The latest generation of Audi’s A3-based hot hatch has arrived with new tech and higher pricing – and the first full-fat S3 engine in decades
The Audi S3 is a quiet success story in Australia, with more than 10,000 sold since it first turned up in 1999. Now, we’re into generation four and the fundamental concept remains the same: A3-based, quattro all-wheel drive and turbo-petrol power. Pricing is up substantially, equipment is up significantly, performance is boosted a bit and the design concept outside and inside is new, although obviously linked to the latest-generation A3, which also lobbing around now. So does this combination continue to serve the S3 well? We got to find out on some fun Tasmanian roads…
Landing locally
The 2022 Audi S3 has finally landed on local shores. The pocket rocket that sits above the standard Audi A3 and below the famous five-cylinder R S3, had been delayed by the various issues created by the COVID crisis of the last couple of years.
There are now two models on offer, the sedan and five-door Sportback we’re testing here. There is no S3 (or A3) cabriolet in the fourth generation.
At $70,700 for the hatch and $73,200 (both plus on-road costs) for the sedan, the new S3 rises between $4900 and $7400 in price compared to the third generation.
In fact, the price rose between the time the car’s spec was first announced in Australia last September and going on sale now. However, if you ordered your S3 before January 1, you’ll pay the old price.
For that money you get the recognisable S3 formula: EA888 2.0-litre turbo-petrol engine driving all four wheels via a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission and sixth-generation Haldex-based hydraulic multi-plate clutch all-wheel drive system.
Logical rivals include the BMW 1 and 2 Series M135i xDrive and Mercedes-AMG A 35. Of course, the S3 is traditionally a close relation of the Volkswagen Golf R, which in its latest guise due in April is slightly cheaper and slightly more powerful than the Audi and also now includes a drift mode in its AWD system.
Like the A3, the exterior and interior of the S3 has been overhauled. In fact, it is slightly longer than the previous car, although the wheelbase is unchanged.
Design signatures outside include matte-aluminium elements in the honeycomb single-frame grille, digital daytime running lights with animation on start-up, three slots between the grille and bonnet, 19-inch alloy wheels and functional quad tailpipes.
An optional black exterior styling package is available for $1500, bringing a blacked-out grille, front air inlet blades, side sill inserts, mirrors and diffuser frame.
Eight exterior colour options will be offered in Australia, two of which – Python Yellow and Turbo Blue – are new.
Inside, there’s a new dashboard design in which a 10.1-inch touch-screen is now embedded. Angled toward the driver for the first time and using the latest MIB 3 infotainment operating system, Audi says it brings 10 times more computing power than the outgoing unit.
It features natural speech recognition and a more comprehensive 3D sat-nav map display, online traffic information with hazard alerts, destination entry via myAudi or Google Maps, parking and weather information, fuel prices and Google services.
A 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster comes standard with virtual cockpit plus for the first time and brings an ‘S Performance design’ along with sport and dynamic display options.
There’s also a miniature new shift-by-wire gear toggle that means manual operation is now only available via flappy paddles on the steering wheel, which bucks fashions by being round rather than squared off at the bottom. It also offers capacitive touch, so it senses a lot more efficiently if you have a hand on the wheel.
Other standard S3 features include Nappa leather seat trim, power assist and heating for the front sports seats (previously unavailable), dual-zone climate control, a 15-speaker Bang & Olufsen sound system, digital radio and smartphone interface for Android Auto and wireless Apple CarPlay.
Wireless charging, or phone box light in Audi-speak, is standard, but currently unavailable because of the microchip shortage.
Stainless-steel pedals, anthracite tones, dark aluminium inlays, S-embossed seats, contrast stitching and ambient interior lighting emphasise the S3’s sporting ambitions.
There are some misses. The tailgate isn’t power-assisted (it’s an optional feature) and there is no spare tyre. The standard rubber isn’t run-flat either. Happily, metallic paint is standard.
The S3 is protected by a five-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty and comes with 12-month/15,000km service intervals. A prepaid capped-price service plan costs $2580 over five services or 75,000km.
Bevy of safety items
The 2022 Audi S3 comes fitted with a bevy of high-end safety assist systems, aided by an updated collection of sensors, radars and cameras.
The autonomous emergency braking (AEB) system adds pedestrian and cyclist detection, while there’s also lane departure warning, cross traffic assist rear and parking assistance.
Other S3 features include seven airbags, adaptive cruise control, traffic jam assist, emergency assist, lane change warning, efficiency assist, a rear-view camera and tyre pressure loss indicator.
With its various assistants engaged you can drive the S3 hands-off, but it gently pinballs down the lane rather than staying straight as cars with centring ability do.
Matrix headlights are now standard, as is an exit warning to stop you being wiped out by vehicles or wiping out cyclists as you open the door and step from your S3.
The S3 does not have an ANCAP safety rating.
Full-fat, finally…
For the first time since the original Audi S3 launched here in 1999, Australia gets the full-fat version of the S3’s engine. That’s because we’ve been reclassified from a hot to moderate-hot climate.
While that might sound counterintuitive considering what is happening to the world’s weather, think of it more as a bureaucratic paperwork shuffle than something that actually means your S3 is in danger if you drive it to Alice Springs in mid-summer.
With 228kW produced from 5450rpm to 6500rpm and 400Nm in a range between 2000rpm and 5450rpm, this is the most powerful S3 to ever hit these shores.
The previous S3 made 213kW and 380Nm (in Australian spec) from fundamentally the same intercooled, double-overhead-camshaft, 16-valve (with adjustment on all) direct-injection engine.
Audi claims an unchanged 4.8-second 0-100km/h time for the S3 and a 250km/h top speed.
