Audi S3 review: still good after 20 years?

By topgear, 06 January 2020

OVERVIEW - What is it?
It’s effectively the creator of a genre, one which has since been swamped by rivals. The very first Audi S3 arrived back in 1999 – yep, a time when the Millennium Bug was as big a talking point as Brexit is now. We miss that time.

Back then, the hot hatchback market was still crawling out of its late-Nineties doldrums, when, Peugeot aside, no one was really turning out classics, as skyrocketing insurance premiums killed the genre for its youthful target audience.

The S3 approached from a classier, more mature angle, then. Big spoilers were replaced with restrained styling and yobbish performance made way for the less crash-y world of all-wheel drive. Imola Yellow paint option aside, it was a wallflower after decades of ASBO hatches, and surely one to angle the genre at older, more affluent buyers.

In the years that have followed – the last decade in particular – the rivals have come thick and fast. Some from within the VW Group walls (the Golf R) and others from Audi’s arch rivals, most recently in the shape of the Mercedes-AMG A35 and the newly all-wheel-drive BMW M135i. All have circa 300bhp being pushed through a paddleshift gearbox to all four wheels. Like the S3’s recipe or not, everyone’s copying it.

Time to appraise the latest version of the car that started a whole movement, then. Power comes from a 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol turbo – as per the hot hatch norm – with a seven-speed automatic now your only option (earlier S3s of this shape had a six-speed manual, and it was a good ‘un). Peak outputs are 296bhp and 400Nm, up around a third on its 1999 ancestor.

That yields a 4.7sec 0-100kph time and 249kph top speed, while the boring numbers are quoted at 8.2 litres/100km and 185g/km on the more real world-representative WLTP cycle. Prices start at around £36,000 for the five-door Sportback – the proper hot hatch version – but you can also have a four-door saloon and a four-seat convertible should you wish. Anyone pining for the days when the Audi S4 wasn’t massive (or diesel) should probably get the saloon for nostalgia purposes.

Indeed, as Audi’s European S-badged range goes almost entirely diesel-only, here’s one of the last cars standing to use the traditional fuel of performance cars. One to savour perhaps, if the next-generation S3 is to follow a different path…

DRIVING - What is it like on the road?
While it presumably means ‘Sport’, there’s always a suspicion the S badge on Audis actually means ‘safe’. That’s certainly how it feels here: it’s a hot hatch that holds a certain decorum, one that’s not flamboyant in noise or balance, one which puts classiness at the very top of its to-do list.

The pervading feeling – compared to driving, say, a Honda Civic Type R – is akin to when you nip to a fancy cocktail bar rather than having a pint in your local. You’ll have a very pleasant time, but it might feel a bit inauthentic. And it’s not going to lead to quite as wild anecdotes.

That isn’t to say the S3 is untalented. Quite the opposite. It makes speed eerily effortless, as engine and gearbox work in perfect unison and the four-wheel drive system grips tenaciously. It’s a less boisterous Quattro set-up than you’ll find in the burlier RS3, and its sense of humour is buried very deeply. And requires loosened stability control and either damp ground or a fair lack of imagination to be freed.

But this is a golden age for hot hatches, and thus there’s plenty of room for the S3 to behave the way it does. Those seeking bigger thrills and more slapstick handling can find them – in a flipping Hyundai even, such is the rich form of this particular corner of the market.

The S3 invented a sub-genre and is arguably still bossing it, if the too-firm Mercedes-AMG A35 and slightly treacherous-feeling BMW M135i are anything to go by (its rear-drive USP is gone and we’re still not quite over it, if you can’t tell).

As ever, you can fiddle with the S3’s settings to your heart’s content to mould its character around yours. Beyond Comfort, Normal and Sport modes for the steering, engine response, suspension and exhaust noise, you can concoct your own arrangement under the Individual mode. Light steering, soft suspension and the snarliest engine is typically the way to go on a tough British back road.

ON THE INSIDE - Layout, finish and space
A window into the S3’s soul is how high the driver’s seat is mounted. Sure, it looks the part, all wing-backed and seemingly containing a thousand stitches. But it doesn’t hug you as tight as appearances suggest and – crucially – it simply won’t ratchet down anywhere near low enough for a supposed performance car. Hot hatches often suffer this issue to some degree, but just about every one launched in the last five years is better than this.

Otherwise, the interior is close to faultless. Even with this generation of S3 soon to retire, as evidenced by a screen that can’t be operated by touch and a key that needs turning in an actual ignition. How will the contactless kids cope?

Audi just knows how to make an interior look and feel good - where to put the lovely, plush materials and where to hide the more practical ones. As a car of an ever-so-slightly older generation, it also has a bank of buttons and knobs for stereo and air con controls as opposed to fiddly touchscreens. And while the Audi Virtual Cockpit sits behind the steering wheel, its priority is big, round dials rather than anything overly chintzy. If you’re connecting Waze from your phone via Apple CarPlay/Android Auto, you won’t get the famed large map display however.

OWNING - Running costs and reliability
As hot hatches go, this must be the easiest to live with of the lot. The ride is a bit firm in the sportier drive modes (but not as brutal as the RS3’s) but otherwise it makes very little fuss whatever the road, whatever the weather. It cruises quietly and its Quattro system isn’t foxed by tough conditions.

In fact, keener drivers will relish them for the opportunity they present in exploring the S3’s slightly more fun side. Rain to an S3 is like one drink too many to your sensible colleague at the Christmas party, as they unleash dance moves you never knew they had locked away.

When it comes to choosing your S3, then, it’ll all depend on your own preference. Hatchback, saloon and cabrio are all equally accomplished, but we’d argue the image of the latter is a bit… iffy. The five-door will be most practical but the four-door is undoubtedly coolest (even if we can’t fully pinpoint why).

Trim wise, the Black Edition costs an extra £600 and adds – shock – some black trim, different 18in alloys, privacy glass and a Bang & Olufsen stereo. Pretty good value, we’d say.

VERDICT
The original Audi S3 arrived right at the end of a decade when impending doom was seemingly on the horizon. This latest S3… well, we’ll not complete the comparison for all sorts of boring political impartiality reasons. But safe to say the car’s place in the world has stayed resolutely solid. It’s the hot hatch for those who want classiness rather than clownishness.

It’s a delightful object inside and out, it’s effortlessly quick, it should do relatively decent fuel economy without much thought… and yes, as you might predict, that all means it’s the teensiest bit boring, as well. As a car to set your alarm early for on a day off, it doesn’t really cut it. As a car to live with all year round, though, it’s pretty hard to fault.

Like drinking in a classy bar rather than a rowdy pub compared to other hot hatches. Make of that what you will

 

FOR AGAINST
Classy to look at, effortlessly quick, plush interior Fun isn't as abundant here as in some rivals
SCORE: 7/10

 

Audi S3