Storming Five-Cylinder RS Q3 races into showrooms

395bhp for performance SUV 0-62mph in 4.5 seconds

- James Batchelor

AUDI Sport has launched a new version of its baby performance crossover, the RS Q3. And since the German brand has added a more rakish Sportback body to the Q3 line-up, this will get an RS variant, too.

Audi Sport took the standard Q3 as a base, and the visual upgrades it applied are arguably at their most arresting at the front; a reshaped, aggressive bumper houses enlarged air vents either side of a new grille that’s not only more inset, but also features a gloss black finish and a honeycomb design. Also new is a bonnet vent that sits above the grille, in a nod to Audi Sport models of old.

Both front and rear wheelarches have been flared by 10mm to give a more squat stance, while at the rear there’s a new spoiler. For the first time on the RS Q3 there are two oval-shaped pipes – addressing criticism of the previous version’s single exhaust pipe design. These sit under a new bumper, and for a racier engine note, an optional sports exhaust system is available.