RS3

Make
Audi
Segment
Sedan

After announcing that the A3 will skip the 2021 model year, Audi fans are eagerly awaiting the next-generation model's arrival along with its performance variants, the S3 and RS3. The S3 was already shown off, but we have yet to see an official reveal for the 2022 Audi RS3 in its sedan or Sportback guises. Our spy photographers have captured the RS3 testing several times, but the details surrounding the car are still pretty scarce.

For a while, we've known that the next-generation RS3 will continue to use Audi's charismatic 2.5-liter turbocharged five-cylinder engine, producing more than the outgoing car's 394 horsepower and 354 lb-ft of torque ratings. A report from Auto Bild professes to know exactly how much power the new model will produce.

The outlet reports that the new RS3 will produce 420 hp and 369 lb-ft of torque, gains of 26 hp and 15 lb-ft over the outgoing generation. This would put the RS3 well ahead of the Mercedes-AMG CLA 45, which produces 382 hp from a 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine. However, Mercedes offers a CLA 45 S variant in Europe that produces 421 hp, trumping the RS3 by a single horse.

The new model is also tipped to borrow the 4Motion R-Performance Torque Vectoring all-wheel-drive system that debuted on the eighth-generation Volkswagen Golf R.

VW's new AWD system can split the power not just between the front and rear wheels but between the left and right rear wheels as well using an electronic differential. Not only will this improve the RS3's handling characteristics, but it should also come in handy for power slides. The new Golf R comes with a special Drift Mode, so we imagine that the higher performance Audi RS3 will have a similar feature. Audi is expected to reveal the RS3 in the fall, meaning it won't arrive in the US until 2022.