2025 Audi S3 First Drive: Much Better Than Before

• The Audi S3 is significantly refreshed for 2025.
• The new front fascia is the most obvious change.
• More power and better performance hardware result in meaningful improvements.

What's new with the S3 for 2025?

While the new Sonos audio system, redesigned front and rear bumpers and some new wheel options tick all the typical boxes, Audi's updates are much more than skin-deep. The turbocharged four-cylinder now produces 328 horsepower instead of 306 hp (torque remains the same at 295 lb-ft). Audi says a revised underhood design feeds air to the turbocharger for longer, leading to better throttle response at lower revs. 

There's increased negative camber on the front wheels, which results in stronger grip for the tires, and the seven-speed dual-clutch transmission has stronger clutch compression that brings quicker shifts and harder launches from a stop. But the big news is the addition of the rear differential from the top-dog RS 3 that can shuffle power across the axle and send up to 50% of the car's power to the outside rear wheel at a time. 

What's stayed the same

The S3 is a pleasant car to drive. It has a more composed ride than the less sporty A3 despite riding on larger 19-inch wheels. Adaptive dampers are an optional extra, but they help give the S3 greater separation between the standard and Dynamic drive modes. There's a stronger split personality between daily-driver comfort and genuine sport compact fun.

The S3 doesn't have the fanciest interior in its class — BMW and Mercedes both sell compacts with a bit more wow factor — but the quality of everything befits the S3's $49,995 starting price. I don't love the strange new gear shifter that looks like a domino, but I am glad Audi kept the S3's physical climate controls and left the excellent sport bucket seats untouched. Plus, the Sonos audio system has replaced the previous Bang & Olufsen setup without a perceptible loss in fidelity. 

What a difference a diff makes

The S3's front end has more grip than before thanks to that extra negative camber, and Audi's progressive steering — which I could not stand before — has been so thoroughly retuned I could barely tell it was still there. The steering follows your inputs without you needing to make small midcorner corrections. Too bad the steering is still largely bereft of feedback.

Put the S3 in its new Dynamic Plus drive mode and this car really shines. The Dynamic Plus setting sends more power to the rear axle, backs off the stability control and allows for more slip at the back. It's so good that you'd be forgiven for thinking this was a rear-biased all-wheel-drive system, and certainly not something that drives like other recent Audi sport sedans. The S3 enters corners decisively, and you can effectively steer with the throttle and let the rear differential sort out where to send power, giving you better grip and poise through each corner.

What the S3 always should have been

An overreliance on tech systems — be it stability control, differential programming, steer-by-wire or whatever else — more often than not dilutes the driving experience and takes away control and feedback from you, the driver. But in the S3, the opposite is true. Here, the new technologies and hardware actively work with you. Think of them as having a hand on your shoulder as opposed to a hand on the steering wheel.

This is how small, sporty compacts should feel. Silly and jovial when you want them to be, composed daily companions when you don't. It took Audi a while to get a feel for this kind of fun, but I'm glad the refreshed S3 is an honest-to-goodness upgrade to a classic formula.