What's the point of having too much power and all-wheel drive in a small car if you're not going to have some fun? Despite being known for understeer, the RS3 can get beautifully sideways, as this snow drifting clip proves.
Two things make this possible, which are balance and power delivery. The RS3 of old had huge tires at the front to cope with all the weight and torque of the 2.5-liter engine. However, this 2018 model features a more balanced sedan body and an aluminum block that's lighter.
Also, the AWD system can send more than 50% of the power to the rear wheels, unlike those in the regular MQB cars. And we're talking about a lot of power here, 400 HP and 480 Nm of torque from just 1,700rpm.
It would be nice if the RS3 sedan could do this even in the dry, like we've seen the Focus RS manage. But it's nice to know that if you're in this particular Audi model and you stop an empty, snow-covered parking lot, there's some fun to be had.
You're also looking at one of the fastest, if not the fastest, cars in this segment. The official 0 to 62 time of 4.1 seconds is good, but we've seen it perform much better in the real world, not to mention crushing AMG in a few drag races. Heck, a decade ago, you'd probably be introducing this as a supercar.
Other things people don't often talk about are the 370mm rotors and 8-piston calipers at the front of the car. You've got to love having that on the daily commuter.
Americans love to complain that European get all the cool car. Well, not anymore, as this snow drifter is available stateside. Between it, the Focus and Civic Type R, bite-sized performance has never looked so good.
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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