Audi RS3 2020 vs 2017 - DRAG RACE & DYNO TEST... have the new emissions regs ruined performance cars

The thrill of drag racing! A test of speed and power that pushes cars to their limits. In this article, we'll delve into the world of RS3s, two variants of the Audi Quattro S3, and compare their performance on the track.

**A Tale of Two Cars**

Two RS3s, a 2017 pre-WLTP model and a 2019 post-WLTP model, were put to the test in a series of drag racing events. The objective was to see if there was a difference between the two cars. Jonnie, one of the drivers, took part in both races. "I don't wanna pay attention," he joked, as he focused on the track ahead.

The first race saw Jonnie behind his teammate, Yanni, who was driving the older 2017 car. However, Yanni's lead soon disappeared, and they crossed the finish line together, both taking 12.5 seconds to complete the quarter-mile dash. "That's my train to gear," Jonnie quipped, referring to a previous racing experience with a McLaren.

The second race saw Yanni take the lead, but only by a nose. The old 2017 car still held its advantage, crossing the finish line first. However, when Jonnie took the wheel of the newer 2019 model, he managed to close the gap and both cars finished together again.

**A Study in Speed**

Bert, another driver, also put his 2017 car through its paces against Yanni's 2019 model. The older car still held its edge, winning by a clear margin. However, when Jonnie took the wheel of the newer 2019 model, it seemed to launch a little better and gained some ground.

The real test came in an in-gear acceleration test, where both cars were locked into third gear. "Riding at 50 miles an hour," Jonnie said, as he pulled away from Yanni's car. However, despite being ahead, Yanni managed to catch up and overtake Jonnie at one point.

**The Dyno: A Scientific Look**

To get a more accurate picture of the cars' performance, Paul Killingsworth, owner of PK Automotive in Lincoln, took both cars onto his high-tech dyno. The results were surprising: both cars produced the same peak horsepower of 355 horsepower at the wheels, translating to 409 horsepower at the flywheel.

However, how they delivered their power was slightly different. Early in the rev range, the 2017 car was producing more torque than the 2019 model, giving it an initial advantage. However, as the engine reached around 3500 rpm, the 2017 car hit a flat spot, whereas the 2019 car continued to produce more torque and reached its peak at 4000 rpm - 500 rpm earlier in the rev range.

**The Power Curve**

This difference in power delivery had a significant impact on the cars' performance. In the rolling race at 50 miles an hour in third gear, the 2017 car held its lead due to its smooth power curve to its redline. However, when Jonnie took the wheel of the newer 2019 model, it revved out smoothly and gained some ground.

The post-WLTP 2019 car's power curve, however, dropped off a bit quicker after its peak torque was reached. This was attributed to the addition of a particulate filter to the engine, which affected its ability to breathe at higher revs. At high speeds with increased wind resistance, this had a noticeable impact.

**The Verdict**

In conclusion, both RS3 models have their strengths and weaknesses. While the older 2017 car still holds an advantage in drag racing due to its initial torque advantage, the newer 2019 model gains ground once it reaches its peak torque. The in-gear acceleration test showed that they were closely matched in mid-range, but the 2019 car excelled at top-end speeds.

The dyno results highlighted the importance of power delivery and how it affects a car's performance. While both cars produce similar horsepower numbers, their power curves are slightly different, making them more suited to different racing scenarios.

So, which RS3 is the best? Well, that depends on what you're looking for in a car. If you want raw power off the line, the older 2017 model might be the better choice. However, if you prioritize speed and agility at higher revs, the newer 2019 model could be the way to go.

**The Future of Performance**

As Yanni quipped, "You're sat in with four seats and four wheels, that's called a car." The world of performance cars is constantly evolving, with new technologies and innovations emerging all the time. As we look to the future, it will be exciting to see how these RS3 models continue to evolve and improve.

