Look and behold, the only five-cylinder engine that's still on sale today. In a new car, that is, because it's in the new Audi RS3.
They've kept the turbocharged 2.5-litre 5-cylinder, and it now produces 400 horsepower and 500 Nm of torque.
However, the RS3 has always been fast in a straight line. The problem arose when that straight line ended in a corner, because the nose was...
incredibly heavy, there was a lot of understeer and it felt a little distant. In short, it just wasn't a lot of fun to drive.
Now however, with the third generation, everything is different according to Audi. Audi has installed a torque splitter, which is able...
to independantly divide the power between the rear wheels, the front wheels have more negative camber, there are optional semi-slicks available...
and because of that, this car is supposed to quicker, more serious and mostly more fun to drive.
And it has to be said. If you remember how boring the previous RS3's were, this is a real revelation. The tweaks are paying off.
In the previous generations, you were constantly fighting the nose to go into the right direction, and when the exit of the corner was in sight,
you could put your foot down and have some fun. So you were constantly fighting understeer, but that's not the case anymore.
When you enter a corner, you will feel there's a big lump of engine at the front, but it's actually able to corner properly.
And if you tap the brake into the corner, you can feel the rear pushing the car around as well. They've totally changed the balance of the car,
which means it's much more playful and dynamic. It's so much nicer to drive, like it's working with you instead of against you.
And that's a very big win. And since it's a fast C-segment car, it has a drift mode, called Torque Rear.
Sure, you can only send 50 percent of the power to the rear wheels, but you send 100 percent of that amount to one single wheel.
That's because of the couplings in the differential. And when you enable Torque Rear-mode, you get the Ford Focus RS-effect, that the car...
is literally pushed into the corner. Audi let us play on an airfield with some cones yesterday, and it's actually able to drift very well.
And remember, this is mostly a front-wheel drive car. When you put your foot down, you have to turn the wheel and keep your foot there.
You can even countersteer to get opposite lock, and it'll eventually straighten out, but as long as you keep your foot down, it'll keep sliding.
And that's a lot of fun. This morning, we drove it on a track with the optional ceramic brakes and Pirelli P-Zero Trofeo semi-slicks,
and it's properly quick. That's why you have the RS Performance-mode. Funny enough, that doesn't have the stiffest suspension setting enabled.
Audi says that a more comfortable setting of the dampers let's the car drive faster on rough circuits like the Nürburgring or the track we visited...
this morning. And it goes like the clappers. It's a much more versatile car than before, much more exciting, but there's something off.
I mean, the tires at the front are wider than the tires at the back. That was the case with the first generation and it was optional with the second...
generation but now it's standard again. And that says something, that the base isn't fitted for dynamic driving.
You still have a heavy engine at the front, and you can always feels stuff in the background working incredibly hard to make this car do what it does.
And it does so very well, it's a lot of fun, but you notice that the brakes are having a really hard time. Smoke coming from the ceramic brakes, for example.
You notice that the rear axle is constantly giving artificial bumps to get it around the corner, and it's impressive and fun and I'm really having a good time,
but it's not like a BMW M2. It doesn't feel natural. The steering is too distant and the brakes are too powered. It feels artificial.
The same goes for the drivetrain. The 5-cylinder sounds like nothing else in this segment, and I doubt if the straight-six of the upcoming M2...
will sound as sensational as this engine. It's absolutely phenomenal.
The sound is very special and the car is incredibly fast. What a combination.
At 3.000 RPM, it starts coming alive and the throttle response becomes incredibly aggressive at around 5.000 RPM.
And the S-Tronic-gearbox is very alert at times, but off-time at other times. So for a track car, it's not dynamic enough.
For a fun car, it works, but you do need the space. You can drift it in a tight hairpin. And considering that, and the price of €100.000,
it will make you think 'what do they want with this?' Well, a step forwards compared to its predecessor, but they didn't have clue themselves.
Or so it seems. Because it's not a track-minded, BMW M2-like car, and it's not a GR Yaris or Focus RS-fun car either.
And that sounds like an open conclusion, so let's just say it's a very nice car.