The Audi RS 3 is the most powerful model in its range and the gateway to the world of Audi Sport. With the update of the current generation, it has become even more sporty, thanks in part to an optimized chassis configuration.
When Audi first used the torque splitter in the RS 3 in 2021, the compact sports car elevated its dynamics to a new level. In combination with the turbocharged five-cylinder engine, which delivers 400 hp and 500 Nm of torque, Audi Sport’s development and competition driver, Frank Stippler, matched the then lap record in the compact model class at the Nürburgring-Nordschleife, completing his best lap in 7:33.123 minutes.
Three years later and after much technological development, the feat has been repeated. With similar performance data from the powerful 2.5 TFSI engine, the Audi RS 3 once again proves to be the fastest compact model on the track in Eifel – over seven seconds ahead of the 2021 model.
“The torque splitter, with its fully variable torque distribution between the rear wheels, has allowed us to achieve a new level of cornering dynamics. It was a revolutionary factor,” said Marvin Schwätter, Technical Project Manager of the RS 3. “We identified improvement potential and meticulously adjusted the current model. As a result, the RS 3 is now even more agile and performs better in corners.”
In this way, the RS 3 avoids understeer and tackles corners more vigorously thanks to the new adjustments – including brake torque vectoring – which means that while the torque splitter provides torque to the rear wheel on the outside of the curve, the inner wheels are slightly braked.
Thanks to these measured braking interventions, the RS 3 follows the curve’s trajectory more accurately than before and positions itself better and earlier at the apex of the corner, allowing the driver to accelerate sooner and achieve a higher speed out of the turn.
Audi clarifies that this more controlled and anticipatory agility is made possible by an improved algorithm that allows the chassis control systems to communicate with each other more precisely. The two control units of the torque distributor, the electronic stability control, the brake distribution (i.e., selective torque control at each wheel), and the adaptive dampers of the RS sports suspension respond even more sensitively to each driving situation – always depending on the driving mode selected in Audi drive select. The interaction of these systems also ensures greater stability, for example, in rainy or snowy conditions.
