtedly one of the most engaging, flat-out amusing cars to ever wear four rings, and a fitting send-off to one of the most charismatic engines left in production.

All this starts at £60,135 for the hatch, with an extra £1000 on top of that for the saloon we drove. Our Carbon Vorsprung test car was another £10k, but you could easily live with the basic car with a few choice options. Where exactly are you planning on doing 174mph?

That entry price is less than the RS3’s chief rival, the 416bhp Mercedes-AMG A45 S. Despite its extra power, the Merc is a tiny bit slower to 62mph, and can’t match the Audi’s five-pot character. In fact, the car I’d be cross-shopping it with is the Toyota GR Yaris – it may be smaller, quite a bit slower and far less pleasant inside, but realistically, it’s just as much physics-defying fun as the RS3, and costs a good £16k less.

Still, we should be glad the RS3 exists. Even if it had a more normal engine, it would be a superb example of the four-wheel drive mega-hatch, but having those five cylinders thrashing away, singing their warbly chorus, just makes it all the more memorable. We’ll miss it when it’s gone.