Audi’s Golf R-baiting sedan and hatch make a welcome return to the 2025 line-up. More power, torque and equipment mean more money and, we hope, more fun.
2025 Audi S3
With the current unavailability of the barking mad five-cylinder RS3 – Audi’s website says production is exhausted – there’s just one choice for performance-minded Audi A3 fans, at least until Q4. It’s the 2025 Audi S3, and it has been a stalwart in Audi’s Australian range for a long time, offering a bit of fun in Audi’s sober-suited small hatch and sedan line-up.
For 2025, Audi has delivered an upgrade along with the A3 facelift. That means the S3 now has the Golf R’s updated engine, an upgraded rear differential from the RS3, more equipment, and reasonably hefty price rises in line with the A3 35 TFSI pair.
Audi hasn’t been shy with the A3 price hikes, but as a percentage, they’re smaller in the S3, even if the dollar value is several thousand. Also up is specification, with the company adding nappa leather with diamond stitching to the sports seats, black microfibre inlays, and a wacky new feature in the headlights.
The matrix LED headlights have selectable DRL signatures, which is not something I have ever considered necessary, but the kind of personalisation option the proliferation of LEDs has added to the automotive mix. RS3 fans will remember that when you unlock that car, the LEDs in the edges of the headlights spell out R-S-3.
S3s are equipped with 19-inch alloys, adaptive suspension, red brake calipers, progressive-ratio steering, matte aluminium-look mirror caps, S logos throughout the interior, keyless entry and start, leather on the door armrests, colour ambient lighting, and a 15-speaker Sonos 3D sound system.
On top of all that is the tried-and-tested 12.3-inch digital instrument display Audi calls Virtual Cockpit, a 10.25-inch media screen featuring satellite navigation, Apple CarPlay, Android Auto and DAB+ digital radio, tri-zone climate control, wireless phone charging and a tyre repair kit.
The safety package includes six airbags, forward AEB with intersection assist, adaptive cruise with stop-go, lane-keep assist, lane-centring assist, blind-spot monitoring, reverse cross-traffic alert, front and rear parking sensors, reversing camera and automated parking. At over 70 grand, a car missing rear AEB is borderline unacceptable for the money, if not for the improved chances of not hitting someone or something.
The S3 Sportback starts at $78,800 (up $3400, the smallest A3 price rise) and the Sedan $81,800, an increase of $4427. Unlike the A3 35 TFSI, you don’t have to pay extra for metallic paint.
To these prices you can add the Launch Pack with different 19-inch alloys, carbon interior inlays, black exhaust outlets, exterior black pack, S logo puddle lights and privacy glass, all for $1450.
For $3300 you can have exterior mirrors that fold, dim and heat, a driver’s seat with a memory, head-up display and a panoramic sunroof. To my mind only one of these things is particularly useful (the HUD) and that is sadly not available as a separate option, unlike the sunroof ($2000), the Sportback’s powered tailgate ($850) and roof rails ($710 for aluminium, $545 in black).
There is one ‘normal’ paint option, Ascari Blue, which is $900 or you can go bonkers and dive into the catalogue for paint that will sting you upwards of seven grand, peaking at $11,400 for Dayton Grey matte which, admittedly, looks pretty good.
Another high-price option is the $9900 Akrapovic titanium exhaust that sheds 6.5kg from the S3’s kerb weight. So that’s about $15 per gram if you’re counting, but similar to the expensive colours looking good, it sounds great.
The styling changes are fairly minor, with an aluminium accented front grille, slightly ‘old man’ standard wheels and minor changes to things like bumpers and lights. The sedan is still very elegant and a bit of a sleeper, while the hatch also remains quite restrained. A few will complain the S3 looks too much like the A3 35 with a black pack, but I’m not entirely sold that buyers really care that much. Internet commenters yes, buyers, not so much.
Fresh from being slung under the bonnet of the recently refreshed Golf R, the 2.0-litre turbo now has 17 more kilowatts at 245kW and 20 more Newton-metres at 420Nm. It’s a tenth of a second quicker to 100km/h, claimed at 4.7 seconds, which is not messing about.
In addition to the updated engine, the Golf R and RS3’s torque-vectoring rear diff is standard. With updated software in the Dynamic Plus drive mode, Audi says the S3 has a tendency to oversteer (translation: it’ll do skids).
The seven-speed dual-clutch is the only available transmission, although it differs from the A3’s with a wet clutch arrangement. As you might expect, it sends power out through all four wheels.
