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Audi S3 Sportback Review & Prices

The Audi S3 is a cool, classy and incredibly rapid hot hatch, but is it the sort of car to make you want to go for a blast? Not so much

Buy or lease the Audi S3 Sportback at a price you’ll love
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On Sale
RRP £44,090 - £50,090 Avg. Carwow saving £1,200 off RRP
Carwow price from
Cash
£42,946
Monthly
£542*
Used
£29,890
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wowscore
8/10
Reviewed by Carwow after extensive testing of the vehicle.

What's good

  • Fantastic performance
  • Beautiful interior
  • Genuinely comfortable

What's not so good

  • It's a bit efficient and dull
  • The engine sounds bland
  • It certainly isn't cheap

Find out more about the Audi S3 Sportback

Is the Audi S3 Sportback a good car?

The Audi S3 is a hot hatch with none of the rough edges that make some rivals more fun to live with, so it’s quick, comfortable and efficient.

In essence, the S3 is like the kid at school who excels at maths, can form a perfect dovetail joint in woodwork, and captains the football team, whereas rivals such as the Ford Focus ST and Honda Civic Type R are just as adept on the pitch – when they’re there, because you’ll often find them bunking off and having a cheeky tab behind the bike sheds. Whose gang would you rather run with?

Having the Audi A3 as a basis is a pretty good starting point for the S3, because it has an interior design that blows away those in alternatives such as the BMW 1 Series and Mercedes A-Class. The only one that gets anywhere close is the new Golf, and that’s, well, a VW and not an Audi.

The Nappa leather sports seats are beautiful to sit in, and the S3’s steering wheel can be adjusted to just the right position. Interestingly, it has no flat bottom, which is unusual in fast Audis these days.

Ahead of the driver, the ‘Virtual Cockpit’ digital display can show S-specific dials should you wish, and this even incorporates a lap timer. The standard seven-speed DSG gearbox has a tiny ‘trigger’ gear selector.

Those consigned to the rear seats will find themselves luxuriating on Nappa leather sports seats, too, and space is fine, although there’s more space in a 1 Series or an A-Class. Boot space is 370 litres, which is less than both a standard A3 Sportback or a BMW 1-Series, because the rear diff for the quattro four-wheel-drive system means the floor has to be slightly higher.

On twisty roads, the S3 behaves pretty much as it looks – grown up

Still, hot hatches are all about doing a few fast laps of your local circuit than trundling to Sainsbury’s on the way home, so they need an engine that excites when you want it to, and shut up when you need it to. The 310hp 2.0-litre, four-cylinder motor in the S3 does a pretty good job of both.

A combination of launch control and quattro traction will get the S3 from 0-60mph in only a little more than four seconds, and it’ll carry on to a limited top speed of 155mph. It’s just a shame it sounds all a bit flat and blarey while doing so.

The S3 is also really easy to live with, especially when dealing with the sort of annoying journeys that clutter up most people’s days. So, while it’s firmer than a standard A3 Sportback, it’s still more than capable of dealing with the moonscapes that pass for the UK’s roads, and all the while the DSG gearbox shuffles up and down through the ratios unobtrusively.

The variable-ratio steering, too, makes life easier, because at low speeds just one turn from straight ahead takes you to full lock, making manoeuvres easy, then at faster speeds slows down to help stability.

On twisty roads, the S3 behaves pretty much as it looks – grown-up. It certainly gets down the road rapidly enough, but whether it gives you the sort of thrills to make you turn around and do the road again is another story. It’s all a bit… efficient. Where cars such as the Focus ST and Mercedes-AMG A45 make you feel like you’re driving a getaway vehicle, the S3 feels more akin to a computer game. 

Then again, that’s what might make it ideal for you. It feels great to sit in on a wet, grey day in winter, it’ll deal with everything a typically busy daily life can throw at it, and it’s quick enough to impress your mates on the way to a sunny evening in the pub.

If the Audi S3 Sportback sounds like the ideal hot hatch for you, check out our latest new Audi deals and used Audi listings to find out how much you could save when buying through carwow. You can sell your car through carwow, too.

How much is the Audi S3 Sportback?

The Audi S3 Sportback has a RRP range of £44,090 to £50,090. However, with Carwow you can save on average £1,200. Prices start at £42,946 if paying cash. Monthly payments start at £542. The price of a used Audi S3 Sportback on Carwow starts at £29,890.

Our most popular versions of the Audi S3 Sportback are:

Model version Carwow price from
S3 TFSI Black Edition Quattro 5dr S Tronic £42,946 Compare offers

Interior style, infotainment and accessories

The Audi S3 Sportback has a generally upmarket interior that certainly looks the part. Only some cheaper-feeling plastic lower down bring a black mark against it

R8 supercar notwithstanding, the Audi S3 has the sportiest interior of any Audi to date. It has a wraparound cockpit feel to it, accentuated by the air vents that look they are taken from the Lamborghini Urus. Most of the interior is made from high-quality materials, although they do start to feel a bit cheap lower down in the cabin, but no worse than you find in a 1 Series or A-Class. It all feels pretty solid and well put together though.

It also has lovely front sports seats trimmed in Nappa leather, while the rear seats are also trimmed in Nappa. Other S-specific highlights include S kickplates by the doors, an S steering wheel (which isn’t flat-bottomed), and a red surround for the engine start/stop button.

The S3 gets Audi’s latest infotainment system – it’s even more advanced than the one you get in the Q8 premium large SUV. You get a 10-inch touchscreen as standard that has crisp graphics and easy-to-use menus. Android Auto and Apple CarPlay are also standard. The built-in sat-nav lets you write in destinations using your finger, although that might be a bit tricky for right-handers in right-hand-drive cars. It can also recognise voice commands, however. The sat-nav system also has Parkopedia that can direct you to parking spaces – even roadside parking.

Instead of traditional dials, you get a 12-inch digital driver’s display as standard, and this can be configured with special S3 dials. There’s even a lap-timer. It’s just a shame that you can’t share the map on your smartphone with that screen as it will only show Audi’s own map.

The volume control is a touch-sensitive button that you scroll clockwise and anti-clockwise to change the volume. In the latest Audis, you have to control the climate through the infotainment’s touchscreen but thankfully the S3 features physical buttons.

Buy or lease the Audi S3 Sportback at a price you’ll love
We take the hassle and haggle out of car buying by finding you great deals from local and national dealers
On Sale
RRP £44,090 - £50,090 Avg. Carwow saving £1,200 off RRP
Carwow price from
Cash
£42,946
Monthly
£542*
Used
£29,890
Ready to see prices tailored to you?
Compare new offers Compare used deals
Audi S3 Sportback
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