2018 Audi RS3 Review - The Best Hot Hatch... That Isn't a Hatch

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enI'm Jacob URI will go for a drive 2018 howdy rs3 Quatro cuz that's the only way you can get it so this is our first RS outie model it is also our first five cylinder car whoo and I'm glad it's an RS because they are the fastest letters in the alphabet so this is the fastest car you can get sort of let's start with the launch and then horsepower and torque sounds good Yuri and launch control building boost here we go send that's very fast for a hot hatch competitor yeah which is a hot sedan we'll get into that horsepower and torque 400 horsepower that is the big number and 354 pound of torque is this class-leading horsepower yes it is is that because there's nothing else in this specific class kind of yes but also if there were more things in this class than yes anyways faster than the Focus RS yeah but you're comparing it to hot hatches let's explain that first okay we do not get the rs3 hatchback in North America we've reviewed every other hot hatch that we can possibly get our hands on including the STI which is also not a hot hatch but it's part of that whole grouping exactly I'm so happy that they make this and North America gets it yeah and I think the best part of it being a sedan and not a hatchback is how cool it looks for us sedan oh it looks amazing the proportions are just right like just right because it's so much smaller yeah then regular sedans it does have some little quirks because it is so small but I will let them all slide because I love this car back to this engine 2.5 litre five-cylinder turbo I absolutely love this engine this is a gem of an engine why did they go with five and not four because it just sounds better and more horsepower more torque what else has five cylinders nothing really any more old Volvo's used to have them and they sounded so cool and this one sounds amazing I love the little growl that this thing has nothing else sounds like this I love it I think this sounds the best on down ships yeah for sure and outside of the cards disappointing exact yeah outside it's way better yeah it's got this like Chewbacca ish kind of thing kind of not quite like okay you're sick and I just love it for that alright and now let's lead that into some handling on cliche corner okay downshift downshift get some nice little sound there and this handled so well because we have Quattro and you can actually feel a little bit of understeer on Tippin and then you floor it and the right side just pulls you through when you're turning left so you can actually feel the opposite wheels turning you into the corner I love how this thing handles so I've heard a lot of people claim that an rs3 is just a faster golf arm it kind of is but kind of isn't so we've driven a Golf R here yep it's very good and we've driven the rs3 here this handles way better it's the Quattro however hang on I got to preface that because we did drive it in a snowstorm in the winter okay but we have driven the Golf R yes but this handles better yes it does for sure how much cooler do you think this is then a golf are way cooler because it's way more rare I'm gonna pick the hipster route on this one but it doesn't have the thing with the three pedals yeah you can't get a manual that kind of sucks out E is done with manuals they have officially announced it this is their last year I think they're gonna have an Audi a4 weõll and that's it that's it yeah whatever it's your fault yeah it's our fault too yeah not buying brand new cars with man Jesus yeah again back to that engine because I loved it so much honestly though it there's so much torque it just pulls you through at any rpm there's a little bit of lag there is about a second maybe half a second worth and then it's just gone gone gone yeah it is silly fast I always find myself like way faster than I need to be in a car this size but I guess because it is so small yeah exactly you don't feel like you're going that fast but you're really going fast on that sound though this does have the $850 optional sport exhaust so I yeah why would you not get it yeah exactly my god I want a louder one but I guess the options do kind of like climb up when you're buying this car yeah but $850 for an exhaust from a manufacturer that's pretty cheap yeah yeah that's fine od I think prices their options considerably well compared to other manufacturers oh and also I want to give a shout out for the most random option that I've ever seen on any car there's an option for additional airbags for the back passengers I've never seen on a goggle airbag optional additional airbag that's pretty funny that is funny now onto this transmission it is an auto it is 7-speed and it is very very good it is lightning but around town it is not lightning so what kind of tones itself down well we do have a bunch of different modes that we can use with comfort auto dynamic and individual and I have lived in dynamic my entire time in this car I've been in individual a little bit because I want everything slowed down a softer but I do want the exhaust on and that's the way to program it yeah so if they had an exhaust button separately that would be nice regarding the transmission we finally have an Audi with real paddles and not that Passat stop paddles they're kind of passatti they're still kind of cheapish they're not as good at not nearly as good as AMG paddles they're also possible there's gloss-black paddles yeah they feel kind of cheap whatever I hope the RS 5 or RS 7 as like metal paddles alright maybe all right hopefully but at least it's got somewhat better paddles yeah the s5 I have no way she was shifting it it's just the quality of the panels this should be on the s5 yes and since we're talking about this mode it'll talk about the steering wheel I love it these shape Alcantara only on the sides it's perfect I'm fearing fuel is amazing I really like especially getting out of a BMW and then getting into this steering wheel because the BMW steering wheels are so thick yeah this is perfect I would love to drive this in winter