A test of the Audi RS3 R tuned by ABT for 100 hp more power and a tighter chassis.
500 hp and considerably lowered
The German tuner Abt has a hand in coming up with its own versions of fast Audis. For example, this RS3 R was unveiled last summer. Thick 500 hp and a lot of chassis adjustments. Roy took off with it.
Audi RS3 R. I can’t find it in the price list?
No and you won’t find it either. The car does not come from Audi itself, but is a project from Abt, the tuner from Kempten, Germany. The company from southern Germany has been tinkering with almost all products of the Volkswagen Group for many years. Not only Volkswagens and Audis, but also Skodas, Seats and even the Lamborghini Urus can be provided by the company with a power boost and external changes. In the Netherlands, some Audi and Volkswagen dealers even offer extra power while retaining the warranty, while those upgrades de facto come from Abt. It says a lot about the close cooperation. But once in a while the tuner comes up with its own special edition, always based on Audis. Think of the ferocious R8 GT R from 2010 that had 90 hp more than the regular (good for an atmospheric block) and weighed 100 kilos less. Since then we also see an R variant of almost every RS. The RS6-R is now a relatively common guest in the Netherlands because it is very popular with the younger generation with power. Think of athletes, vloggers and protein powder sellers. You then cheerfully get 140 hp, even more apart from all the optical trinkets and chassis changes.
And with the Audi RS3?
Earlier you could go to Abt for a power cure for your RS3, where the power went from 400 to 460 hp. The RS3-R goes one step further and has no less than 500 hp. This is due to more than just software adjustments to the well-known five-cylinder engine, the car received a new intercooler and the fuel injection system was also adjusted. Of course you also want to be able to drive it a bit well, so the chassis was also overhauled. The car has been significantly lowered, by 20 mm at the front and 40 mm at the rear. Furthermore, the Audi got stiffer stabilizer bars and the black 20-inch wheels are standard. Then there’s the very visible finery. The carbon splitter and wings on the front bumper, the large diffuser and the four steel exhaust pipes that replace the oval RS pipes. In total, the Audi looks just as thick as the specifications suggest.
No more oval exhausts.
So quickly!
The car feels faster, but only in the top revs at full throttle. And you don’t get there that often on nice roads. The turbo lag at low revs is very present and the turbo lag at high revs as well. The block is already old (in fact from 2009) and as nice as the roll is, its age is noticeable next to modern toppers such as the four-cylinder from AMG. It has mass delay. Another pain point is that I seem to feel the extra power, but the gauges don’t show such impressive numbers when compared to the standard RS3 I drove a year ago. The fact that the 0-100 time lags behind can be explained: I get too little temperature in the tires, which continue to spin during launch control even after several attempts. Something that makes a big difference in terms of percentage at such fast times. You could of course also say that it is great that it is still just as fast as the RS3, which did have plenty of grip at the time. But for the 50-80 and 80-120 intermediate sprint this shouldn’t matter much and I only see a 0.1 to 0.2 win there. Too little for 100 hp difference. We wouldn’t be surprised if the standard RS3 already had a bit more than the stated 400 hp, but it feels like the 500 hp that Abt promises us isn’t quite there. What 102-octane petrol in Germany may also make a difference, a turbo engine like this TFSI often benefits from energy-rich petrol.
Serious driving in this cannon.
But how does the Audi RS3 R drive?
Fabulous, really. We start on wet and cold asphalt. Not an ideal combination for the Goodyear Eagle F1 tyres, which excel especially on dry and not too cold road surfaces. But it is ideal to rediscover the balance of our Audi. The ‘standard’ RS3 proved much better than its predecessor thanks to couplings on the rear axle that can distribute power in such a way that the understeer that has characterized fast Audis in recent generations largely disappears. In the RS3 extra clever: because it’s fun, such a five-cylinder, but a heavy block on the nose is not ideal when it comes to dynamics. But the magic of the new drive also remains intact with this RS3-R. At most, the butt will push itself aside even sooner due to the extra torque if the front tires suffer from a loss of traction. Instead of annoying understeer you are now fighting with the car, hold the throttle slightly countersteering and take as much speed as possible out of the corner with four spinning tires. It’s cool, it’s fun. The lack of body roll is striking, as is the gigantic turbo boost at the top. A kind of old-fashioned rally device, that is what it is most reminiscent of. On dry roads later in the day, the grip really seems infinite. The Netherlands actually don’t have the roads to push the limits of this turbo cannon, because even when I think this is going too fast, I force myself to steer in without braking. And bam! The nose still bites and we dive to the left. The relatively narrow dike road does not offer much room to correct if the car suddenly starts to slide. But he doesn’t. The response of the carriage is very direct, as is the sharpness in the nose. The nervousness is reminiscent of compact cup cars on slicks. Also because the car is made so stiff. There is no moment of moving, but extreme direct reaction. The rear wheels push a little to get the butt in the right direction and the car just goes. The promised top speed of 300 km/h is not a problem in any case, and it would be cool to really push the limits on wide empty German or Italian country roads. Because this device can do so much more than a standard RS3 …
Nice and thick at the back too.
Nice all, but how do I buy it?
Not actually. Or well, not new completely to your own liking. Abt only made 200 pieces and the car is already sold out, despite the more than €40,000 surcharge. If you look carefully, you will also find it for sale at car companies, that’s how our test model came from BVO Automotive in Oss.
Data Audi RS3-R Abt
Combustion engine 5-cyl., in-line, turbo
Cylinder capacity 2,480 cc
max. power 368 kW/500 hp
max. torque 600 Nm
Weight 1,545 kg
Number of gears 7, auto. with dub. clutch
Drive front + rear
Tires Goodyear Eagle F1235/40 R20
Top speed* 300 km/h
0-100km/h A3 (3.3s**)
price €144,000
*factory specification
Measured
RS3 (2022) RS3-R
0-50 km/h 1.5 1.6
0-80 km/h 2.8 2.7
0-100km/h 3.8 (3.8s**) 3.7 (3.3s**)
50-80 km/h in S 1.2 1.1
80-120 km/h in S 2.3 2.2
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– Thanks for information from Autoweek.nl