TheAudi S3has long been a perfect storm of panache , sumptuousness , carrying into action , and technical school . In short , it ’s an excellent car – but it has been for a while now . It ’s high time for a makeover , and for 2017 , Audi has deliver in nigga .

Put your foot down, and it’s a blast

The S3 remains the sports king of Audi ’s small - car batting order , and its turbocharged four - cylinder engine makes a powerful command ; 292hp , to be precise , which mean if you floor it right … now , it ’ll be going 60 miles per hour by the time you polish off this conviction , or roughly four and a half seconds down the route . For those who require to save the forest instead of blasting through it at full throttle , might I instead suggest the all - electricA3 e - tron .

Base price for the S3 start at $ 42,900 , but should you choose for the Prestige package with the optional baseball mitt - like sport front seats and Daytona grayish key , you ’ll land in the car ’s sweet post . The legal injury : $ 51,375 ( or so ) .

The trickle-down technology is tremendous

The big standout feature here is the overmuch of new tech , which is finally trickling its style down from the top of Audi ’s card and into motorcar with cost tag that do n’t postulate trigger warnings . The summation of Apple CarPlay and Android Auto is very welcome , as is an upgraded rendering of the otherworldly intelligent MMI touch infotainment arrangement .

Also Modern to the S3 is Audi ’s grampus customizable digital tool cluster ( demonstrate ) that merchandising type care to call the " Virtual Cockpit . " If you have n’t heard of it ( you missedour take on the all - unexampled Audi allroad , huh ? ) , it ’s fundamentally a reconfigurable silver screen that can circumvolve between trip particular , seafaring , and your music . fall in the complexity of its capabilities , it ’s unmistakably easy to use .

As an unexpected bonus , Virtual Cockpit negates the need for the eye - mount up display screen – which accomplishes most of the same tasks , but in low resolution and more slowly . you could keep using it to mirror CarPlay , or lower it down into the dash entirely with the push of a button . You wo n’t lose it – the VC showing quality is sharp , its central processor swiftness is high , and its functionality is second to none .

2017 Audi S3 First Drive

Jeff Jablansky/Thrillist

It practically begs you to hit the back roads

I bend to Audi ’s first - rate navigation organisation and pulled up the Google Maps satellite overlay , hoping to find some backroad trails where the S3 could come up alive . The S3 does n’t precisely amount with rally - ready tires , but when you ’re behind the roulette wheel of one of Germany ’s fine mutant sedan chair , a rough dirt route proves resistless .

The results were elevated . The dual - clutch automatic transmission is borderline sentient , popping off shifts almost instantaneously . Opting for the " Dynamic " package ( a $ 1,500 option ) adds magnetorheological dampers , which is engine room - speak for a suspension that perpetually adjust itself to account for diverge road conditions . A tap of the " ESC OFF " electrical switch does n’t free traction control entirely , but enables much sportier preferences and admit for more moorage than usual . The mise en scene is fabulously fun to utilise all the meter .

The S3’s biggest problem is that it punches way above its weight

The S3 is so jammed with technology , it ’s almost enough to make you marvel how Audi plans to outdo itself on itsactualhigh - end products like the Q7 and R8 . It ’s spacious enough inside to make you second - reckon a larger sport sedan , like the S4 . And it ’s more practical ( but slightly more anonymous ) than the TT family .

Similarly , it ’s hard to make unmediated equivalence to other cars in the premium thick summercater segment . TheBMW M2feels like an amped - up race car by comparing , with a terms a few grand dearer . Next to an S3 , theMercedes - AMG CLA45andGLA45feel unequal and unfinished . equivalence to the Volkswagen GTI are misplaced – the S3 intelligibly shares the GTI ’s nonpareil , but raise them to a new spirit level – but theGolf Roffers similar performance at a comparable toll , if a hatchback door interests you .

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2017 Audi S3

Jeff Jablansky/Thrillist

2017 Audi S3

Jeff Jablansky/Thrillist

2017 Audi S3 First Drive

Jeff Jablansky/Thrillist

2017 Audi S3 First Drive

Jeff Jablansky/Thrillist