2012 Audi RS 3 Sportback First Impressions

MONT TREMBLANT, Quebec – For years, we North Americans have envied the Europeans their hot little hatches, and like hungry children, their faces pressed up against the candy shop window, our sense of deprivation grows with every buff book rave and gushing review.

A premium hot-hatch could offer sporty enthusiasts the choice of something a little more upscale than the standard boy-racer fare. (Photo: Audi)

The creative team at Ingolstadt must be chortling into their Weizenbiers – by releasing the Europe-only Audi RS 3 Sportback they’ve rubbed more salt into the wound.

If you can stand to read further without gnashing your teeth, here is what we WON’T be getting.

The strongest new contender on the European performance-hatch scene, the RS 3 has virtually the same running gear as the TTRS; a 340 hp, 2.5L, turbo-charged inline-five cylinder mated to the S tronic dual-clutch, seven-speed transmission.

It sprints from 0-100 km in just 4.5 seconds, yet consumes only 9.1L/100 km of fuel.

Nimble on dry pavement and in the slippery white stuff, the RS 3 boasts the latest in Quattro technology – although the front-biased hatch doesn’t get the trick new torque-vectoring sports differential.

Outwardly, the RS 3 Sportback looks lower, and more potently athletic than the milder A3. Muscular carbon-fiber reinforced plastic fenders wrap around slick, 19” rims – behind which peep huge cross-drilled rotors. The tweaked chassis is 22mm wider, and sports beefier sway bars and firmed-up springs and dampers.

A cute little spoiler tops the rear hatch, while the aggressive front grill features gaping air intakes.

At the recent “Fascination of Quattro” event held at the Mecaglisse facility nestled deep in Quebec’s Laurentian Mountains, journalists were invited to drive a variety of Quattro-endowed Audis around a winding and icy track. 2012 Audi RS 3 Sportback First Impressions from (http://www.auto123.com/en/car-reviews/new/2012-audi-rs-3-sportback-first-impressions?artid=127189)

The RS 3 Sportback looks lower, and more potently athletic than the milder A3. (Photo: Audi)