2025 Audi S3 revealed

The extraordinary Audi RS3 that was available in Canada for a short time. When the latest version was announced my euphoria was quickly replaced with sadness at the news the next-gen RS3 would not be imported to the Great White North.
That feeling of melancholy was set aside back in December 2023 when Audi invited a small group to Salalah, Oman to drive heavily camouflaged prototypes of the upcoming S3 sedan. As part of the mid-cycle improvements to the sporty compact, engineers set about closing the gap between the S3 (seen as the penultimate performance model), and the all-out screamer RS3.
Despite seat time in the new car, an ironclad embargo on reporting about driving impressions, plus a lack of any details about the powertrain or mechanical revisions, there was not much to report at that time. In truth, the event was staged mostly to allow a flock of engineers, who rode shotgun with us, to pick out brains for feedback on the vehicle.
However, a deeper dive (drive?) was arranged recently in Munich featuring production models, devoid of camo paint schemes and interior masks covering the dashboard.
Visually the S3 screams performance with an aggressive new front layout centred around a wider single frame grille, larger front air intakes and new theatrical LED front headlights with a choice of 4 different light signatures. At the rear, a new split diffuser frames a quartet of large exhaust tailpipes.
Cabin enhancements include a new smaller finger sized transmission shifter, sporty flat bottomed steering wheel and S-model specific stitched seats. New standard equipment includes the Audi Virtual Cockpit that provides a customizable instrument cluster behind the steering wheel and the almost essential Audi phone box with its wireless charging function.
Leafing through the list of mechanical revisions, the engineering payload in the S3 update is significant. I’ll save you the pain of engineer speak and home in on the bits that matter to most.
The 2.0L turbocharged engine gets a significant power boost. Assuming my metric to imperial conversion stands up to scrutiny, it now yields 328HP (+22) and 310 lb-ft of torque (+15). The uptick drops the 0-100 km/h sprint time by 0.1 seconds to around 4.75 secs.
The steering components have been recalibrated and stiffened and a new Dynamic Plus setting for the Audi Drive Select system has been included.
The most significant upgrade to the S3 is the adoption of the Audi Sport Differential on the rear axle.
With the legendary Quattro all-wheel-drive system, power flows between front and rear axles at ratios limited by the Drive Select mode chosen. The Sport Differential allows varying amounts of power to be sent to either rear wheel, based on need. In the automatic or either of the dynamic settings, 100% of the engine torque can be sent to one of the rear wheels, usually the outside rear wheel. The theory being that the resulting force muscles that corner of the vehicle. Well folks, the science stands up to scrutiny.
The last thing any auto writer wants to do is bend a car. Even worse than that is damaging a prototype model. These cars are usually almost always hand build and cost eye-watering amounts to produce. Ask anyone who writes about cars, and they’ll have a story about someone they heard of that scuttled a million dollar car. With that in mind, on our original drive in Salalah, I was doing my best to avoid running afoul of the many speed cameras lining the roads through the Omani countryside or gaining notoriety by being the latest idiot to scuttle a prototype model.
Either devoid of these concerns or having supreme confidence in the safety systems onboard the S3, the engineer riding along with me, started becoming agitated with my conservative approach to piloting around the Sultan’s highways. On one particular section of mountain switchbacks his exasperation escaped, and he blurted, “More gas!”. In an effort to showcase the cars improvements I needed to accelerate, mostly into corners. The sport differential burst into action and as if on rails the S3 sucked into corners, there was even a trace of oversteer to flick out the rear end of the car. It was glorious and ultimately if anything did happen, I was always going to blame the salaryman onboard.
The second experience in the new S3 was perhaps a more sedate affair, yet navigating the small villages and towns around the Munich airport demonstrated the incredible upgrades brought to the premium compact sports sedan. It was heartwarming to see that none of the performance thrills evident in the prototype examples had been lost in the path to production model. Accelerating while sweeping through highway ramps or from a stop sign on a 90 degree turn will illustrate the amazing effects of the Sport Differential.
The 2025 Audi S3 is an enjoyable sports sedan and represents remarkable value considering how much performance has been added to the package with this update.