yeah winter this would be unreal this would be like winter drifting on steroids I think the small size everything yeah you can turn off traction control easily I also want to mention one thing about the transmission what's that up for up down for down yeah kind of to that to kind of gross if you're in Drive and you click down it goes to sport that's right just like Volkswagens which really brings the RPMs way higher all the time but it's so easy to get out of that that it's very nice and convenient yeah it's honestly I can't complain about the transmission or the engine whatsoever it's such a perfect setup as I mentioned this is turbo so I can see my boost gauge but I can only see my boost gauge and tutor for modes and I don't like the modes that I could see them in I like my boost gauges nice and big in certain locations I would just like it to be visible in one of the gauge mode and you're like having psi this has no yeah this only has min and Max but whatever yeah I don't mind it it would be nice if I saw my peers we talked about the gauges yeah go ahead okay so we've got the same pretty much stuff as the s5 but a little bit more sporty stuff yeah my favourite gauge setup is with the tach in the middle so that's sport mode classic is with the two bubbles on the side yeah and you can also have your map you can have so many different things in there but in sport mode it forces power and torque percentage on the right and you can get a G meter on the left that's right so this is I think the most uncluttered format because everything that it's showing is dark and power related fully agree because you can always put that map in the middle and turn it to night mode yeah and shrink it down to the world yeah but how do you come on man just make black there is a lot going on and there's a little bit going on with the infotainment would you like to speak about that when you drive now one more gauge thing okay fine when you're revenue now trying to let you drive I know when you're revving it out when you're like 5,000 or 6,000 rpm have you noticed like the green and yellow shift lights I oh never seen that in any other car sit down it's so good oh yes and then it flashes when you up shift in high rpms I think it's very cool it's hard to see cuz you're so focused on driving I don't think it's hard to see this is perfect for me and if I were on a track I wouldn't miss a shift it's good it's so good how he's got so close I'm so excited to drive an r8 and see what kind of stuff they put in there oh my but first you got to drive this okay but first visor test okay here we go three two one yes good job od and a small cup of coffee test fits perfectly and you know what I was ripping in here with a brand new cup right from Tim Hortons no spillage no spillage you see any spillage I don't see any and usually you usually you spill over all right my turn to drive so I've been driving this thing around and there's a couple things I wanted to mention about daily driving it what's the first thing my favorite thing that grows Rebecca we do have an awesome grocery bag hanger in the back it's different than all grocery bag hangers it comes down like an anchor the next thing remember I said get a Golf R and automatic if you share the car with someone who doesn't drive stick shift correct this only comes in automatic which is cool cuz it's fast but the seats are all manual so if you shared it with somebody who's a different height it's annoying it would be the most annoying like it is so manual adjustment forward back with a button I've got this pump thing yeah and then this the back part of it is also like a circle thing yeah and then you can move it up and down so you have to share it with someone who's totally different sizing you might not be the best idea that's right the seats are very comfortable themselves however I wish they were slightly more bolstered even me as a bigger person in eure I'm still not that bolstered in them I feel great but they look super cool these seats are wicked they are quilted so I'm one over the next thing about convenience is while driving this does have a reverse camera it does not have a 360 camera but it does have 360 radars the s5 we reviewed had a 360 camera but it turned off because I never had a setting to turn it on while reversing as well a little bit confusing through the menus just a bit yeah and we do have a sunroof but it doesn't have like a full top it has a kind of see-through top oh yeah okay so you still get some Sun let's talk about the looks yeah the paint I've told you before I think blue cars are a cop-out because it's too easy of a color to get it's like I want to be fun all the cars look good too but like not really yeah this blue is a next-level blue the blue is great it is an optional color you do have to pay for it and it's worth it look at these three cars in blue which blues the best savage geeses blue Jacobs blue or uri's blue why do I get to pick the m5 blue yeah don't worry about it the body line on the rs3 is fantastic every Audi has hard body lines but this one is like harder and less curvy it's just so perfect the way it reflects the light and the Sun and everything is like unreal every time I see one on the street perfection I give everyone thumbs up because they're kind of sleeper cars they all for sure this just looks like a small sedan I want to make sure when I make eye contact with an rs3 driver he knows that I know he made a good decision since we're talking about the side profile the wheels they look so good they've got like these cool blocky cutouts they look good stopped and rolling and moving slowly everything the rs5 has a very similar version and I don't like them on the rs5 but they fit this car way better I like how the tire sticks out it looks like the tire stretched for the stock car it is stretched a bit so I would like to I'd our tires to be honest we have carbon ceramics only in the front and these are some of the best carbon ceramics I've ever used I've accidentally pressed them a couple times and almost smashed my face in the steering wheel what did I not like about the s-line