It’s easy to forget how much fun driving can be until you get behind the wheel of something small and fast. Audi’s prescription for curing the driving blues is the S3; a turbocharged, all-wheel drive subcompact with fun in its DNA.
[/vc_column_text][vc_btn title=”Watch Steve in the Audi S3″ style=”outline” color=”primary” size=”lg” align=”left” link=”url:http%3A%2F%2Ftestdrivenow.com%2F2016-audi-s3-video-review%2F|title:Watch%20Steve%20in%20the%20Audi%20S3|target:%20_blank”]The reborn A3 arrived a couple of years ago with a new sedan bodystyle and now encompasses a 2-door cabriolet, a plug-in hybrid hatchback and this sassier S3. My impressions of the A3 2.0T quattro I first drove bordered on apathy. But the performance upgrades made to this car definitely make the S3 an E-ticket ride. Priced from $43,425 this is the priciest A3 variant but the letter S repays your investment in spades.
Under the hood of the S3 is the same 2.0-liter turbo-4 found in other A3 models, but here output has been ratcheted up to 292-horsepower and 280 pound-feet of torque.
With an upgraded turbocharger working through the same 6-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission as in other A3 quattro models, the S3 erases over 1 second from the A3’s 0-to-60mph time. A launch control feature gets that done in 4.7 seconds. The S3 is a front-drive car by nature and as such sends power almost exclusively to the front wheels until the driver turns aggressively into a corner. That’s when the rear wheels begin their involvement with the added step of torque vectoring – a process of brief applications of the brakes of the inside wheels ensuring the car turns easily into a corner. Original equipment tires are from Continental – your choice of max performance summer or grand touring all-season rubber. Mine however comes with a set of Pilot Alpin PA4s – a performance winter/snow tire wrapping the standard 18” wheels. 19s are optional.
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By TestDriveNow Auto Critic Steve Hammes for SouthFloridaReporter.com, Mar. 21, 2016
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