TWENTY-FIVE YEARS AGO ON SOME VERY nondescript, featureless roads around the Munich suburbs, we experienced Audi's inaugural hot hatch: a buttercup yellow S3, with chrome mirrors, a set of flat-faced, six-spoke alloy wheels and a 207bhp, 1.8-litre four-cylinder turbocharged engine driving a Haldex four-wheeldrive system via a rather slow and unremarkable sixspeed manual gearbox. It was far from an inspiration to drive; aspirational maybe, but even in the world of lacklustre hot hatches that occupied forecourts in the late '90s, there was little reason to recommend Audi's first performance hatch over Subaru's thrilling Impreza Turbo. Unless soft-feel plastics and electronic climate control were your thing.
It's taken a while for the S3 to find some spice.
Each iteration since that original has felt uneventful to drive and more like a trim line than a genuine rival to anything from Renault Sport, BMW M, AMG, Hyundai N and, of course, from its own family in the form of Cupra Leons or Golf GTIs. Now, after a quarter of a century, Audi has finally rectified this with the latest S3.
Available as a five-door Sportback or four-door saloon (more of you in the UK will buy the latter), regardless of the body's shape the hardware remains the same. There's a further tune of the EA888 2-litre, turbocharged four-cylinder motor that's as old as time itself but still serves a crucial role in the VW Group's entry to performance car driving. Only an eight-speed automatic gearbox is offered but it's been modified to deliver sharper and quicker shifts the higher you venture up through the drive modes. There are now six to choose from, including a new 'Dynamic Plus' option that takes the S3 as close as possible to the RS3 when that car is in its tamest setting.
Denne historien er fra June 2024-utgaven av Evo UK.
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Denne historien er fra June 2024-utgaven av Evo UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
BEST BUYS BMW M CARS
THE PERFORMANCE CAR LANDSCAPE WOULD HAVE looked very different over the last five decades without BMW. Its M division, founded in 1972, has produced some of the best driver’s cars ever to hit the road, and in the process has provided a stream of benchmark models for its rivals to chase. In recent years, stricter emissions regulations, downsizing and electrification have seen some of those rival cars falter, yet by and large BMW’s M machines have remained strong. In fact, some rank among the greatest the department has made think of the eCoty-winning M2 CS and M5 CS while others are the only options worth recommending in their respective segments. Price tags have risen with performance, however, putting those latest offerings out of reach for many, but the marque’s popularity means there are numerous earlier M models available on the second-hand market for far more attainable figures. Here are four of our favourites.
TYRE 2024 TEST
Want to fit the very best tyres to your performance car? The annual evo Tyre Test identifies the cream of the current crop
HONDA ACCORD TYPE R
A liberal sprinkling of Honda Type R fairy dust on the late-'90s Accord produced an unlikely evo icon and a genuine performance bargain
TOY STORY
Where best to store some of Toyota’s most prized and valuable racing superstars? Under the wind tunnel at its Cologne HO, of course...
POWER PLAY
It develops 819bhp. It has no turbochargers, no hybrid assistance. Ferrari describes it as the most complete GT it's ever made. And it’s so proud of its mighty V12 engine it’s named the whole car after it. This is the 12 Cilindri
THE FIRST SAMURAIS
Japan has been responsible for many of our favourite driver's cars of recent decades, but their ancestors are often much less well known. We take a look at where the big manufacturers began their performance car journeys
DEFINITELY. NO MAYBE
Three Japanese performance icons - Lexus LFA, Subaru Impreza 22B and Nissan GT-R. Over three days on some of our favourite roads we explore what makes each uniquely thrilling, but also the car culture that unites them
1V3.0
F1, P1... and now W1. The next chapter in McLaren's Ultimate Series is the British firm's challenger to the forthcoming new Ferrari hypercar and a £2million, 1257bhp, hybrid-powered, technical tour de force
Thornley Kelham European RS
One man’s dream to build the perfect Porsche 911 has resulted inthis aaticMously restored and enhanced classic. We delve into the details and take it for a drive
Bentley Continental GT Speed
The new Continental GT is the most powerful Bentley ever, and the beginning of anew plug-in hybrid era for Crewe. But is it still a benchmark grand tourer?
