Audi’s new S3 will excite

Maybe they are right though, especially when the official press release for the car starts by stating this particular long-stroke 2.0 TFSI has been developed from scratch – with the only thing it has in common with its predecessor its displacement of 1984cc. It delivers a constant 380Nm of torque between 1 800 and 5 500rpm along with 206kW of power at 5 500rpm.

The number game continues when it is said the S3 can get to 100km/h in a mere 4.8 seconds and only electronically stops at 250km/h via the six-speed S tronic gearbox while running a relatively high compression ratio of 9.3:1 and 1.2 bar boost.

Audi even claims the hot hatch consumes only 6.9 litres of fuel per 100km on average. Well, that is a bit of a joke – and unfortunately it is the same with other Audi models. Getting close to an Audi-claimed fuel consumption figure driving the car in an even remotely normal fashion is nearly impossible.

I averaged 9.9 litres per 100 km for the time I had the car on test – a figure I thought was quite good, considering the power on tap. And it is well in line, if not better, than most other hot hatches I have tested. Anyway, who buys a 200 plus kW hatch for its fuel consumption?

Staying with the data – and this is where Audi gets it so right: the claimed performance numbers. I had a feeling the S3 would go close to its 4.8 second 0-100 km/h claim and it did: it came in under 5.0 seconds with a time of 4.98 seconds via launch control. Now that is quick! It is a number that puts it on par with the much stronger 265kW Merc A45 AMG and 235kW BMW M135i and way ahead of any front-wheel drive hot hatch of the same sort of power, like the 206kW Opel Astra OPC.

It goes through the quarter mile mark in 13.33 seconds at 169.05km/h; the 1km mark at 215.18km/h in 24.36 seconds; while the fun stops at an electronically limited top speed of 253.19km/h at 6 000rpm in 6th – with the speedo reading an optimistic 267km/h.

With the number battle over, the area I feel the S3 has improved the most is the handling department. For peace of mind and extra grip you have Quattro drive, but now at least the steering feels well-weighted for a road car and the turn-in is crisp enough without that dreaded immediate and terminal understeer of the old car being so apparent.

I mostly liked the R474 500 base price S3 (our car had some nice sport seats and Sat Nav goodies on board that added R77 270 to the price tag). It is a very together every day car that can still excite you on the weekend – but I would opt for the more practical five-door SportBack version that will be available soon.