Audi RS Q3 Races Mercedes-AMG GLA 45 S for Compact Performance SUV Supremacy

Our Aussie friends at Motor found out by pitting the two rivals against each other in a series of tests, starting with a quarter-mile showdown. Although the Merc is almost 100 kilograms (220 pounds) porkier, it launches a little harder off the line, and it keeps the gap over the Audi by the end of the run.

Zero to 100 kilometers per hour (62 mph) took 4.5 seconds compared to 5.0 on the nose, and the AMG crosses the finish line in 12.7 seconds at 181 kph (112.4 mph) compared to 13.2 seconds at 172.8 kph (107.3 mph) for the four-ringed competitor. The emergency brake test from 100 kilometers per hour ends in what can only be described as a dead heat, and the same can be said about the roll race from 50 kilometers per hour (31 miles per hour).

The final duel is a street start-like race, as in a quarter-mile shootout without launch control and other go-faster software whatnots. Once again, the GLA 45 S picks up a little better than the RS Q3, although both of them can only be described as sluggish off the line. Closer than the launch-controlled drag race, the RS Q3 is gapped by the GLA 45 S by approximately a car length.

A mini-me Lamborghini Urus in this particular color, the Audi costs 92,900 kangaroo bucks in the Land Down Under for 294 kW and 480 Nm of torque (400 PS or 394 horsepower and 354 pound-feet). The Mercedes-AMG alternative is a little pricier at 107,035 dollars, and even though it has four instead of five cylinders and less displacement, it’s more potent at 310 kW and 500 Nm of torque (421 PS or 416 horsepower and 369 pound-feet).