Audi S3 vs BMW M3

What's the difference?

The updated Audi S3 Sportback is a fun-sized dynamo with impressive outputs and athletic road manners. It’s missing a few premium features, but its compact size paired with a gutsy engine makes it a compelling option for drivers who don’t want to compromise on performance (just space).

Long live the mighty wagon. The BMW M3 Touring is treat to look at, and an even bigger treat to drive.

If you want one, act fast. We waited a long time for a wagon-shaped M3, and with electrification increasing in the automotive industry, this will likely be your last chance.

The S3 Sportback may be a small car, but its S design features, like the stylised blackout grille, matrix LED headlights, and 19-inch alloys with red brake calipers, give it a distinctly athletic and fun-loving vibe. It’s compact, but definitely not diminutive and carries serious road presence. It’s hot hatch meets fun-size.

Inside, the S3 looks fabulous. Integrated ambient lighting, a sharp dashboard treatment and a driver-focused cockpit all lend it a premium feel.

The front seats look properly sporty with their integrated headrests, and the quilted Nappa leather upholstery feels great, especially with the eye-catching red contrast stitching.

As for technology, it’s as high-end as you’d expect with a 10.1-inch touchscreen multimedia display and 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster taking centre stage.

The only drawback? No sunroof. Combined with the black headliner and compact cabin, it can feel a little gloomy at times. Still, it’s a cabin you’ll enjoy spending time in.

It looks spectacular, this M3 Touring, and even more so given a) wagons are so rare, and b) proper low-riding performance wagons with massive alloys are even rarer.

That said, I expect it will be polarising – and possibly too shouty for some – but I've got to say, I like it.

I’ve seen it described elsewhere as a bit of a sleeper, but for mine, you’d need painted-on eyes to not see there’s plenty going on with the Touring, especially one finished in the same Frozen Black paint as our test car.

It is at once sleek and swept back, and bulging and aggressive, especially at the flared wheel arches and fat exhausts poking from its diffuser-filled rump.

Inside, it’s mostly business as BMW usual, though with more carbon-fibre elements — our vehicle was equipped with the M Carbon Experience pack — but snug-fitting seats aside, it’s a premium, if performance-focused, place to spend time.

Like most hatches, the front row enjoys the most space. While it’s cosy, it never feels cramped. The seats are firm yet comfortable, thanks to their adjustability and expandable under-thigh supports. Access is fairly easy with wide door apertures, though the low seating position might earn a few grunts, especially from taller folks.

Storage up front is well sorted, with a glove box, a small centre console, a dedicated phone cradle and a couple of cup and bottle holders. It’s about what you'd expect for a car this size, but it's enough to keep things tidy.

There are plenty of charging options, with two USB-C ports in each row and a wireless charging pad up front.

The multimedia system is intuitive and easy to use. The touchscreen is responsive, and wireless Apple CarPlay connected without fuss and stayed connected all week. Wireless Android Auto is available, too.

Built-in sat nav is clear, and I love the way directions pull through to the digital instrument panel. The Sonos sound system? Pretty darn good. My son and I had more than one mini-concert on the school run.

As for the rear row, it definitely reminds you this is a small car. At 168cm, I found it on the cramped side of cosy and my husband just laughed when I asked him to try it! The wheel arch also cuts into the door aperture, making access a little awkward. Best to think of it as occasional adult seating. But given the size, that’s no surprise.

Amenities in the back are decent with a couple of map pockets, cup and bottle holders, as well as a fold-down armrest, those USB ports and rear temperature control (but curiously, no fan control). The seats are comfortable enough, but space is limited. Realistically, it’s best suited for two passengers, not three.

Boot space is quite practical. The wide opening and manageable load lip height make it easy to slide items in and out. It offers 325L of space, less than its key rivals, but expands to 1145L with the rear seats folded flat. The handy 40/20/40 split also adds versatility. Under the boot floor, you’ll find a tyre repair kit.

A performance-focused wagon is still a wagon, right? And that means there is oodles of space in the boot, though the seating choices in our test cars made the front seats less comfortable than they could, and should, be.

But first, the boot. The M3 Touring is a 4.8m-long wagon, which pays dividends when it comes to cargo. BMW says you'll find a minimum 500L of storage space, which grows to 1510L with the rear seat folded.

In the back, you’ll find seating for three, with the requisite ISOFIX attachment points, and with enough head and leg room to get comfortable.

But those carbon front seats are an option I wouldn’t be springing for. They arrive carved out of the rock-hard material, though with big holes throughout to reduce their overall weight, and they’re not only challenging to climb in and out of, but they’re awkward and hard to sit behind.

Stick with the regular seats and both rows will be happier.

The BMW M3 Touring lists at $180,100, which isn’t chump change, and positions the wagon body shape a fair way above a regular M3 sedan.

That’s before on-road costs, of course. According to BMW’s website, putting an M3 Touring on the road in NSW will be more like $194,039 — before you start ticking option boxes.

The 'M Carbon Experience' adds $17,500, and reduces overall weight by close to 10kg through carbon bucket seats, and adds more visible carbon and even more possible headroom to fit a helmet

The 'M Carbon ceramic brakes' add another $16,500, and while there are plenty of free paint colours, you can pay up to $7000 for the 'Frozen White' paintwork.

Our test car was finished in 'Frozen Black', a bargain at $5K.

Elsewhere, there is plenty of equipment on a stacked standard features list. 

