Audi RS3 revealed

This is Audi's hot RS3 Sportback - its first small-car RS and designed to hit the track alongside Ford's Focus ST and RS.

As Ford's ST flicks its five-cylinder Volvo engine in favour of a 2-litre four, Audi reverses the trend by slipping in the TTRS's 2.5-litre direct-injection turbo for 250kW and 450Nm of torque. It meets the five-cylinder RS in power stakes - 225kW/440Nm - but the Ford has only three doors and an Australian delivery ration of only 315 cars. The Audi gets five doors, so there's no excusing the family.

The RS3 this week was launched in Britain - yes, that means a right-hand drive - for pound 39,900 that compares with the Focus RS at pound 28,000. In Australia, the RS sells for $59,990 indicating the Audi RS3 would logically land at about $86,000.

Add CarsGuide as a preferred source in Google Search

Add CarsGuide as a preferred source in Google Search

But don't be fooled by logic. The less-feral S3 Sportback is $70,000 but the RS3 hottie would in fact climb to around $100,000 and closer to the TTRS coupe's $137,000 price tag by the time it gets here. Audi Australia isn't giving anything away. In fact, it says it has no information ...

Britain gets the right-hand drive RS3 in April and it could be mid year by the time the hot hatch gets here. Audi Australia's philosophy of filling every market niche with a product indicates the RS3 Sportback is a very likely showroom addition. It will be worth the wait - especially for those who missed out on the limited edition Focus RS.

The RS3 gets the TTRS engine, seven-speed DSG box and quattro all-wheel drive system. Audi claims a 100km/h sprint of 4.6 seconds and a top speed limited at 250km/h, while drinking an average of 9.0 litres/100km and a CO2 emission of 212g/km. By comparison, the front-wheel drive Focus RS accelerates to 100km/h in 5.9 seconds, tops at 250km/h and averages 10.4 l/100km and 246g/km CO2.

Features include 19-inch alloy wheels, flared lightweight carbon fibre-reinforced plastic wings, widened track and a sport button that controls throttle response and exhaust note. Press this button and a flap in the exhaust system opens to intensify the sound.

Maximum torque is from around 1600rpm and remains constant up to 5300rpm. The turbocharger generates up to 1.2 bar of boost pressure, and downstream of it is an intercooler which achieves an efficiency rate of more than 80 per cent, Audi says.

"The combination of the latest forced induction technology with FSI direct injection facilitates a high compression ratio (10.0:1) along with a correspondingly high efficiency ratio."

Audi says the RS3 Sportback's fuel efficiency is attributed to an on-demand oil pump and a regenerative system that recovers energy as the car decelerates. It also uses strong but light vermicular graphite for the engine block and carbon fibre-reinforced plastic (CFRP) for the front wings. These help to keep the kerb weight to 1575kg (the Focus RS is 1492kg).

The A3 Sportback chassis gets revised suspension and a widened 1564mm track (up from 1534mm) with wider front tyres at the front. It has 235/35R19 tyres at the front and 225/35R19 at the rear to aid road grip.

Steering is electro-mechanical rack and pinion with a fast rack. The brakes are four-wheel ventilated discs with four-piston calipers and electronic aids include stability control with a "sport" function that activates later intervention of the braking and acceleration retardation functions "to enable greater adjustability without compromising safety." Audi says it can be switched off entirely for circuit use.

Standard equipment in UK-spec includes the Sport button, acoustic rear parking sensors, electronic climate control, DVD-based satellite navigation with MMI (Multi Media Interface) functionality and xenon-plus headlights with LED daytime running lights.