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When you think of fast Audis, the RS3 Saloon probably isn’t the first one that springs to mind, but it should be. While the plus-sized RS6 Avant and ultra-yobbish RS3 Sportback are all the rage, this rapid little saloon car blends high performance with handsome looks, but it’s oh-so thirsty and the back seats are tight.

It sits in a bit of a no-man’s land when it comes to sports cars, with its only real alternative being the Mercedes-AMG CLA 45 S - but you’re just as likely to cross-shop it against the BMW M2 coupe or Porsche 718 Cayman GTS, if you don’t tend to carry more than one passenger.

But where the Porsche and BMW are like nylon shorts and running shoes, the RS3 Saloon is like a well-tailored suit jacket. There’s just as much performance underneath, but where the alternatives don’t shy away from their sporty looks, the rapid little Audi flexes its muscles with a little more understatement.

The muscles are certainly present, though, because the RS3 Saloon has some seriously beefy wheel arches - even larger than the regular A3’s already hefty items. The sleek roofline and pert little bootlid give the small saloon an elegant shape, where the RS3 Sportback is pure boy-racer.

While the rest of Audi’s interiors have a swoopy new design with curved displays, the RS3 Saloon still has the last-gen cabin - and it’s all the better for it. You get lots of crisp edges and intricate air vent details across the dashboard, while the displays are clear and the physical climate controls are far nicer to use than the touchscreen items in newer Audi models.

It’s spacious up front, too, with comfortable seats and decent storage space for smaller items in the door bins, centre cubby between the seats and the wireless charging trough under the dashboard. The rear seats are lacking in headroom, though, as the low roofline robs you of space compared to the RS3 Sportback.

Surprisingly, at 321 litres the boot is larger in the saloon than it is in the hatchback. The Mercedes-AMG CLA 45 S has a far bigger cargo space than either, as does the BMW M2.

You won’t be thinking about practicality once you get on the road, because the RS3 Saloon is one of the most capable small performance cars you can buy - even at low speeds. Around town it’s easy to drive with good visibility and suspension that isn’t spine-shatteringly stiff.

Get on the motorway and there’s a fair amount of road noise as a result of its tall, wide wheels, but that can be forgiven for its ballistic performance on a twisty road. Get it in sport mode, revel in the tremendous grip levels and listen to its fabulous five-cylinder engine sing.

A BMW M2 and Porsche 718 GTS are more agile, but the Audi will still leave you beaming from ear to ear.

Check out the latest deals on the rapid Audi RS3 Saloon, or RS3 Saloon lease deals instead. There are used RS3 Saloons for sale through our trusted dealer network, and other used Audis for sale too. You can even sell your car through Á«»¨Ö±²¥, when the time comes.

The Audi RS3 Saloon starts at almost £63,000, which is a lot of money, but still £5,000 less than the BMW M2, £6,000 less than the Mercedes-AMG CLA 45 S and a whopping £12,000 cheaper than the Cayman 718 GTS. Considering the RS3’s ballistic performance, that’s almost a bargain. Almost…

The one you really want is the Carbon Vorsprung edition, which starts at a spicier £71,000. For that you get trick adaptive suspension, a panoramic sunroof, keyless-go and a higher top speed at 174mph compared to the ‘regular’ RS3’s 155mph limit.

Even the standard model is well-equipped, though, with the same bucket seats, infotainment system, blacked-out exterior details and digital driver’s display as in the faster version.

The RS3 Saloon is absurdly fast yet remains comfortable and easy to drive, but motorway refinement isn’t great

In town

Audi has pulled off a balancing act with the RS3 Saloon, because it’s no harder to drive around town than the regular A3 Saloon is. Visibility remains unchanged, which is good, and if you’ve got the car in comfort mode then there’s no telling it’s got a nuclear missile of an engine under the bonnet; the exhaust note is quiet, and the throttle response isn’t too sharp.

You’ll find the RS3 Saloon more comfortable on the 19-inch wheels over the 20-inch items, because the suspension is fairly stiff in comparison to the regular model - something that’s exaggerated on the bigger wheels. Nonetheless, it’s never uncomfortable nor too crashy.

You’re limited to the bling-tastic rims on the top-spec model, but it’s perfectly tolerable when you set the adaptive suspension to comfort mode.

The 12.0-metre turning circle can make the RS3 feel cumbersome in tight corners, and three-point turns can become four- or five-pointers instead, but that’s the price you pay for beefy wheel arches and wide-track wheels. Squeezing into tight parking spaces or navigating narrow roads is almost as easy as in the regular car, that being said.

On the motorway

Things aren’t quite as well composed on the motorway, again as a result of the RS3 Saloon’s aggressive wheel and tyre package, with noticeable road noise making its way into the cabin. It’s not unbearable, but you’ll find yourself turning the music up or speaking a bit louder to overcome the volume.

Leave it in comfort mode though, as in sport mode the exhaust drone will lull you to sleep, or drive you insane - neither are ideal.

Otherwise it’s perfectly pleasant, feeling stable at the national speed limit and with its powerful engine making it easy to get up to speed and overtake when needed. Standard-fit adaptive cruise control takes some of the strain away, too, as do the hugely-supportive seats.

