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The 8V RS3 Could Be 2015's Most Talked About Audi

Nobody creates niche cars quite like Mercedes and this is especially true with the A45 AMG, the first car with a 2-liter turbo in the AMG family. It's fast, it's cool and has the right badge to justify its somewhat ridiculous price tag.
2015 Audi RS3 1 photo
Photo: screenshot from Youtube
"Hold on! Mercedes makes a 360 hp hot hatch and everybody goes crazy. But we were here first with the RS3," said Audi in 2013. And so, work began on a car to rival the A45 AMG, the second generation of the RS3, of course.

We've been checking out the project thought its various development stages and believe it's within six months of being completed. When the launch finally takes place in early 2015, Audi are likely going to impress us with a new 2.5-liter turbo engine, producing 367 PS according to some reports or 380 PS according to others. With quattro all-wheel drive and a seven-speed S tronic gearbox, it's going to be a stern rival for the Mercedes and will likely walk all over the BMW M135i.

All clues point toward the RS3 being much better than its predecessor. Even the less powerful S3 manages to let is tails slide from time to time, despite its front wheels being the dominant ones.

This next video shot by TourClips shows how the hottest version of the A3 8V family is shaping up. Under a mountain of camouflage hides a 5-door Sportback body and a new body kit inspired by the A3 clubsport quattro concept. For now, this is the only RS3 model in development, but a sedan to rival the CLA 45 AMG is also likely to happen, since Audi would otherwise be missing out on American consumers, who usually shy away from hatchbacks.

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About the author: Mihnea Radu
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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.
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