Audi Gives A Little RS To The S3 For 2025
Audi fully commits to all-wheel drive (and AWD performance) for 2025. The A3’s base front-wheel drive trim is now gone, and there’s more RS in the S3 than ever. It’s a good time to like small, turbocharged sedans.
At long last, the S3 is also more powerful than the Golf R. It now produces 328 horsepower and 310 pound-feet of torque from its turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder — an increase of 22 hp and 15 lb-ft.
Audi has gifted the 2025 S3 with the big boy’s rear torque-splitting differential, which adds fully variable torque distribution to the rear wheels. It’ll help the S3 feel a bit more rear-biased, and an accompanying Dynamic Plus mode will put as much torque as possible rearward to aid in this. Other changes include improved throttle response and slightly shorter gear ratios. Audi also adds 235/35 Falken performance tires to the sedan’s 19-inch wheel option. These hide new two-piston front brakes with ventilated calipers. Mechanical updates for the S3 are rounded out with an updated electronic stability control system (ESC) and stiffer bearings in the suspension.
Other changes for the S3 are minimal, but you’ll notice them if you try. For starters, the S3 has LED daytime running lights that can be customized with four designs (via the infotainment screen). Another minor change: now the taillights will display a fresh pattern when locking and unlocking the car. It’ll be easier to spot the four new colors: Ascari Blue, District Green, Arkona White, and Progressive Red. Ambient lighting is standard, and LEDs have been added to the console and cupholders, with more lighting found in the fabric panels on the front doors.
Moving on to the A3, Audi adds new colors too, some of which will be shared with the S3, like Arkona White, District Green, and Progressive Red. There’s also an A3-specific Arrow Gray. Also like the S3, ambient lighting is standard. The base A3 Premium is now $39,495 (up $600 bucks), and the S3 starts at $49,995 ($1,500 more than last year).
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Chase is an automotive journalist with years of experience in the industry. He writes for outlets like Edmunds and AutoGuide, among many others. When not writing, Chase is in front of the camera over at The Overrun, his YouTube channel run alongside his friend and co-host Jobe Teehan. If he's not writing reviews of the latest in cars or producing industry coverage, Chase is at home in the driver's seat of his own (usually German) sports cars.
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