Road Test of the Year: Audi RS3

We love a good old-fashioned hot hatch. Whether it’s something like a Volkswagen GTI, a Peugeot 208 GTI or something a little more classic, there’s an immense appeal to a car with a practical edge that can still put a smile on your face.

In recent years, though, we’ve seen the development of the ‘super hot-hatch’. These models offer performance that would’ve been acceptable for a supercar a few years ago, but in a car which you can still – in theory – take to the shops.

Which brings us to this year’s contender – the Audi RS3. It’s a car which has been a mainstay of the German brand’s range for a long time now and continues to have a big presence within the hot-hatch market. It’s also something of a dinosaur; it’s one of very few five-cylinder cars available today, ditching electrification in favour of big capacity and plenty of turbocharging.

In classic Audi fashion, we’ve got quattro all-wheel-drive technology at work here, which is a great relief to have on your side when driving down a slippery, autumnal Welsh road. It’s also a helpful feature to have when you’ve got a 2.5-litre turbocharged petrol engine up front sending a considerable 395bhp and 500Nm to the tarmac. As result, you should get from zero to 60mph in just 3.6 seconds and, during our time with the RS3 at this year’s RTOTY, that figure felt like it might be a little underestimated.

If there was ever a car which felt perfectly dialled into its environment, it’s the RS3. A slog up from the south coast to Abergavenny early in the morning saw the RS3 take on the role of your standard hatchback and it’s one that this car takes on easily. We even saw the heady heights of 30mpg during longer stretches of the M4.

As soon as you’re into road twisty country, however, the RS3 is right up for it. It’s actually quite hard to believe that we’re living in an age where a ‘regular’ performance hatchback develops close to 400bhp, but we’re all here for it. There’s a sense of confidence in the RS3 that you don’t get with many other cars; Audis of old had a reputation for understeering like a puppy on a slippery floor, but this RS3 lacks these issues of yesteryear.

The grip levels that you get in the RS3 allow you to pitch through corners just a little quicker each time, while the steering – though lacking a little bit of feel – is accurate and direct so you can place the car right where you want it, each time.

It’s even pretty refined when you’re not driving in a more ‘enthusiastic’ manner and the interior feels wonderfully well put together. There’s even a big boot, so the RS3 soon became the go-to car whenever we needed to get something larger from A to B. Like a sizable amount of brown, carb-heavy foods.

The poor RS3 sounds somewhat muted compared to previous iterations – emissions regulations have throttled back the voice of many performance cars – but you can’t argue with the way it fires itself down the road. As in many Audi models we wish the gearshift paddles were just a little longer, however, their stubbiness means that they can easily be missed when you’re in a hurry. The good news is that you can leave the seven-speed S-tronic gearbox to its own devices and, in Dynamic mode, it’s probably far quicker than you’d ever be able to react.

The RS3 was facelifted earlier in the year, but it’s actually quite hard to tell it apart from the previous car. The headlights are a touch slimmer than beforehand and, at the front and the back, you’ve now got Audi’s new ‘flat’ logo which – we reckon – doesn’t look quite as good as the old-fashioned 3D version. Oh, and if you ever see a new RS3 in the wild, take a look at the wheel centre caps – they spin independently, just like a Rolls-Royce. It was a source of great entertainment for the RTOTY team this year. We’re easily amused.

It’s just a shame that the Audi RS3’s days are numbered. We’ve already seen the axe fall on the iconic TT – with an EV set to replace it – and there’s no confirmation that we’ll be seeing a replacement for the RS3 anytime soon. Certainly, it doesn’t feel like modern legislation or emissions requirements will allow the fantastic 2.5-litre engine to return, so we’re trying to enjoy the RS3 while it’s still with us. It’s rare that a car which remains relatively so rooted in the past can still feel so fantastic in the present, but that’s the case with the RS3. It’s like a bag of chips on a cold day, or having a bonfire – you know you shouldn’t really, but it’s too good not to.

At this year’s event, we’ve got examples of cutting-edge electric cars and the very latest supercars that the world’s most premium manufacturers have to offer. But what the RS3 brings is a touch school and – you might guess – we’re really rather fond of it.