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2022 Audi RS3 Sedan Leaked Images Reveal Everything, Show Extra Menace

The 2022 Audi RS3 has been touted around with the "prototype" description for quite a while now, with nothing but a dazzling wrap keeping everyone's eyes from analyzing its every detail.
2022 Audi RS3 leaked image 9 photos
Photo: VAG Cafe via Instagram
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Now, thanks to some images leaked online, we get to see the production-spec version in all its glory, as well as a neon green paint color we're not entirely sure how we feel about. We get it, it's a sports model, so it's going to have some loud colors, but it doesn't look like it fits this particular car. Or maybe we're just getting old.

From the front, the RS3 (this is where the Sedan and Sportback don't feature any differences) reminds us of the SEAT Ibiza Bocanegra. The Audi features a lot of glossy black elements, from the huge hexagonal grille to its frame and, perhaps most surprisingly, the four-ring logo as well. The black is also matched by the wing mirror covers and the wheels, with the latter appearing to be a bit on the small side.

At the rear, the shiny black motif carries over to the fake grille and air diffuser, with the door sills providing the transition between the two ends of the car. Overall, it's a highly contrasting look that might not appeal to everyone, so it remains to be seen if Audi will offer a different alternative. If you ask us, shiny plastic has a cheap feel about it, so it's not exactly the look Audi was probably going for.

However, this is an RS model, so its performance and handling will count even more than its looks. All we know about its power output at the moment is the U.S. version will make 401 hp out of the 2.5-liter turbocharged straight-five (the European model will make do with 394 hp), but the real treat comes from what Audi has cooked up for the RS3's handling.

Only yesterday, the Ingolstadt-based company introduced the all-new RS Torque Splitter, a feature that will make its debut on the 2022 RS3. In layman's terms, the RS Torque Splitter is going to, well, split the torque between the two rear wheels sending up to 100% one way or another. That, Audi says, is going to all but eliminate understeer, a problem front-engine FWD or FWD-based AWD cars often have to deal with.

It should add a new dimension for the RS3, a car previously known for its off-the-line acceleration more than anything else. Whether it's going to be enough to make it as exciting to drive as a BMW M2, it remains to be seen.

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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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