The 2018 Audi RS3 sedan made its official debut at the Paris auto show that is underway right now.
It has also been confirmed that the four door model is definitely coming to the United States. When it does, the car will be equipped with a 2.5-liter turbocharged inline five-cylinder engine which is capable of delivering a cool 400 horsepower coupled with 354 lb feet of torque.The RS3 is to be sold as a sedan even though a lot of customers are interested in buying a sport hatchback model of the same.
Bringing the Audi RS3 to the U.S. soil is a feat by itself as inside sources confirmed. The company had a detailed round table discussion with the entire team and journalists before bringing the model to the country. They justified that a RS model would have never been possible if not for the buyers in the region and said RS3 was designed for the U.S. market.
“We had to prove that without the U.S. market, this car wouldn’t have existed in the first place,” said a confident Filip Brabec, American director of product management at Audi. We are glad that the top officials fought to ensure the RS version hits the region. After all, a lot of such models not just from Audi but from many other manufacturers have been limited to Europe or UK stating market conditions. Most companies believe that the U.S. market wants SUVs, hatchbacks and other routine cars.
During the show, the company confirmed that the four door Audi RS3 can go from 0 to 62 miles per hour in 4.1 seconds. The inline-five engine is mated to a seven speed dual clutch automatic transmission system. The setup is seamless and power is equally transmitted to all four wheels with the help of Quattro all-wheel drive technology. For maximum control over the model even at top speed, the car is equipped with eight piston brake calipers, fixed rear spoiler and the suspension is lowered to compensate aerodynamic requirements.
Audi has confirmed that the new RS3 will find its way to dealership stores in the U.S. by summer 2017. When it gets launched, the car will give an intense competition to the Mercedes AMG CLA45 among other sports models. Pricing of the model was not announced during the auto show but we will probably hear more about it in the first half of 2017.