For now, though, we have two exceptional cars that push the boundaries of speed and power. Whether you're a seasoned racing enthusiast or just looking for a thrilling drive, both the 2017 and 2019 RS3 models are sure to deliver an unforgettable experience on the track.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enhi everyone Matt here from Carlisle so I'm setting the current LD rs3 next to me is the 2017 LD rs3 now that car is pre w LT P changes this one is after it so this one is fitted with a particulate filter to reduce the amount of nasty emissions entering the atmosphere I want to see if that affects performance because I've been doing some drag races with this current car and the current TT RS and the numbers haven't been as good as when I drag race the previous generation cars so I want to see if there really is a difference between them we're going to a drag race see what happens now to help me with that I have Yanni from Janna Mize but I don't want to bore in with the details I'm gonna trick him a little bit have a bit of a joke with him you notice we're sitting in the same car Oh DRS three yeah finally something fair you're not gonna cheat all they're yours does have slightly nicer wheels come on make a bit quicker I am the car guy so obviously I would have the gloss black wheels I've got in there under the premise that we've got the same car he doesn't know they're different really so I'm gonna tell him that he's just here to see who's got the fastest reaction at launching who has the quickest reactions when the stars start now you always think it's you but I reckon even though I'm slightly older and that does affect a reaction times I reckon I can beat you you look for it I'm ready for you finally finally it's gonna be fair he should win this first race if my prediction about these cars is correct let's get on with it now before we do please make sure you subscribe to this channel hit the bell icon to turn your notifications on then you will be alerted when we make a new upload also if you want to follow Yanni on his channel click up there it's pop-out banner you can go check out his stuff somehow or another he's gonna find a way to cheat at least though win fair and square the both cars they have a 2.5 litre five-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine with 400 horsepower and 480 Newton meters of torque 7-speed dual clutch automatic gearbox with launch control and of course all-wheel drive let's get on with it let's do the science come on reaction time don't fail me now oh come on I think our reactions are the same oh my god it's so close we have the same card to be fair and the car is racing the same oh my goodness in front of me ah that's so close it's beat me I had in one reaction you're from when he lost traction I saw myself pull away in front of you and then you caught me up straight away and then you started to pull away and I've lost some weight so I'm gonna hear about this weight issue now don't fat shame me okay stop it you guys seventeen and a half stone so then all those in kilos heavy and I am six foot two and and Matt's like five foot four to be fair Big bollocks as well yeah I guess yeah so sometimes when you doing signs it doesn't always work out the way you think it will so you repeat your experiment which is what with in denying I'm just gonna give you a second chance at it second chance he got bare there killed him No murdered him he's a little bit quicker there's not much in it by Matthew and that was basically the reaction his Cod definitely feels quicker though or seems quicker reaction time is so on point Wow I want to be like arrogant or anything but you guys saw that out home didn't you yeah you were definitely Barrett timing it than me there's a slight delay isn't then I think you just de count for it better than me so not only you react quicker you're smarter too yeah yeah I'm already crazy oh no I won didn't I so I'm gracious in winning so Yanni you won that you got the line quicker and you won the race you did a good job or just try different cars see the cars got anything to do with it maybe can we swap cars yeah because I actually think your cars quicker than mine right come on in it's such a get online I just want to beat him my god how close you got member I can lose weight when I say if I can get ya knee back for punking me and making me look like a fool on my own channel in all seriousness it seems that this car was a bit quicker but Yanni had a faster reaction if he beats me in that car now I would say my theory about w LTP affecting the car's performance is pretty unfounded so let's do the race see if there is a difference ah I don't wanna pay attention where do you go - you just instagramming I was looking behind me I wasn't paying any attention whatsoever beam off the line yeah one-handed it's called quick alert it's quick up you know what he is going in the back a little bit it's quicker look come on come on it's quick quick come on close so then what exactly happened well both cause did the standing quarter mark in twelve point five seconds but much my surprise the new post W LTP 2019 rs3 actually won by a nose in the second race the old 2017 pre w LT p rs3 won by a clear margin during the standing quarter mile in 12 point four seconds whereas the new 2019 hos WL TP rs3 took twelve point five seconds in the final race Jonnie did manage to close the gap and both cars crossed the line in twelve point five seconds Bert's yet again the old 2017 3wl TP rs3 still won by a nose same turns of drag racing the older car just seems to launch a little bit better and this just gives it the edge however the newer car actually seems a bit stronger once it's going but is this the case time for an in gear acceleration test locked in third gear to remove the uncertainty of launching okay riding race 50 miles an hour let's see what happens