Renewed Audi RS3 Sedan Set New Lap Record At The Nürburgring

7:33,123 minutes. That’s how long it took factory driver Frank Stippler to chase the updated RS3 sedan around the Nürburgring. According to Audi, the RS3 can therefore be called the fastest compact (production) car. The fact that this has been achieved with the facelifted RS3 is, of course, not due to the subtly new nose with the new Audi logo that we also saw on the regular A3. No, the RS3 will soon have ‘brake torque vectoring’, where the car is helped a little in bends by slightly braking one of the wheels. The chassis has also been tightened up a bit.

Fortunately, what remains is the 2.5-litre five-cylinder in the nose. That has been the distinguishing factor of the RS3 for a long time, which actually only affects heavily pumped four-cylinder engines among the competition. The five-cylinder engine has a wonderful, typical sound and great character and also delivers a more than healthy amount of power with 400 hp and 500 Nm. Audi also reports when we can expect the updated RS3: it can be ordered at the end of August, and it will be in the showroom in October.

• Also See: Floods Forces Audi To Scale Back A3 And Q2 Production In Germany