Audi RS 3 to cost about $80K
First RS 3 to be available in Australia won't arrive until October, priced around $80,000Audi Australia has announced it will land the cracking new RS 3 hot hatch here in the fourth quarter of this year, priced around $80,000.
That's later than expected, given initial word it would be available Down Under around mid-year, following the second-generation RS 3's international launch in Rome last week.
The indicative price tag would make Australia's first RS 3 (the original was never imported here) the most expensive Audi hot hatch ever, and pricier than key rivals including the Mercedes-Benz A 45 AMG (from $75,800) and the BMW M135i (from $64,930).
However, apart from its considerable performance boost, standard specifications will be higher than the $61,100 S3 Sportback on which it's based.
A circa-$79,900 price tag will also be considerably below Audi Australia's previous price indication of "less than $100,000" and will also make it the German luxury brand's cheapest high-performance RS model.
That moniker is currently held by the RS Q3 SUV ($81,900), while the least expensive RS passenger car is the RS 4 Avant ($151,400).
The RS 3 Sportback could also be followed by an RS 3 sedan, similarly positioned above the S3 sedan ($63,400).
Either way, given the S3 accounts for up to 40 per cent of A3 hatchback sales, the RS 3 is likely to be Australia's most popular RS.
The RS3 is powered by a 270kW/465Nm 2.5-litre five-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine driving all four wheels via a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission.
Kerb weight is 1520kg, claimed 0-100km/h acceleration 4.3 seconds and combined fuel consumption 8.1L/100km.
Final standard specifications have not been finalised, but the RS 3 will add to the S3's extensive standard equipment list.
Of course, options packages will also be available, including carbonfibre-shelled, diamond-quilted leather-clad bucket seats that save 7kg, carbon-ceramic brakes and perhaps wider 8.5-inch front wheels with wider Pirelli P Zero tyres (255/30 R19) – up from the standard 235/35 R19 tyres.
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