That new rear diff seems to take a huge bite out of the cargo space, reducing the sedan’s and hatchback’s boot to 325 litres. The sedan takes the biggest hit, although I wonder if that figure was a typo in the documentation supplied to media.
Further changes include some detailed tweaks in the suspension, mainly dialling in more negative camber on the front wheels and 15mm lower ride height. Stiffer wishbone bearings add a bit more bite too.
The 4mm increase in brake caliper thickness is said to improve thermal efficiency by 30 per cent. Add to that two-piston calipers and things should be a bit ‘stoppier’ for more of the time.
The engine management has also had some attention. As you work your way up to Dynamic Plus (the sportiest drive mode and, I’ll wager, an RS button without the name), the idle speed increases in steps. The idea here is to reduce turbo lag by having a bit more push through the turbo from standstill.
Maximum torque arrives at 2100rpm, so the closer you get to that figure before even setting off, the more likely you are to hit the one-tenth quicker sprint to 100km/h. Audi calls this a preloaded turbo. Incidentally, maximum turbo pressure remains at 1.8bar.
| Key details | 2025 Audi S3 |
| Engine | 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo |
| Power | 245kW @ 5600–6500rpm |
| Torque | 420Nm @ 2100–5500rpm |
| Drive type | All-wheel drive |
| Transmission | 7-speed twin-clutch |
| Length | Sedan 4506mm Sportsback 4354mm |
| Width | Sedan 1984mm Sportsback 1984mm |
| Height | Sedan 1408mm Sportsback 1431mm |
| Wheelbase | 2631mm |
The S3’s quattro set-up is not a Haldex so the keyboard warriors can calm down. At the rear is a torque-vectoring diff featuring a clutch pack that can direct the torque up to 100 per cent either side, with the rear’s portion maxing out at half of the available engine torque. It still won’t pretend to be rear-wheel drive, but that diff should result in a more lively chassis.
So, lots of little changes, many of them inherited from the RS3, which is excellent in this latest generation.
The launch drive was, relatively speaking, fairly short. The first part was a good test of its ‘everydayness’. Heading out through Cairns’s deeply irritating traffic light grid, the S3 rode impeccably. Despite its dropped ride height, it still felt compliant and easygoing on the way out of town. Joining the bafflingly busy motorway out of town was very straightforward. It rode really nicely, but you know there’s a fair bit of rubber underneath you, and I imagine the stiffer bits and bobs in the suspension probably transmit a little more than the previous car.
It’s not intrusive, though, and the stereo is more than up to the challenge.
The second part of the drive was hilarious. This road’s tight, bumpy tarmac instantly proved the S3’s tweaks have massively improved things. I will admit it has been a while since I’ve driven one, but this feels so much more interesting to drive. Previous S3s I’ve driven have felt more like quick cars rather than sports hatches or wagons – especially when compared both to the RS3 and some of its VW Group siblings – which was fine and there’s obviously a place for that (over a third of A3 models sold are S3s).
The last example I drove was a third-generation machine and it was very understeery, with a torque-vectoring front diff and an open rear diff. It was fun but, as I say, more of a fast hatch than anything else. The fourth-gen was an improvement, but still a bit on the soft side.
Well. Things have changed. The front end is now much more positive, and that means if you like a bit of fun, you are going to enjoy this car more than the old one. It turns in much more crisply, with the rear diff helping both on entry and exit to quell the push.
The old car would power understeer if you got on the throttle too early, whereas this one is much keener on staying on your chosen line. That extra three-quarters of a degree of camber is probably just what it needed, it would seem.
Those new, bigger brakes are also very powerful, holding on during a very brisk uphill run on this delightful road. A few wayward utes got in our way, so having those brakes in excellent working order was certainly very useful.
Lateral grip was also very impressive, the S3 barely rolling during cornering but remaining utterly composed. I began to think that this would be a much handier car on the track than the previous one; something that some owners are interested in doing.
Steering is very Audi, with the variable rack weighting up appropriately but not with too much feel. Having said that, you do get more from the road surface than previous cars, and I’d suggest that has a lot to do with the geometry changes.
The new S3 is a cracker of a car and proof that trickle-down economics does work in the automotive industry, even though it doesn’t tend to work anywhere else. And the trickle-down idea is kind of shot to pieces when the price keeps going up. But, the new rear diff allied with the other RS3-inspired changes make it a properly sporting sedan or hatch.
Yes, it’s expensive. Yes, it doesn’t shout about itself. But the world can do with sleepers this good.
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