yeah much quicker than you oh yeah that's my train to gear remember when I did that in the McLaren and you took the piss out of me mercilessly right let's do this again but can you change gear this time please no problem I'll definitely beat you this costs so much quick honestly one second gear kicks in third gear fourth gear you're pulling away if I can get I get level oh yeah there's not much in it well I'm ahead but you seem to be catching on one point in you coming past me what's going on 150 you leaving me this car was pulling away from that one wasn't it mid-range obviously I've got you hop in you've got me so it looks like lower down your quicker mid-range I'm quicker top-end you're much quicker okay so it's not quite as clear cut as I thought I thought they were identical but they're not this I think really the only way to suss this out is probably to get them on the dyno so he took the cars to pk automotive in Lincoln where owner Paul Killingsworth put both cars onto his high-tech dyno interestingly they both produce the same peak horsepower of 355 horsepower at the wheels which translates to 409 at the flywheel however how they deliver their power is slightly different early in the rev range the 2017 car is producing more torque than the 2019 model so under launch when the clutch engages it's able to jump off the line a bit more ferociously and that's why it gets an initial advantage however at about 3500 rpm the 2017 car then hits a little flat spot whereas the 2019 one doesn't and in fact starts to produce more torque and with a higher and slightly earlier peak at 4000 rpm which is 500 rpm earlier in the rev range than the peak torque in the 2017 Prix w LTV car this is why the newer model appears to regain a little lost ground in the drag race it's also why it gets off quicker in the rolling race you see at 50 mile an hour in third gear the 2019 car is right at its peak torque and so initially Paul's ahead despite he Annie's extra bulk however if you look at the graph of the older 2017 rs3 after it's reached peak torque it holds on to its talk quite well which means it has a smooth power curve to its redline and so revs out smoothly now look at the post w LTP rs3 and its talk drops off a bit quicker after its Pete also there are two noticeable flat spots in its power curve which means it doesn't rev out quite so smoothly at the top end expert car to Nepal reckons this because the addition of the particulate filter to the new RS through his exhaust system affects the engines ability to breathe at higher revs and so in the rolling race at really high speeds with the increased wind resistance the effect of these flat spots are magnified which is when the pre W LTP 2017 rs3 which doesn't have a particulate filter really pulls ahead or as Yanni's bottom Dino has already revealed mid-range on quicker top-end you're much quicker well done Yanni you're the best thank you the thing that you're sat in with four seats and four wheels that's called a car and use the rarity in front of you to make it change directions right add one job rewind selector come againhi everyone Matt here from Carlisle so I'm setting the current LD rs3 next to me is the 2017 LD rs3 now that car is pre w LT P changes this one is after it so this one is fitted with a particulate filter to reduce the amount of nasty emissions entering the atmosphere I want to see if that affects performance because I've been doing some drag races with this current car and the current TT RS and the numbers haven't been as good as when I drag race the previous generation cars so I want to see if there really is a difference between them we're going to a drag race see what happens now to help me with that I have Yanni from Janna Mize but I don't want to bore in with the details I'm gonna trick him a little bit have a bit of a joke with him you notice we're sitting in the same car Oh DRS three yeah finally something fair you're not gonna cheat all they're yours does have slightly nicer wheels come on make a bit quicker I am the car guy so obviously I would have the gloss black wheels I've got in there under the premise that we've got the same car he doesn't know they're different really so I'm gonna tell him that he's just here to see who's got the fastest reaction at launching who has the quickest reactions when the stars start now you always think it's you but I reckon even though I'm slightly older and that does affect a reaction times I reckon I can beat you you look for it I'm ready for you finally finally it's gonna be fair he should win this first race if my prediction about these cars is correct let's get on with it now before we do please make sure you subscribe to this channel hit the bell icon to turn your notifications on then you will be alerted when we make a new upload also if you want to follow Yanni on his channel click up there it's pop-out banner you can go check out his stuff somehow or another he's gonna find a way to cheat at least though win fair and square the both cars they have a 2.5 litre five-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine with 400 horsepower and 480 Newton meters of torque 7-speed dual clutch automatic gearbox with launch control and of course all-wheel drive let's get on with it let's do the science come on reaction time don't fail me now oh come on I think our reactions are the same oh my god it's so close we have the same card to be fair and the car is racing the same oh my goodness in front of me ah that's so close it's beat me I had in one reaction you're from when he lost traction I saw myself pull away in front of you and then you caught me up straight away and then you started to pull away and I've lost some weight so I'm gonna hear about this weight issue now don't fat shame me okay stop it you guys seventeen and a half stone so then all those in kilos heavy and I am six foot two and