The 2026 Audi RS3 is a unicorn. Or, perhaps, the more apt appellation is a dinosaur. It has an odd-duck, 2.5-liter five-cylinder engine that defies convention, sharing a cylinder count with Audi’s legendary fives from the 1970s-80s, which saw the quattro all-wheel drive name come to dominate the World Rally circuit.
Then again, who cares? Does any modern buyer understand this storied history? Why does the Volkswagen Group allow Audi to soldier on making this engine? After all, VW makes powerful four-cylinders. And potent V-6s, too. FYI, the A3 and S3 versions of this same sedan get Audi’s venerable 2.0-liter TFSI, with the latter producing a pretty strong 328 horses.
- Base Trim Engine
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2.5L I5 ICE
- Base Trim Transmission
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7-speed DSG auto-shift manual
- Base Trim Drivetrain
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All-Wheel Drive
- Base Trim Horsepower
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394 HP @5600 RPM
- Base Trim Torque
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369 lb.-ft. @ 2250 RPM
- Make
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Audi
- Model
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RS3
- Segment
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Compact SUV
And that question (the why), is pretty important right now. Neither Audi nor the overall Volkswagen Group are going gangbusters, and the fact that Audi is marching into 2026 with this 394-horsepower beast that’ll run you $66,100 is pretty much a miracle. Also, a godsend. The RS3 is a thrilling car. Here, I’ll enumerate precisely how. And why all the love in the world may not matter.
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Why This Is An “Approachable” Exotic
$66k isn’t affordable. Let’s not pretend it is. But for an exotic car that seats four and is roomy enough for chores like commuting or carting little kids, it’s kinda cheap. Just consider that nothing else gets an engine remotely in this configuration, with a guttural aural signature that’s, relatively speaking, sort of like a Subaru boxer engine (but a lot more muscular), and kinda like the flat-six, 3.6-liter engine in a 911.
The Subaru WRX tS is far cheaper by comparison, and definitely loads of fun. But it can’t touch this Audi’s 3.2-second 0-60 mile-per-hour performance—and the Subaru’s ride isn’t remotely this refined. Nor is the cabin as slick. Hey, it’s 20 grand cheaper! As for the 911, good luck cramming your day-to-day cargo into one. Also, you can have two RS3s for the base price of a 911.
The Exotic Argument
Partly, just the bragging rights of owning a car with an odd cylinder count feel kinda special. That’s audibly reinforced thanks to a unique cylinder firing order of 1-2-4-5-3, giving this Audi its signature song. Audi also gifts the RS3 with an exhaust flap system that opens sooner in more aggressive, RS Performance, and RS Torque Rear modes (more on what these modes do, below). This leads to better breathing and an engine that’s sportier, even at idle. At full grunt, the growl switches to a baritone-like bellow. The RS3’s back-beat is, if not exotic, menacing. Ripping through the seven-speed dual-clutch automatic heading north of 100 miles per hour (no, of course I didn’t do that!), with Quattro all-wheel drive biting for all it’s worth, is hilariously entertaining.
Lasering Apexes
A lot of cars these days use ABS or throttle to reduce understeer. Audi uses both. The RS3 overdrives the outside rear wheel during cornering, while braking the inside rear wheel. Sensors track turn-in to mete out the correct level of assistance. The feedback you feel at the wheel is a bit of a party trick; you “sense” steering response precision, even if actual feel in the RS3 isn’t quite as telepathic as in some, oh, quarter-million-dollar cars I’ve tested. That’s better than fine. You’ve still got a ton of precision, especially in more aggressive RS settings that tighten the suspension, just not so much acuity that the RS3 becomes Dobermann nervous.
The Right Modes
There are a few modes unique to the RS. One mostly disables the stability control, to allow blurring through corners and churning tires on exit. This is plenty of fun, and enables a just-right combination of control and slip, where you can push the car’s limits, but still have assistance like ABS braking.
Taking It to Eleven With RS Torque Rear Mode
A rear-wheel drive Audi? Why, yes. Tap the big RS button on the steering wheel, abide the lawyer-ly warning that you can only engage this setting on a closed course (“Yessir, Yer-honor!”), and now all power is sent to the rear axle. Also, forget any aid; this is all on you as the dash lights up like Christmas Day for hooners. Rotate the squoval steering wheel just a few degrees off-center, mash the gas, and you’re rotating like Ken Block (R.I.P.).
My tester was shod with snows, which bite a little harder than stock performance shoes, but still, it was stupid-simple to whip around the rear end of the RS3. Instead of studying the landscape for apexes, I started eying vacant parking lots with lust.
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Proper Suspension, Proper Gearbox
Audi’s Drive Select system allows customizing suspension damping, and this is what makes for a livable exotic. In Efficiency, Comfort and Auto settings, the dampers remain active, allowing enough chassis motion to butter across potholes and pavement fissures. Dynamic and RS Performance anchor the chassis while also quickening throttle response, and RS Mode tightens steering feel and mutes stability-control for optimal rotation through corners without the micro-limits of wheel slip that would dampen quick cornering.
Seven Glorious Gears
Sure, you might hunger for a manual. But having seven shiftable gears via paddles, and a fully manual mode complete with gear holding at redline makes for a pretty perfect sports car. Especially because you can toggle to D and cruise comfortably, then rapidly revert to manually shifting when the terrain ahead twizzles into kinks.
TopSpeed’s Take
I once had the pleasure of test-driving the BMW E60 M5, powered by a mighty V-10. Like with this Audi, you knew BMW wouldn’t make that engine forever. In the long run, I doubt Audi will keep this up, since brands are constantly shaving costs, which is why manual gearboxes are also evaporating from options lists. I would add that this isn’t the most pragmatic car at this cost rung. You can find crossovers that match or beat the Audi’s power output, save that they’d struggle to keep up with the RS3 around corners. Weight and height still resist being tamed by even the best German engineering.
As for alternatives, BMW’s M3 and Cadillac’s CT4 Blackwing argue against defaulting to the RS3. Yet the Cadillac’s discontinuation after 2026 sadly foreshadows the Audi’s eventual demise, too. Sedans, in general, don’t sell briskly these days. They’ll survive, but fitting them with exotic engines feels like an increasingly challenging proposition in the face of rising pressures to streamline all forms of propulsion. The window is closing; buy an RS3 while you still can!
