2022 Audi RS 3 Is Wicked Quick, But ...

There are so many ways this could have gone wrong. A compact sedan with a front-biased all-wheel-drive system, tires that are staggered the wrong way, and a turbocharged five-cylinder with more power than it knows what to do with. The 2022 Audi RS 3 is a total oddball, and yet somehow Audi managed to hammer this wacky formula into an imperfect but impressive little lunatic.

How new is the 2022 Audi RS 3?

This redesigned 2022 model is the third RS 3 Audi's made, but just the second to make its way to our shores. The car is now based on the Volkswagen group's modular MQB Evo platform, a quite literally evolved version of the chassis that underpinned the previous RS 3. It's the same body in white that underpins the Golf R, Audi A3 and a load of other compact cars from the VW Group. Because it's a small, fast Audi, the RS 3 features a front-biased all-wheel-drive system, but this generation of RS 3 now features a new torque-vectoring rear differential (in addition to a near-magic front diff) that can send as much as 50% of the engine's available torque to either of the rear wheels, the same unit employed at the back of the current Golf R.

A quick look at the bodywork reveals that, thankfully, Audi has done a lot to differentiate this car from the standard A3 and S3 on the outside. The previous RS 3 was so fly-under-the-radar that only the most hardcore Audi fans knew what they were looking at. This new car has some pretty obvious giveaways, the first of which is a gaping maw that's blacked-out no matter which exterior color you select. It helps feed air to an updated 2.5-liter five-cylinder turbocharged engine. It winds all the way to 7,000 rpm and makes 401 horsepower and 369 lb-ft of torque, 7 more ponies and 15 more lb-ft than the RS 3 that came before it.

Flanking that transversely mounted fiver are some extra-ordinarily flared front wheel arches. The extra width is there to house a wheel and tire combo that's 0.8 inch wider up front than they are out back and a front track that's 2.7 inches wider than it is at the rear. The arches also feature venting to let high-pressure air more easily escape from the wheelwells and reduce lift at the front axle, which lends more grip, but they have the side effect of giving the RS 3 a muscular, hunkered-down stance from the front. Out back the RS 3 looks significantly more tame, but it still gets the signature RS-style oval exhaust tips.

Five-cylinder fury, four-wheel finesse

But the RS 3 really is all about that engine. Now that the TT RS is on its deathbed, the RS 3 is the only place in the automotive world where you can still get five cylinders, and it's all the better for it. The pumped-up 2.0-liter four-cylinder in the CLA 45 AMG is just as effective, sure, but it features absolutely none of the character that defines the RS 3's motor. It snarls and rips and burbles in a way smaller engines almost never do, in part thanks to the optional RS exhaust fitted to our test car. But the five-cylinder's specialness goes beyond just auditory satisfaction.

From a dead stop, the RS 3 shot to 60 mph in just 3.9 seconds in Edmunds' testing. Should you find yourself with 93 octane in the tank, the RS 3 is quicker still, knocking 0.3 second off that time. We don't love that it needs the richest fuel to eke out those last three-tenths of a second, but power is still abundant on 91, and since 91 octane is far more common at California gas stations, that's what we stuck with for the majority of our testing. Out on the road, it didn't seem to matter what was in the tank. The RS 3 still pulls all the way to its 7,000 rpm redline, and the whipcrack shifts of the double-clutch automatic mean it's supremely easy to experience the engine's battle cry over and over again.

On any back road the RS 3 is fantastically fast, even when the conditions are tricky. During a quick blast up one of my favorite back roads, a freak middle-of-summer rainstorm took hold of Southern California. On the way up Angeles Crest Highway the roadways were nice and dry, but on the way down they glistened with freshly laid rain. This normally demands a far more judicious approach to driving, as heavy rains after long periods of hot, dry weather usually leave roads soaked in a mix of water, oil and other fluids that normally just bake their way into the asphalt.

For the first few miles it seemed like playing it cool and casually cruising down was the smarter move, but after a little while it became clear the RS 3 wasn't missing a beat. The summer-only Pirelli P Zero tires were hanging on just fine, and the little Audi really found its stride. It was obvious the RS 3's clever all-wheel-drive system was working overtime, and you could feel the little Audi shuffling power from front to back and side to side as you swing it through tight rights and long lefts. Grip, pace, power, it was all there, but something else was missing.

That little something extra ...

The most impressive, intoxicating sports cars manage to find a way to make the heart race and the palms sweat and the hands shake. Think Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing, Honda Civic Type R and BMW M2. It's not just because of raw pace, but in the way the car acknowledges your inputs as the driver and responds to them — good or bad, right or wrong. The problem isn't in what the RS 3 can do; it's that the car is numb in its delivery.

On the road, the RS 3 neither rewards nor punishes. Its clever AWD system simply sorts everything out and sends you on your way. Steering angle sensors, yaw angle sensors, speed sensors — they're all there and they do a darn good job of making you go like a bat out of hell, anywhere at any time. But outright pace is worth nothing unless you get paid to set lap times, and chances are you don't.

To make matters worse, the variable rate steering rack, which is far too light at low speed but firms up at high speed, is completely bereft of feedback. Audi has recently switched the steering in its super-hardcore RS 5 Competition from a variable rate rack to a fixed one, and we commend them for the change. Steering should be precise and its effort curve linear, the RS 3's is anything but. The rate of increase in effort isn't predictable, and it's difficult to know exactly how much steering effort each corner requires. The result is an unacceptable amount of guessing at the wheel and steering corrections midcorner.

Once you dial things back down, the RS 3 starts to make more sense. Stick it into Comfort mode and it becomes a surprisingly usable everyday companion. Its damping over rutted roads feels genuinely smart, like it knew the quality of the road ahead of you and prepared the car accordingly. Not once did we thump it over a pothole and cringe after the fact. It's also quiet, easy to park, and easy to load luggage into. It even features good head- and legroom in the back seats. It loses none of the A3's usability in that way, and that's a good thing.

In the end, the RS 3 is a bit of a head-scratcher. It will handle the weekly shop with ease, and it makes tearing up your favorite back road even easier. Objectively impressive with a wonderful engine, and if that's all you want out of your sport sedan, then the RS 3 is the one for you. But there's that last 5% or so, those few intangible qualities that separate the very good cars from all-time greats, that the RS 3 just doesn't have.

Edmunds says

We love the RS 3's engine, but the rest of the package just needs a little extra spice to make it truly special.