Audi RS3 Sportback Facelift Review: Still a Winner

What we like:

Mechanically similar to the old car - brilliant to drive

I5 is literally a one-of-one engine now

What we dislike:

Cosmetic changes to the exterior make the car less distinct

Interior is less ergonomic than before

The Audi RS3 is OneShift’s Best ICE Car (Gold) for 2022. We loved everything about it, but it was the Torque Splitter that really changed the game for it. The RS3, from that point on, isn’t the understeer-biased, front-heavy car that seemed to plague its reputation. Its dynamism can easily match the best of its class.

3 years later, the facelifted version of the same car has arrived on our shores. Mechanically, the car is much unchanged. There is the same 400 bhp and 500 Nm output, while some adjustments have been made to its handling. At the law-abiding speeds that we did, we could hardly feel any of it.

That doesn’t take away anything from the car’s brilliance, though. It’s still pretty much as terrific as we remembered. Superb agility, soulful engine with a drool-inducing exhaust note and daily drivability are all present and correct. And of course, the puffed-up wheel arches reminiscent of the Audi Sport quattro S1 Pikes Peak from 1987 still set the RS3 apart from its lesser siblings. But now, more than ever, you will find it difficult to tell apart the RS3.

That’s because most of the changes are, in fact, cosmetic, and they have removed some of the tell-tale signs of the top-dog Audi. I am not exactly sure why Audi has gone all stealth-mode, but it removed the ‘RS3’ badge from the front grille, while its rear badge looks deceptively similar to the bog-standard A3’s. On the inside, the steering wheel has been changed to the new flat-bottomed style, which feels a little cheapened due to its ‘tack-on’ Audi four-rings badge. The steering wheel buttons are now also fully haptic-feedback, a huge digression in my view. The only upside here is that the steering wheel gains two red buttons: Shortcuts to customisable RS Individual and RS Performance modes, both of which are also a little confusing if I’m honest.

Thankfully, there’s still a climate control panel with physical buttons and another row of shortcut buttons. Look, I’m no Neanderthal, but sometimes you need to call out redundant progress.

Thankfully, the car is still scintillating to drive. It’s quite telling that even the older models in Audi’s current range are still a joy to drive. Even though the Volkswagen Mk8 Golf R has since been released after we did our 2022 review, the RS3 still acquits itself and maintains its moat very well. The Golf R may have the Torque Splitter of its own interpretation, as well as more adjustable damping and superior driving modes (specifically, Nürburgring mode), but nothing can ever replace the allure of the RS3’s exotic inline-five motor. Its other competitors from Mercedes and BMW have also gone to the four-cylinder route, or a more ‘conventional’ inline-six.

Some would argue that the RS3 is mostly about its engine, and I can see why, although it is a lot more than that. That said, it’s the only car in the market I can think of that offers this engine configuration, and you really can’t put a price tag on being one-of-one.

Photos by Sean Seah

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