Photo: X-Tomi Design
Last week, Audi took the covers off its new super-hatch, the 367 hp RS3, powered by an updated 2.5-liter turbo engine. This car is capable of reaching 100 km/h in 4.3 seconds, so it's only natural that we consider it the flagship of the A3 model range.
From basic hatchbacks for businessmen with 1.6-liter diesel engines to pocket rockets that can outpace a Porsche, Audi offers pretty much every type of compact car. Except there's never been an RS3 Cabriolet.
What would that even look like? Thanks to X-Tomi Design, a Hungarian graphics manipulator, we can actually show you. He blended the front bumper of the hot RS3 into the body of an S3 Cabriolet. The results are as predictable as they are interesting to look at.
With the new 2.5-liter five-cylinder engine, the RS3 Cab' would have more power on offer than an S3, something that's almost never seen in the Audi model range. So what's stopping them from building such a car?
For starters, there's the fact that the A3 Cabriolet was never designed to be a performance car in the true sense of the word. They've already built the S3 Cabriolet with the same 300 hp engine as every other S3. Yet even though it's based on the same platform as all the other S3, this is the heaviest, least frugal and slowest model.
AT 1,620 kilograms, the S3 Cabrio is a pig of a car, way heavier than a BMW M3 and on par with some SUVs. If you add a bigger engine to the mix, things could get really ugly.
And then there's the price, which is €48,800 in Germany. That's a lot to pay for any car with a 2-liter engine, even if it's an Audi.
So here's a question for you: would you buy the RS3 Cabrio if it had the following specs?
What would that even look like? Thanks to X-Tomi Design, a Hungarian graphics manipulator, we can actually show you. He blended the front bumper of the hot RS3 into the body of an S3 Cabriolet. The results are as predictable as they are interesting to look at.
With the new 2.5-liter five-cylinder engine, the RS3 Cab' would have more power on offer than an S3, something that's almost never seen in the Audi model range. So what's stopping them from building such a car?
For starters, there's the fact that the A3 Cabriolet was never designed to be a performance car in the true sense of the word. They've already built the S3 Cabriolet with the same 300 hp engine as every other S3. Yet even though it's based on the same platform as all the other S3, this is the heaviest, least frugal and slowest model.
AT 1,620 kilograms, the S3 Cabrio is a pig of a car, way heavier than a BMW M3 and on par with some SUVs. If you add a bigger engine to the mix, things could get really ugly.
And then there's the price, which is €48,800 in Germany. That's a lot to pay for any car with a 2-liter engine, even if it's an Audi.
So here's a question for you: would you buy the RS3 Cabrio if it had the following specs?
- Weight: 1.7 tons
- Engine: 2.5-lier TFSI making 367 hp (270 kW) and 465 Nm (342 lb-ft) of torque
- Performance: 0 to 100 km/h in around 5 seconds flat
- Price: around €57,000 in Germany, about as much as an S4
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