AUDI HAS STARTED taking orders for the new RS3 ahead of customer deliveries beginning in November.
The hatchback and saloon are now available from £50,900 and £51,900 respectively. Each offers 395bhp from a 2.5-litre turbocharged five-cylinder engine, while enhanced dynamics come courtesy of a new torque splitter system, which can be configured in a dedicated Drift mode.
Four specifications are available. Above the entrylevel standard spec sits Carbon Black, which features black and carbonfibrefinished trim elements and is priced from £55,550. The limited-run Launch Edition (of which only 96 examples are UK-bound) is priced from £56,900 to accountfor its extra equipment and derestricted 174mph top speed, and the range-topping Vorsprung ticks nearly all the option boxes for £58,650.
Customers can also specify the RS Dynamic pack from £5000, which brings adaptive suspension, ceramic brakes with gloss grey calipers, a sports exhaust and a top speed of 180mph.