Sharp color combination
Before getting in, a short tour around the car. ABT refines the already aggressively designed compact with a few carbon parts. At the front, the RS3-R comes with a spoiler sword and side flics, and at the rear with a roof spoiler and diffuser. There are also mirror cap attachments and black panels behind the front wheel arches.
Bright green paint, huge black radiator throat, carbon parts, 20-inch wheel: Visually, the RS3-R really shines.
Optional carbon parts in the cockpit
Now open the door and sit in. In the cockpit, the changes are not quite as extensive. There are optional carbon parts for the seat frame, switch panel and paddle. The standard scope includes “only” embroidered logos in the seats, illuminated door sills, floor mats, badge and an ABT start button.
Apart from the embroidery, the seats are standard. They support well, but for the price we would have liked a little more individuality.
Great sound under load
The engine is extremely pressurized
The ceramic brake on the front axle already convinced us in the production car and does not buckle in the RS3-R either.
Undercarriage too low
On the chassis side, the optional KW3 coilover suspension, adjustable in height, rebound and compression, was installed in our test car instead of sports springs and anti-roll bars. ABT meant it a little too well with the lowering of the test car. On level country roads, the chassis is definitely a real feast, jagged turning and practically zero body roll in fast corners – great!
The chassis is great on freshly paved country roads. But if it gets a little wavy, it gets restless and the wheels grind.
However, the wheels sometimes rub in the wheel arches as soon as it gets a little wavy, and transverse joints hit the interior hard. That’s no fun, especially on motorway stages. One to two centimeters more ground clearance would do the RS3-R good, which is easy to do thanks to the height adjustment. Because especially the motorway is a lot of fun with the car thanks to full power and Vmax increase to 300 km/h. To be fair, it has to be said that Abt made the RS3-R available to us immediately with the premiere, and the chassis may be optimized a little more.
Price of over 100,000 euros
Finally, there is the price. A series RS 3 Sportback is available from 62,000 euros, the sedan from 64,000 euros. The tuning package including assembly costs 40,850.40 euros. For the coilover kit there is another 2490 euros, the three carbon options in the interior are together at 3070 euros.
Even without extras you end up comfortably above the 100,000 euro mark. Of course, that’s not just a lot of money for a compact sports car. But firstly, the performance is at least one class higher. Second, the RS3-R is limited to 200 copies. And thirdly, the car is so damn fun that the purchase price is forgotten after a few corners. So if you have the wherewithal: We will give our blessing!