That includes staggered 19- and 20-inch alloys, BMW’s digital 'Laserlight' headlights, and an automatic boot.

Inside, there’s a 'BMW Live Cockpit' with a 12.3-inch instrument display, a 14.9-inch central screen, a head-up display, wireless device charging, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto and a premium Harman Kardon surround sound stereo.

You also get three-zone climate, leather seats, an 'Active M Differential' and 'Adaptive M Suspension', and seat heating up front.

Oh, and there is lots — lots — of performance, but we’ll come back to that shortly.

The S3 Sportback wears the quattro badge proudly, meaning it’s all-wheel drive and it pairs a tweaked seven-speed automatic transmission with a 2.0-litre turbocharged, four-cylinder petrol engine.

This update brings a bump in performance over the previous model, including the addition of a rear torque splitter. Power is now up to a gutsy 245kW and 420Nm of torque, launching the S3 from 0 - 100km/h in just 4.7 seconds. That’s proper hot hatch territory.

The M3 Touring’s engine might well be one of the best in the business – a hard-charging 3.0-litre twin-turbo-petrol inline six-cylinder engine that produces a sizeable 375kW and 650Nm.

That power is sent to all four wheels via BMW’s 'M xDrive' with Active M Differential, producing a sprint to 100km/h of just 3.6 seconds.

The S3 Sportback has an official combined fuel consumption figure of 7.9L/100km and a 55-litre fuel tank, giving it a theoretical driving range of up to 696km.

Its key rivals hover around similar numbers, so it's right on the mark for the segment. After a mix of long-distance drives and my usual urban errands, my real-world figure came in at 8.0L/100km - very close to the claim, which I’m pretty happy with.

Officially, you should see a claimed 10.4L/100km on the combined cycle, but as is often the case in cars with engines that tempt you to be aggressive with the accelerator, the reality can be a little different.

We saw more like 16.4L/100km, but in the big bruiser’s defence, we spent a lot of time in city and suburbs, and a lot more time standing on the accelerator.

The M3 Touring is fitted with a 59-litre tank, and will only accept 98RON premium fuel.

Range is close to 570km using the official consumption figure and around 360km using our real-world number.

The S3 Sportback sounds as mean as it looks, and it delivers on that promise with effortless grunt. Acceleration is immediate, with plenty of power on tap when you need it. It’s just fun all around.

The lowered sports suspension and wide tyres do bring some extra noise into the cabin, even at lower speeds. You might find yourself repeating things to rear passengers now and then, but it never feels overwhelming.

Steering and suspension are on the firmer side, so yes, you’ll feel the bumps but the payoff is sharp, responsive handling. Quick lane changes and winding coastal roads are where this car shines.

Visibility is about what you’d expect from a low-slung hot hatch. The pillars don’t obstruct the view, but sitting beside a towering SUV at the lights can make you feel a bit... compact.

Cornering is a strong suit, thanks to the car’s wide stance and AWD system. It feels confidently planted in most conditions. That said, I noticed the occasional wobble through the rear frame on rough sections in heavy rain.

Its compact size makes parking a breeze, especially with the help of multiple sensors. The reversing camera is crisp, but at this price point, the lack of a 360-degree camera view feels like a missed opportunity.

In a word? Delightful.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s not the easiest car in the world to daily drive. The carbon-fibre seats fitted to ours, for example, made getting in and out a slightly embarrassing challenge, and there’s a surging eagerness to the delivery of power that makes you look a little like you're showing off.

But the adaptive suspension serves up a far more comfortable ride than you might be expecting (more comfortable, in fact, than lesser, cheaper M models), making tootling around town easier and less chiropractic than I was expecting.

But it’s away from the city, with its traffic and red lights, that owning the M3 Touring becomes a delight, from its potent and punchy powertrain to the thrum of its exhaust, and the EV-like immediacy of its power delivery.

This is a driver’s wagon, there’s no doubt about it, with proper seatback-pushing acceleration, direct and confident steering and enough body stiffening and bracing that you really would have no idea you’re driving a wagon when cornering.

Engage its sportiest settings, and disengage its electronic nanny systems, and you can even set to work judging your drifting skills, courtesy of the (as yet untested, honestly) 'M Drift Analyser'.

A family car like few others, then. That you can also take it to Bunnings and throw some sleepers in the back is just a very welcome bonus.

Neither the M3 or M3 Touring have been independently crash tested to date, but it’s worth pointing out the 3 Series and 4 Series received maximum five-star scores from Euro NCAP.

Standard safety kit includes AEB with pedestrian detection, active lane keeping assist, blind spot monitoring, adaptive cruise control and rear cross-traffic alert.

You’ll also find six airbags on board.

Audi backs the S3 Sportback with a five-year/unlimited kilometre warranty, which is on par with its European rivals. A five-year pre-paid servicing plan is available for $2890 which is cheaper than pay-as-you-go and reasonable for the class.

For those looking to go the extra mile, the 'Audi Advantage' package lets you extend the warranty and capped-price servicing by an additional two years, which represents solid value overall.

Servicing intervals are every 12 months or 15,000km, whichever comes first.

The BMW M3 Touring is covered by a five-year, unlimited kilometre warranty, and servicing is "condition based", in that the vehicle will tell you what maintenance is required, and when.

You can prepay your service costs at the time of purchase for all BMW vehicles, covering the first five years of ownership.