Audi RS3 vs Toyota GR Yaris

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.

Thank the automotive gods cars like the GR Yaris still exist.

Not only are hot hatches the funnest way to drive, but in a world that’s obsessed with electric vehicles, these combustion-powered beasties remind us what we’ve got before it's gone.

The GR Yaris arrived in 2020 and won praise for its rally-car-for-the-road feel with Toyota’s high-performance division Gazoo Racing heavily modifying the docile Yaris hatch - while adding a bit of Corolla - to create this little monster.

In early 2025 Toyota added more power and torque, along with an automatic transmission for the GR Yaris and now a new variant has been launched - the GTS Aero Performance Package and this is what we are testing.