I’d buy one but think it will be a bit too “raw” for a daily drive (manual ride height adjustment among other stuff), it’s likely to cost £100k and only 60 coming to the UK.
But I might have to swallow my objection to the bloody silly steering wheel buttons and get a regular RS3 while I still can have the 5-cylinder.
Irreverent and unapologetic 
That’s a source of oil to make petrol.
Now you are really making me laugh 
I really do not think for one minute, from your objection , that you are RS3 material
I will not argue that you cannot have the five cylinder in an S3 as VAG are known to do some weird things sometimes, but their stance has always been, up to now anyway, to jealously guard the five cylinderexclusively for the RS3, RSQ3 and TTRS. Even Porsche, their stablemate, could not get it for the Macan or 718 and had to make do with the Golf R powerplant. If you can get an S3 with the five cylinder, then, go for it. Do not delay. there is no engine like it.
I do see why some light say the Audi Rs’ are raw, but not because of the steering wheel! If you are serious about having one of the last hot hatches, then the Golf R is maybe the most understated.
Maybe not, apparently no dinosaurs have ever been found at oil depth. I blame the education service
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I’ll remind you at this point that the site rule is to avoid personal insults - you have sailed too close to the wind on this on several occasions.
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That was a typo - which I will correct in a sec.
The 5 cylinder was never available in and won’t be coming to the S3, it is already gone in the TT, it is on the way out in the RS3. Assuming Audi keep the RS3 model it will almost certainly be powered by a version of the EA888 Gen 5 or evolution thereof.
I already have an S3 but the 5 cylinder appeals and it looks like I won’t have much time to get a new one.
There’s less difference in the current (2025/2026) model - the engine distinction stays but the new S3 gets the full vectoring rear axel in the Vorsprung trim which used to be the purview of the RS3 and the Golf.
The RS3 is a road car and not especially “raw” in its current guise, but it sounds like the limited edition will have an edgier semi-track focus; though I would not be surprised if none of them actually see a track.
The same is true of the BMW M cars - even the “real” M cars - the M3/M4/M5 etc - are plausible daily drives which are not nearly as likely to throw you in the ditch as they used to be.
I had to sell my RS4 when I moved to France from Switzerland. In CH the roads were perfectly ironed, but not the case in France.
To get up the hill to the house without bottoming was a notable event.
I had a few Audi coupes (including the quattro) in the 80’s. 5 cylinder engines were bombproof but only 2.2 litre in those days.
Not so bomb proof since they changed to alloy head a few years back - rather now formiddable powerhouses. I used to talk with a small group in Holland who are running at 700whp, now looking to make con-rods to take it further!
Mate - if you got the funds grab one now! Not much fun left in driving now but that would help for sure…