The fuel consumption claim is 7.4L/100km on 95 RON fuel, which is up about 0.7L/100km on its predecessor. During our drive, the average hovered in the mid-9s. The S3 includes a petrol particulate filter to reduce emissions.
The new S3’s independent sports suspension moves from adaptive magnetic ride control dampers to electro-hydraulic dampers in search of a wider tuning bandwidth.
Through dynamic select, the dampers can be cycled through five profiles, as can the steering, drivetrain, quattro and exhaust. The dual-clutch gearbox also has its own Sport setting button on the centre console.
The electronically-controlled Haldex has also been more deeply integrated into the car’s control system (Audi calls it zFas) and it comes with a weight reduction of about 700 grams. Hey, it all helps.
Quattro can send up to 100 per cent of torque to the rear wheels but typically it splits up to about 50 per cent. In a steady state, the S3 is 100 per cent front-wheel drive. Torque vectoring, which brakes inside wheels to aid cornering turn, is also standard.
Other technical features of the 2022 Audi S3 include an electro-mechanical variable-ratio steering rack that quickens as more lock is applied. The disc brake package is also bigger all-round and clamped by red (natch!) callipers.
Underpinned by the ubiquitous VW Group MQB front- and all-wheel drive monocoque architecture, the new S3 is claimed to be more structurally rigid, although no-one could provide actual numbers at the car’s launch.
It retains its 2630mm wheelbase and expands in length and widens a tad. That leads to a little more interior width for shoulders and elbows. Audi also says a lower seating position delivers more headroom up front.
The boot offers 325 litres of luggage space – which is only mediocre and slightly less than the previous model – but it expands to 1145 litres with the 40/20/40-split rear seat folded.
The new S3 Sportback weighs in at a claimed 1500kg, compared to 1540kg for its predecessor. The bonnet is aluminium and the rest of the panels are high-strength steel. Front to rear weight distribution is 60:40.
Evolution not revolution
In a time of automotive revolution, the 2022 Audi S3 Sportback is undoubtedly an evolution.
That’s understandable. There’s no way Audi is about to spend squillions on a new turbo-petrol hot hatch at a time when it needs every cent it can get becoming an electric vehicle company.
So while the S3 is an improvement over the old car, the lineage is entirely obvious.
And you know what? That’s no bad thing. The S3 is capable and fast enough to be enjoyable without being so high in performance that it is intimidating.
Once the engine is bubbling from around 2000rpm, it powers on linearly toward the redline, ably aided by a dual-clutch transmission that can be relaxed when cruising, hyper when ramped up into Sport mode, or whatever you might want it to be in manual.
There’s some pleasing natural and artificial atmospherics including a rev on the down-change, some exhaust crackle and pop when the throttle is lifted and a meaty, almost air-cooled, beat from the engine as it is revved.
But it never gets really heated and intrusive. And that suits the character of the car.
The chassis set-up is a bit sharper than that. In the end, I just left the dampers in Comfort mode. Our drive route in the hinterland beyond Hobart was pretty bumpy in places and that didn’t really suit stiffening up the system.
The same applied to the steering, which was at its lightest and easiest in the most relaxed setting.
Meld in strong brakes with a nicely progressive pedal and the S3 added up to a cohesive drive. Rather than one part or the other dominating the package, it worked as a collective to deliver enjoyable experiences behind the wheel.
And because it is an easily accessible experience, that applies to an urban roundabout as much as a winding mountain ride. Just roll in, drop a gear and then accelerate out and you’ve got a tantalising taste of what the S3 is all about.
Then you can go back to the mundane, urban traffic-bound cruise. In that commuter role the S3 is mostly fine, maybe just a tad brittle in its low-speed ride.
Living with the S3 is also a mostly comfortable experience. The front sports seats are very supportive and the way the new screens and dials work is mainly straightforward.
Having the ability to now spread the sat-nav map panoramically across the instrument panel without paying extra for that feature is cool.
However, the sat-nav struggled to find a couple of locations I wanted, including the quite sizeable seaside town of Kingston to Hobart’s south.
There was also a new multifunction dial for the infotainment system on the centre console that took a bit of understanding.
But much of the new S3 is fundamentally familiar. There is no breakthrough digital dashboard like the latest Mercedes-Benz C-Class boasts.
Nor is there anything particularly special about the interior presentation or materials standard.
For once, this is an Audi interior that doesn’t set a new standard. It’s still very good, it just doesn’t smack gobs.
At least up front you get the essential equipment. In the back it’s quite pauper pack. There’s no USB outlets, only minimal air-con adjustment and one power outlet. At least there is enough space for one 180cm adult to sit behind the other.
But the point of the S3 is not to sit in the back. The driver’s seat is the one that counts.
Heart or head?
Despite the significant kick-up in pricing, the design overhaul and the addition of new equipment, the 2022 Audi S3 does not feel to be a major step-on from its predecessor in the way that really counts: the driving.
That doesn’t make it unworthy, just more expensive for what you get out of it.
And that is an enjoyable, spirited, friendly and unified driving experience.
The S3 sits at the automotive crossroads where a car is versatile enough to endure the daily grind of commuter hell and then, when that rare opportunity strikes, whisk you enthusiastically along a serpentine backroad.
If you’re into the facts and figures then the new S3 isn’t a compelling proposition. But the driving might change your mind.
How much does the 2022 Audi S3 Sportback cost?Price: $70,700 (plus on-road costs)Available: NowEngine: 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo-petrolOutput: 228kW/400NmTransmission: Seven-speed dual-clutch automaticFuel: 7.4L/100km (ADR combined)CO2: 170g/100km (ADR combined)
Safety rating: Not tested
Keyword: Audi S3 2022 Review