and Matt's like five foot four to be fair Big bollocks as well yeah I guess yeah so sometimes when you doing signs it doesn't always work out the way you think it will so you repeat your experiment which is what with in denying I'm just gonna give you a second chance at it second chance he got bare there killed him No murdered him he's a little bit quicker there's not much in it by Matthew and that was basically the reaction his Cod definitely feels quicker though or seems quicker reaction time is so on point Wow I want to be like arrogant or anything but you guys saw that out home didn't you yeah you were definitely Barrett timing it than me there's a slight delay isn't then I think you just de count for it better than me so not only you react quicker you're smarter too yeah yeah I'm already crazy oh no I won didn't I so I'm gracious in winning so Yanni you won that you got the line quicker and you won the race you did a good job or just try different cars see the cars got anything to do with it maybe can we swap cars yeah because I actually think your cars quicker than mine right come on in it's such a get online I just want to beat him my god how close you got member I can lose weight when I say if I can get ya knee back for punking me and making me look like a fool on my own channel in all seriousness it seems that this car was a bit quicker but Yanni had a faster reaction if he beats me in that car now I would say my theory about w LTP affecting the car's performance is pretty unfounded so let's do the race see if there is a difference ah I don't wanna pay attention where do you go - you just instagramming I was looking behind me I wasn't paying any attention whatsoever beam off the line yeah one-handed it's called quick alert it's quick up you know what he is going in the back a little bit it's quicker look come on come on it's quick quick come on close so then what exactly happened well both cause did the standing quarter mark in twelve point five seconds but much my surprise the new post W LTP 2019 rs3 actually won by a nose in the second race the old 2017 pre w LT p rs3 won by a clear margin during the standing quarter mile in 12 point four seconds whereas the new 2019 hos WL TP rs3 took twelve point five seconds in the final race Jonnie did manage to close the gap and both cars crossed the line in twelve point five seconds Bert's yet again the old 2017 3wl TP rs3 still won by a nose same turns of drag racing the older car just seems to launch a little bit better and this just gives it the edge however the newer car actually seems a bit stronger once it's going but is this the case time for an in gear acceleration test locked in third gear to remove the uncertainty of launching okay riding race 50 miles an hour let's see what happens yeah much quicker than you oh yeah that's my train to gear remember when I did that in the McLaren and you took the piss out of me mercilessly right let's do this again but can you change gear this time please no problem I'll definitely beat you this costs so much quick honestly one second gear kicks in third gear fourth gear you're pulling away if I can get I get level oh yeah there's not much in it well I'm ahead but you seem to be catching on one point in you coming past me what's going on 150 you leaving me this car was pulling away from that one wasn't it mid-range obviously I've got you hop in you've got me so it looks like lower down your quicker mid-range I'm quicker top-end you're much quicker okay so it's not quite as clear cut as I thought I thought they were identical but they're not this I think really the only way to suss this out is probably to get them on the dyno so he took the cars to pk automotive in Lincoln where owner Paul Killingsworth put both cars onto his high-tech dyno interestingly they both produce the same peak horsepower of 355 horsepower at the wheels which translates to 409 at the flywheel however how they deliver their power is slightly different early in the rev range the 2017 car is producing more torque than the 2019 model so under launch when the clutch engages it's able to jump off the line a bit more ferociously and that's why it gets an initial advantage however at about 3500 rpm the 2017 car then hits a little flat spot whereas the 2019 one doesn't and in fact starts to produce more torque and with a higher and slightly earlier peak at 4000 rpm which is 500 rpm earlier in the rev range than the peak torque in the 2017 Prix w LTV car this is why the newer model appears to regain a little lost ground in the drag race it's also why it gets off quicker in the rolling race you see at 50 mile an hour in third gear the 2019 car is right at its peak torque and so initially Paul's ahead despite he Annie's extra bulk however if you look at the graph of the older 2017 rs3 after it's reached peak torque it holds on to its talk quite well which means it has a smooth power curve to its redline and so revs out smoothly now look at the post w LTP rs3 and its talk drops off a bit quicker after its Pete also there are two noticeable flat spots in its power curve which means it doesn't rev out quite so smoothly at the top end expert car to Nepal reckons this because the addition of the particulate filter to the new RS through his exhaust system affects the engines ability to breathe at higher revs and so in the rolling race at really high speeds with the increased wind resistance the effect of these flat spots are magnified which is when the pre W LTP 2017 rs3 which doesn't have a particulate filter really pulls ahead or as Yanni's bottom Dino has already revealed mid-range on quicker top-end you're much quicker well done Yanni you're the best thank you the thing that you're sat in with four seats and four wheels that's called a car and use the rarity in front of you to make it change directions right add one job rewind selector come again\n"