Published on August 26th, 2024 | by Subhash Nair

Facelifted Audi RS 3 Launched: Fastest Compact Around The Nürburgring

Audi has given the RS 3 a mid-cycle facelift and not only is it fast but it’s apparently better smelling too.

PHS Automotive Malaysia may have just launched the Audi RS 3 in Malaysia in March of 2023, but this month there’s already a new version of the car out. Not to worry if you’ve already purchased yours as the new RS 3 is a mid-cycle facelift and not a full generational leap forward. That being said, there are plenty of interesting things to note about this update.

This will quite possibly be the last Audi vehicle sold with an inline 5 engine, one of the legendary engine layouts that brought the brand its fame in the 1980s. For this facelift model, the power figures of the 2.5L turbocharged engine have remained unchanged but still impressive at 400PS and 500Nm of torque, allowing the vehicle to accelerate from 0-100km/h in just 3.8 seconds and hit a maximum of 290km/h.

That being said, Audi still took this car out to set a new compact car record on the Nürburgring with a time of 7 minutes and 33.123 seconds. Audi Sport says there are new algorithms that react more acutely to the respective driving situations with this model. These changes help the RS 3 perform better in the corners by avoiding understeer at the entrance to a bend with improved brake torque vectoring on the inside wheels. Oversteer can now be initiated with steering angle and not just by increasing the throttle input. The standard tyres have also been upgraded to enhance comfort and provide higher lateral support.

Of course, being a facelift, a lot of emphasis has been put on changing the looks of the car to better attract new customers. Here’s a summary of the changes in brief:

the grill has a new shape with a diamond pattern on the grille and air intakes
there are three openings above the front splitter
the matrix LED headlights are new
there are now user select-able daytime running light patterns
rear taillights have new graphics
three new rear deflectors have been added
Ascari Blue and Progressive Red colour options have been added

Inside you can option the RS 3 with carbon bucket front seats and these are upholstered in Nappa leather and microfibre. Otherwise Nappa leather seats are still available. The steering wheel gets a flat top and bottom with a 12 o’clock marking in red. There are also new buttons on the steering wheel spoke to access RS Individual mode and Performance mode.