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2022 Audi RS 3 Sedan Drag Races Audi RS 6 Big Brother - the Revolution Is Televised

For years, we've been told the Audi RS 6 is the perfect mélange of performance, practicality, and sporty luxury. That's because it has massive amounts of power, the quattro all-wheel-drive system to make the most of it, plenty of room inside, and the classic Audi-level quality interior.
2022 Audi RS 3 Sedan Vs Audi RS 6 drag race 11 photos
Photo: Archie Hamilton Racing / YouTube screenshot
2022 Audi RS 3 Sedan Vs Audi RS 6 drag race2022 Audi RS 3 Sedan Vs Audi RS 6 drag race2022 Audi RS 3 Sedan Vs Audi RS 6 drag race2022 Audi RS 3 Sedan Vs Audi RS 6 drag race2022 Audi RS 3 Sedan Vs Audi RS 6 drag race2022 Audi RS 3 Sedan Vs Audi RS 6 drag race2022 Audi RS 3 Sedan Vs Audi RS 6 drag race2022 Audi RS 3 Sedan Vs Audi RS 6 drag race2022 Audi RS 3 Sedan Vs Audi RS 6 drag race2022 Audi RS 3 Sedan Vs Audi RS 6 drag race
With the advent of electric vehicles in general and the Tesla Model S in particular, build quality aside, there is definitely a talk to be had over the first two of those points. The Plaid definitely wins in the performance department and even though it's not a station wagon, it still provides plenty of cabin flexibility and way more room for its passengers. However, it turns out the RS 6's position at the top is now threatened by another model, one that's a lot closer to home.

The launch of the all-new RS 3 has seen the smallest member of the RS lineup develop the kind of abilities no car in its segment should have. Well, to be fair, there was one that already had it - the Mercedes-AMG A 45 S - but as the comparative reviews showed, the Affalterbach hatchback focused too much on performance at the detriment of other aspects. The RS 3 is a much more rounded offering without making that many concessions when it comes to raw acceleration power.

Looking at the specs, Ingolstadt's sporty sedan (also available as a hatchback) boasts a 2.5-liter five-cylinder engine dishing out 400 horsepower (I'm not entirely sure why Archie, the host of the video, and his guest are talking about 420 hp; perhaps Archie didn't want to be rude and correct the man?) in the usual, very efficient Audi way. Over on the other side, the well-known RS 6 (only available as the Avant station wagon version) produces 600 hp from a four-liter V8 engine, so the power balance is heavily tilted the bigger car's way.

To counter that, the RS 3 sedan has a definite weight advantage as it's almost a full one thousand pounds lighter (4,575 lbs/2,075 kg for the Six and 3,638 lbs/1,650 kg for the Three). The question here is whether the extra 220 lb-ft (300 Nm) of torque will be enough for the station wagon to offset the added lard and since I've been going on forever with my babbling, maybe it's time to let the action do the talking.

First race and the RS 6 blatantly jumps the start. You'd think that's the last thing the RS 3 needed, but one or two seconds later, the miracle begins to happen. The sedan has a much better launch than its larger sibling - so good, in fact, that it manages to win even though the driver misses a gear. Is the left lane better (drier) than the RS 6's right-hand one, or is the launch control in the newer RS 3 really that superior?

Second race - RS 6 jumps it again. No missed gear this time so the sedan's victory is all the more convincing. The worrying thing for the wagon, though, is that it's not just the launch, but also the fact the RS sedan just keeps on pulling. Factor in a fair start and we could have been witnessing what initially seemed like a very unlikely landslide.

The third one goes almost identical to the second. Maybe they should have switched sides just to make sure the quality of the surface had nothing to do with it. You know, eliminate as many variables as possible so the Audi RS 6 fans won't flood the comments section with complaints (though at this point that feels almost inevitable).

The rolling race has a bad start too, only this time it's the 3 that gets in front unjustly. It doesn't matter, though, as it soon becomes clear the outcome would have been the same regardless. Once again, the sedan doesn't show signs of losing its will to accelerate - it's simply relentless. Impressive, but I'm going to want to see a rematch before I'm 100 percent convinced something wasn't amiss here.

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About the author: Vlad Mitrache
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"Boy meets car, boy loves car, boy gets journalism degree and starts job writing and editing at a car magazine" - 5/5. (Vlad Mitrache if he was a movie)
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