The RS3, will initially only be available in five-door Sportback body style with feature fairly subtle design tweaks – most notably up front. Expect a purposeful-looking wide honeycomb grille and enlarged and anthracite-highlighted air-intakes to fill the rearview mirrors of slower moving traffic, while 19-inch alloy wheels should fill the flared wheelarches adequately. Initial speculation was that the RS3 would feature a dual oval tailpipe configuration similar to the one launched on the RS4 (and later on the R8) but it would seem that a fairly subdued twin pipe configuration has been adopted.
The RS3 will be powered by the same turbocharged 2,5-litre five-cylinder engine as featured in the TT RS, which means 250 kW of power and 450 N.m of torque. This unit will be mated with a seven-speed S-tronic dual-clutch transmission featuring a launch control function that should catapult the RS3 from standstill to 100 km/h in around 4,7 seconds.
The hottest A3 to date will offer a 42 mm wider track up front (22 mm at the rear) and a 25 mm lower suspension over the current A3. Firmer springs and dampers are the order of the day and engineers have opted for an aluminium strengthened MacPherson strut arrangement up front with a four-link setup at the rear. Stopping prowess has not been overlooked and the RS3 has been given larger discs (370 and 310 mm respectively) front and rear.
A Sport mode has been added to the ESP program to give the driver a third stability control level option. In true RS fashion, the newest member of the family features Quattro all-wheel drive as standard.
Expect the RS3 Sportback to arrive on the South African market towards August 2011.