Audi RS3 vs Mercedes-Benz A35

What's the difference?

Five-cylinder fury is still kicking!

Audi has just launched the mid-life updated version of its RS3 hatch and sedan in Australia.

With new looks inside and out, the German carmaker has also made a number of subtle tweaks under the skin via software updates. Thankfully, however, the five-cylinder beast lurking under the bonnet remains untouched.

As the viability of pure internal combustion engines in the hot hatch segment dwindles in the age of ever-tightening emissions regulations, will this be the last hurrah for the five-banger RS3?

Read along to see how this latest version stacks up.

If you want a Mercedes-AMG A45 sedan, you’re dead out of luck - there isn’t going to be one. Your alternatives are the sleeker, more style-focused CLA 45 four-door ‘coupe’, or the A45 hatch, which is more often associated with boy racer types… with deep pockets.

Or you could buy this car - the Mercedes-AMG A35 4Matic sedan. A lot of pundits have questioned the two-prong AMG strategy in the hatchback range, with the A35 slotting between the already-pretty-hot A250 4Matic and A45 S.

In the sedan line-up, however, there’s a different approach, with the Mercedes-AMG A35 4Matic topping the range. So is it a fitting flagship for the small sedan line-up? It certainly has the tech, safety and equipment levels to live up to buyers’ expectations. 

And as a rival to the likes of the Audi S3 sedan, BMW 2 Series Gran Coupe and its own sibling, the Mercedes-AMG CLA35, does it offer a compelling alternative?

Let’s go through it, criteria by criteria.