2017 Audi RS3 vs 2018

What's the difference?

The idea of paying upwards of $80,000 for a small sedan - even if it were trimmed with the fur of baby seals - seemed laughable not that long ago. Then the Mercedes A45 and CLA45 came along with its poppy-bangy turbo four-cylinder and changed the game forever.

Audi's RS3 joined the game in 2011, to great fanfare but in Sportback form. Whether Audi is being cutesy or not we'll never know, but the five-cylinder turbo fits well between its four and six-cylinder rivals while cranking out the right amount of power and driving all the wheels.

Completing the A3 upgrade that landed late last year, we now have a new, upgraded RS3 to rejoin the fray after the second generation's debut in 2015. And for the first time, RS is slapped on the boot of a small sedan.

BMW has its M-stamped cars, Mercedes has its AMG models and Audi has its performance-focused RS range. All three are taken very seriously, and rightly so, because the vehicles that wear those badges are the most hardcore road cars the three big German brands produce.

Even the smallest and most affordable (though the latter is relative) of them aren’t to be underestimated. Take the Audi RS3 Sportback, for example, which received an update at the end of 2017 that introduced a more powerful five-cylinder engine and new styling.

So, is the RS3 Sportback, with its almost 300kW and all-wheel drive, the ultimate hot hatch? Does it do anything better than its RS3 Sedan sibling? Or is it as unbearable to live with as a German flatmate who has recently discovered body building, spray tans and steroids?

I found out after it became our family car for a week, with the Audi used for day-care drop-offs, work-day commutes and a couple of solo blasts at the weekend.