Audi RS 3 Competition Limited: Five-Cylinder Frenzy
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If you like your compact cars loud, aggressively styled and just a little bit naughty, Audi Sport has built something for you. The RS 3 competition limited is a celebration of fifty years of five cylinders, dressed in carbon, painted in malachite green if you are feeling dramatic, and limited to 750 examples so you can smugly tell people you own one before you actually do.
Fifty Years Of The Five Cylinder
There is heritage everywhere on this car, and not the sort you find on a dusty mantelpiece. The front end has been sharpened, two carbon canards sit like little fangs on either corner and badges carry heritage colours. The matrix LED headlights perform a cheeky lightshow in the sequence 1-2-4-5-3 when you lock or unlock the doors, a direct nod to the engine’s firing order. Choose Daytona grey or Glacier white matte if you must, but Malachite green is the colour that will make passersby look twice and then regretfully check their bank balance.
Performance And The Sound
Under the bonnet sits the 2.5 litre inline five that has always sounded a bit like a rally car that drinks coffee before a race. It delivers 294 kW 400 PS and 500 Nm, rockets to 100 km/h in 3.8 seconds and will keep pulling until you see 290 km/h. The exhaust has fully variable flap control and reduced firewall insulation, which translates to more throat and less small talk. Yes, it crackles. Yes, it booms. And yes, that firing order gives it a characterful bark you will either adore or find utterly terrifying.
Suspension You Can Dial In
For the first time an RS 3 gets coilover suspension tuned specifically for this limited edition, complete with external reservoirs up front and aluminium and stainless steel components chosen for stiffness and cooling. The dampers are three way adjustable, letting you tweak low speed compression in 12 clicks, high speed compression in 15 clicks and rebound in 16 clicks. There is a new rear stabiliser rated at 85 N per millimetre and rear spring rates bumped to 80 N per millimetre. Torque distribution is handled by a torque splitter and brake torque vectoring so the car turns in like it means it, while ceramic brakes with red calipers are on permanent duty to remind you that physics still exists.
Interior Is All Flash
Step inside and it is all black, Neodymium gold and Ginger white, which is to say it looks like someone decided gold was the only sensible accent colour. RS bucket seats hold you in place, Dinamica centres wear the gold tone and a matte serial number sits by the shifter to prove you are one of 750. The instrument display goes white in a rather nostalgic nod to earlier RS models, and there is an RS performance screen showing temperatures, torque and even a lap timer. Top dead centre on the wheel is a Ginger white mark so you always know which way is forward when you are being enthusiastic with the steering.
Buckle the belt, press start and let five raucous cylinders do the talking. There will only be 750 of these; if you see one on the road, do not try to race it unless you have a very good excuse and a very good lawyer.
Zachary Skinner is the editor of TechDrivePlay.com, where tech, cars and adventure share the fast lane.
A former snowboarding pro and programmer, he brings both creative flair and technical know-how to his reviews. From high-performance cars to clever gadgets, he explores how innovation shapes the way we move, connect and live.
