Audi A3 Concept: 400bhp A3 saloon at Geneva

Audi A3 Concept - 0-60mph in 4.1 seconds

There we were last week wondering what niche Audi could think of to fill next – as you do in an idle ten minutes – when in to our Inbox dropped news of the Audi A3 Concept.

The A3 Concept is an A3 with a boot, in case you missed having a car with a boot. Or you’re an American, and then apparently you don’t know how to work a hatch. So nothing too exciting. Just an A3 notch-back sedan for people with leather patches on their elbows. Or Americans.

And then we realised it was powerful. Very powerful.

This Audi A3 Concept may be a preview of an A3 with a boot, but it’s also a preview of the next RS3. Because it boasts a 2.5 litre 5-pot TSI lump with 400bhp and 368lb/ft of torque, which is almost as much as the RS4 had. It also has a seven-speed S-Tronic twin-clutch ‘box.

Audi has revealed that this rather appealing setup – and thanks also to aluminium keeping the weight to 1540kg – will scoot to 60mph in 4.1 seconds, and yet will return 31mpg and emit 212g/km. Just not all at the same time.

The track on this A3 Concept is also out to help the cause and is wider even than the regular RS3, aggressively set off with some meaty 20″ alloys. There are home comforts too, including iPad holders in the back, a new touch-pad MMI and a Wi-Fi hotspot.

But this is no concept. This is the new Audi RS3. With a boot.

By Cars UK