WATCH: Audi RS Q3 beats big names for performance and price

Audi remains on the offensive and continues to bring the freshest performance models to market in 2021. This week it is the turn of the RS Q3 Sportback that goes for high-speed testing.

And while this is very much a niche car as it has no real competitors (yet), the RS Q3 range of vehicles are vitally important for Audi, as this is the high-performance entry point into the RS brand.

For me personally, I think the RS Q3 offerings are the pick when it comes to bang-per-buck performance. Of course, this will only apply if your wallet views R1,128,000 as value for money.

But in the context of pricing today in South Africa for performance cars, and cars in general, this is a pretty good deal from Audi.

So, what do you get from your R1.1-million in terms of performance? First up is that gem of a powerplant. The award-winning 2.5-litre five-cylinder engine – which is also found in the TT RS, RS 3 Sportback and Sedan – powers this compact SUV Coupe.

A full 294 kW of power is available right up till 7,000 rpm, while 480 Nm of torque is on tap from just 1,950 rpm, all the way till 5,850 rpm.

How can you ignore the firing sequence and the odd number of cylinders which make for a very special Audi 2.5-litre thrum from the engine? And then the bark from the standard fitment RS sports exhaust system?

Thanks to most of the power easily getting to the tar via a seven-speed S Tronic gearbox and Quattro permanent all-wheel drive that distributes the power as needed between the axles via a multi-plate clutch, this bark translates into a car that is as fun to drive around town as it is flat-out on the open road.

Open road for us happens to be the Gerotek Test Facility North of Pretoria, and here the RS Q3 Sportback impressed with a quick 0-100 km/h time of 4.69 seconds, a sub-13 second quarter-mile time at almost 180 km/h, and a 225 km/h 1km speed, while only stopping at 280 km/h.

It did this despite the launch control being a bit quirky in that it hesitated for what seemed like an eternity before it launched the car.

It’s not something the average owner is ever going to be troubled by, but should you be one of those who have to take the wife’s car to the drags, then timing the light for your best reaction time could be a bit of a problem.

Adding some perspective, these times are on par with the bigger 405 kW, R1.5-million plus Jaguar F-Pace SVR, and quicker than the likes of BMW’s equally bigger and more expensive 375 kW X3 M Competition.

And properly ahead of anything that comes close to RS Q3 Sportback in terms of its pricing. The Audi RS Q3 Sportback is priced at R1,128,000 and comes standard with a five year/100,000 km Audi Freeway Plan.

For more information on the Audi RS Q3 Sportback, click here.