Audi RS3 (2012) gets extended production run

Audi's RS3 hot hatch is back from the dead. The 335bhp quattro Sportback's initial production run was limited to 500 cars for right-hand drive, but pent up demand has convinced Audi to build another 250.   

You'll have to be quick though: the first batch sold out in just days after the car's Geneva motor show reveal, without ever officially going on sale. The second run will also cost £39,930.

All the numbers are the same as the first 500 cars'. That means standard quattro drive, a 2.5-litre turbocharged five-cylinder engine good for 335bhp and 332lb ft, and a seven-speed S-tronic dual-clutch transmission.

Audi claims the RS3 will hit 62mph in 4.6sec, with its top speed electronically castrated at 155mph. The offical economy figure is 31mpg, but CAR's long-termer rarely got close to that when we ran one earlier this year.

Carbon fibre panels and 19-inch alloy wheel rims (mercifully available in grey, as well as two-tone red/black) are the other main goodies setting the RS car apart from lesser A3s.

The German hot hatch class is a hotly contested area right now. BMW has released its 316bhp M135i, which as an RS3-rivalling five-door costs from £30,585 - nearly £10k less than the Audi. It's 19bhp down on the quattro, though.

Also on the horizon is Mercedes' hottest A-class: the A45 AMG. Set to feature a turbocharged 2.0-litre and all-wheel-drive, the auto-only AMG Mercedes will be the closest in spirit to the RS3, which should make for quite a hot hatch group test when Teutonic trio meet.

By Ollie Kew