Touring Stars

If the Audi RS 3 is a quick car on the road, what’s it like when it’s been transformed into a touring car? Audi handed over keys and a race suit so we could find out.

- Karl Peskett

Helmet? Check. HANS device? Check.

Race suit? Check. Having the right equipment is one thing. Having the skill to use it is another.

Tasmania’s Baskerville Raceway is a tight, twisty track, with plenty of elevation and camber changes, the kind that spits pretenders into the Armco. But this is no pretender.

The Audi RS 3 LMS is what you’ll find lining up at British Touring Car Championship races, and was created by stealing an A3 Sedan from the production line and dispensing with excess weight. Air-con, satnav, carpet – all gone. Plastic door cards, a cut-down dash and a pair of lightweight race seats are all fitted, while a roll cage and plenty of aluminium bracing keep us safe.

Under the bonnet is a 2.0-litre, turbocharged engine making 345bhp and 410Nm, so it’s down on power compared with its road-going sibling, the Audi RS 3 Sedan, but it’s also 335kg lighter. It’s front-wheel-drive to comply with touring car regulations but forget any notion of understeer – the front-end grip makes barnacles look weak.