We often joke around the office that Audi is like a European version of Subaru – they're both obsessed with all wheel drive, both sometimes make awkward looking designs and both are concerned with passenger safety. And yet despite their similarities, there's never been an Audi model to compete with the Subaru WRX STI… until now.
You see, the brand new 2015 Subaru WRX STI uses the same 2.5-liter boxer turbo engine as the older model, good for just over 300 horsepower. The old Audi S3 only had 272 hp, but the third-gen launched in 2013 has upped that figure to 300 hp.
So the two are now evenly matched? Not really, as this next video from Auto Express will demonstrate. In a drag race on an empty piece of British runway, the Audi S3 Saloon/Sedan actually proved to be faster than its Japanese rival. These results comes as a shock, since the German car doesn't have the rally breeding and the same reputation for handling. What's more, the S3 is a little down on power and significantly down on torque.
What's nice about the race Auto Express organized is that they're comparing apples with apples here. The Audi S3 is tested as a four-door saloon with a manual, even though the 3-door hatch with S tronic would have been much faster. So there you go: the coolest Subaru ever made is slower than your average Audi. What is the world coming to?
Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida. Full profile
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