is something about the grille I believe the grille had like chrome stuff on it this all black perfection RS grille and it says Quatro on the RS my models yeah only on the RS is does it say Quatro right up front even though all the other ones also have Quattro yeah but it's gangster that's their new thing the next thing I like is the headlights the shape of these I like a lot more than the fives yeah yeah for sure no not my favorite I think TT is my favorite I just like the RA because of pioneered and everything for those types of lights one thing I love about the looks is the exhaust and the diffuser okay so RS is always get oval exhaust big dual oval exhaust and a little wicked however from one certain angle they look kind of funny when you look at the other side you can see the back of the exhaust tip where you can tell that it's a fake tip it looks so cartoonish but it also looks so badass I don't even care it is a real tip it's just not connected directly it's just an accentuated tip basic okay now get into the diffuser ok diffuser massive massive for a type of vehicle of this size the proportions of it it's so like square and stocky yeah and then we've got a nice lip spoiler on the trunk this thing overall just looks perfect I like how the spoiler is black yeah where's the carbon fiber no it's just black okay I like how it's black and then your what else I like what well taillights oh yeah right they look really good too yeah and also I like the wheel arches yeah they are whatever they are widened for our SS it's subtle but it's like oh it's so subtle you notice it infotainment this is the first car I've driven with a screen that goes in and out and it goes in and out very quickly faster than I expected it has a pretty much same infotainment as the s5 which is very nice it does not rely on satellite radio stations I think the whole satellite radio thing could be improved and I've got apple carplay so I don't have too many issues with it but I would like the Rwandan South at radio stations yeah that would be good for you now it's time for me to go through cliche corner in the rs3 alright I feel like I've been cheated yeah you are it goes exactly where you want it to and this Quattro sticks to the ground so hard it really does and it's so comfortable to like the suspension is really really well damped it is on the firmer side for sure it's definitely firm over potholes but still very comfortable okay let's talk about interior it is very basic very plain I don't think it's the best interior but I don't care because I'm just so happy that this car exists because they spent the money putting that damn engine in here that I'm not gonna complain I'm just gonna shut my mouth very little piano black besides the paddles yep we've got carbon fiber trim I love carbon fiber we've got a nice cool pattern near the shifter which isn't piano black which it could have been all the buttons are later really easy to control the infotainment and we got a nice scroll wheel everything's good we don't have like those proximity buttons like the s5 did but we don't need them yeah don't need anything in here all the buttons for the drive select the hazard button we have a lot of missing buttons yeah a lot of blanks but they're all easy to use I know one of my favorite parts is I would love to use the same as the s5 this armrest that goes up and ratchets down and extends yeah it is perfect for you so I can't have that awesome driving position but my left has nowhere to hang out I'm comfortable because I have slightly longer arms there's not much room in the back seats though but I can fit behind myself so yeah just have kids it's perfect the perfect excuse but if you're six foot one and a half and you want to sit behind your six foot one and a half self you will not fit like you will not have a good time whatsoever save up for like an RS Evan yeah then exists it does one thing that I like about the interior which I said I would shut my mouth but I won't these little vents they look so cool oh nice I didn't know that's how you turn them on and off knurled gnarled yeah yeah you like that I love knurled and the last thing I want to talk about anytime I look at the seats they look so cool I think it's because there's like little perforations around the quilt and it looks like a weird digital pattern yeah it looks wicked so I guess we should talk about the price yeah we should because that's kind of the downfall but also not because nothing else really kind of competes with it so we can do whatever it wants to hand me with it starts at 62 thousand nine hundred but this one just over seventy six thousand dollars with options and that does not include for your passengers so you have to decide if your passengers worth like four hundred fifty go curser whatever it is okay that's a lot for like a hot hatch kind of it is a hatch in Europe and this competes with cars like the BMW m2 and gla45 and the CLA 45 this is the one car that I will not complain about the price because it does not really have any like direct direct competitor okay so that's it that's our conclusion is that's awesome if you're gonna afford it why not yes this is an amazing car you can buy it just buy it so don't forget to subscribe hit the notification Val patreon.com slash with straight pipes and join our membership so that you're gonna get stuck with that as well and leave a comment below where does this fall in line with a hot hatch challenge better than this little pit bar better the Focus RS Golf R even though it's thin but still kind of a hot hatch STI let us know cooper jcw you have one if you do where's a phone line on the hi-hat challenge team in the top the top this is it this is better what was your top before the gla45 better than the gla45 I think so it's better than gla45 the only one that kind of comes close is like a Focus RS I think I just comes with me oh I think I man you look gonna do it for me don't forget if Allah stir and it's coming up and we're also gonna drive the m2 competition but it's on a hot hatch not even know I know but it competes with this even have four doors I know\n"