You know you’re getting on in age when you emerge from a car like the Audi RS3 Sportback and start to feel your body ache and creak.
That’s not to diminish the RS3’s outstanding qualities in any way. It’s just that a hard-edged performance car like this is probably more suited to a younger, fitter driver rather than someone that’s pushing towards middle age, and have more medical appointments than holidays.
Still, if I put myself back in the shoes of my younger self, there’s plenty to like about the RS3. For one, it looks suitably aggressive, but without going over the top such that you look like a bit of a word that rhymes with banker.
The test car’s grey paintwork does help in downplaying the car’s outlandishness, although you can of course go the other way and shout it out loud by choosing the RS3’s available bright green or yellow colours.
The car tested here is actually a facelifted version of the current generation, but the changes are fairly hard to spot. You get a redesigned grille, new headlights and taillights, and a new lower rear bumper and diffuser design. Again, they’re meant to be fairly subtle, and the RS3 does very well in presenting a subdued stance that belies its performance potential.
Likewise, the interior follows the same philosophy. Other than the rather fetching RS bucket seats, and the two red buttons peeking out from the steering wheel that allows you a one-press access to the RS driving modes, the cabin is pretty much standard A3 fare.
It is a fairly classic layout, with plenty of physical buttons and a single infotainment screen, instead of the large touchscreen setup of newer Audis, and in a way it feels rather refreshing, especially in a car like this. After all, you don’t want to be messing about with a confusing interface when you’ll rather be focused on driving instead.
And focus is really what you’ll need in the RS3, because it is a brutal performer. The 2.5-litre five-cylinder is an engine from the old school, and puts out nearly 400 horsepower and 500Nm of torque, allowing you to rocket from 0-100km/h in a scant 3.8 seconds.
But more than just straight-line speed, the RS3’s greater appeal is the sensation it offers you. The five-pot puts out a soul-stirring purr as you build the revs up, and howls into life when you rocket off into the line, in unison with the wild-sounding exhaust that further adds to the car’s character.
And then you find yourself approaching the bends and the RS3 truly comes alive. There’s some clever tech bits, like the torque splitter that can send power individually to the rear wheels, which minimises understeer. Together with the brake vectoring system and all-wheel-drive setup, the car feels like it is cornering on rails, with fantastic balance and phenomenal grip that is truly confidence-inducing.
If you truly wanna go nuts, there’s even a drift mode, which lets you kick the tail out pretty much on demand. It’s not something that’s recommended on public roads, but if you find somewhere safe and with enough space, it’s an absolute bundle of fun to play with.
You would think that a car like this would be end up being an uncomfortable drive when you’re not pushing the limits, but that would at best be a half truth. Audi has wisely equipped the RS3 with adaptive dampers, and while the ride does come across as somewhat harsh and unsettling in Performance mode, it is actually fairly decent when you settle down in Comfort. It’s an acceptable trade off to be fair, considering what you get in return.
What the RS3 delivers though is old school performance fun. It’s not as crazy as, say a Mercedes-AMG A45, or as finely-tuned as a BMW M135i, but what it offers instead is an experience like no other. Its five-cylinder engine is a relative dinosaur in modern terms, but its soulful character is a unique selling point that is unlikely to be replicated any time soon. So for that alone, the RS3 is truly a gem to be enjoyed, even for old fogeys like me.