On a twisty road

This is where the RS3 really comes to life, because it feels agile and fun on a twisty road in a way you’d expect from a much lighter sports car - not a four-wheel drive saloon car. Audi has done some trickery with the RS3’s differentials and even fitted staggered wheels and tyres; wider at the front than the back to give the nose more grip into corners.

It never feels unsettled, and it seems as though no matter how quickly you pitch the RS3 into a turn, it’ll hang in there and see it through.

Combined with the wondrous 2.5-litre, five-cylinder powerhouse of an engine which has one of the best exhaust notes of any car on sale and neck-snapping acceleration, the fast Audi eats up any stretch of road you point it at.

Sure, it doesn’t feel as fleet-footed or darty as a rear-wheel drive Porsche or BMW, but as a package, the RS3 Saloon is hard to beat - especially in greasy weather conditions thanks to its Quattro four-wheel drive system.

Space up front is pretty good, but the back seats are tight and the boot is smaller than an A3 Saloon

The front of the RS3 Saloon is identical to the hatch, and aside from the excellent sports seats it’s identical to the S3 and A3, too. That means there’s loads of room, and the seats are highly adjustable so it’s easy to get comfortable.

One frustration, however, is that the driver’s seat doesn’t drop down as low as the passenger side. That doesn’t mean there’s a lack of headroom, but sporty driving enthusiasts will feel a bit perched-up around fast bends.

You get a pair of large door pockets, a decently-sized glovebox, wireless phone charging pad in a trough under the dash and a pair of cupholders in the middle, in front of a cubby in the armrest.

Space in the back seats

This is where the RS3 Saloon’s slinky silhouette hinders it a little, because it loses out on space in the back compared to the RS3 Sportback. While legroom is adequate, there’s a lack of headroom. Tall adults will really struggle back there on long drives, as you have to crane your neck forwards to avoid bonking your head on the roof.

It’s a little bit narrow in the back, too, and with the humps in the rear bench and floor the RS3 Saloon is only really fit for four occupants - even if you can technically fit five in there.

The front seat backs have nets for some storage, and the door bins are almost as handy as those in the front.

Boot space

This may come as a surprise, but the RS3 Saloon actually has a larger boot than its hatchback counterpart, at 321 litres compared to 281. That’s down to the saloon car’s longer tail, but the hatchback’s shape means you can load taller items in, once you remove the parcel shelf.

While it’s bigger than the RS3 Sportback, 321 litres is still lacking compared to its alternatives - that’s about the same size as a Renault Clio hybrid. Even the two-door BMW M2 Coupe has almost 70 litres more boot space, while the Mercedes-AMG CLA 45 has a far more generous 460-litre boot.

The Audi RS3 Saloon has a handsome, well-made interior, but it doesn’t feel as sporty as some of its alternatives

Thankfully, the RS3 has avoided Audi’s latest interior - not because the new one is unpleasant, but the previous-generation cabin is far better made with plusher materials. You get a dashboard full of sharp lines and angular creases, with funky air vents mounted up-high either side of the 12.3-inch instrument display.

Speaking of which, you get RS-specific graphics which are moodier and sportier to look at than a regular Audi, especially when you chuck the car in ‘RS’ mode by pressing the achingly-cool satin red button on the steering wheel.

At that point the instruments shift from a typical rev counter to a pair of vertically-stacked bars which resemble a runway or something out of a fighter jet. They fall towards you as engine RPM increases. It looks like an 80s video game, but it’s very confusing to wrap your head around.

The 11.0-inch infotainment screen has crisp, clear graphics and it’s responsive to the touch. The menus are easy to understand and navigate, too, and you can set the ambient lighting in a range of funky colours.

Below the infotainment is a switch panel with physical controls for the climate control and drive mode settings, which is a delight to use compared to newer models and their unpleasant touch-sensitive buttons.

Fuel economy is probably low on your list of criteria when choosing a performance car, which is a good thing in the RS3’s case because its 2.5-litre, five-cylinder engine puts out a whopping 400hp and 500nm of torque - and its sonorous exhaust note and giddy acceleration doesn’t encourage gentle driving.

Audi claims that the RS3 Saloon will average around 31mpg, but you’ll need superhuman willpower to drive the ballistic little Audi sensibly enough to achieve that. We only achieved 23mpg in mixed driving conditions, while a journey in stop-start traffic and A-roads saw 15.6mpg from the RS3. Ouch.

All trim levels are subject to the luxury car supplement in years two-to-six, on top of the already hefty road road tax as the 201g/km CO2 figure puts the RS3 in one of the highest bands. Company car drivers are better off looking elsewhere, as the RS3 also sits in a very high band of Benefit-in-Kind payments.

The Audi RS3 Saloon shares its Euro NCAP crash test score with the humble A3, which earned the full five stars when tested in 2020. Nonetheless the 89% and 81% scores for adult and child occupant safety are impressive.

The test criteria was tightened in 2022 with a greater emphasis on safety assistance tech, but the RS3 comes as standard with automatic emergency braking, adaptive cruise control, traffic sign recognition, lane departure warning and a slew of airbags around the cabin.

Audi came 19th out of 31 manufacturers entered into the 2025 Driver Power survey for owner satisfaction, which isn’t a hugely confidence-inspiring result and far behind BMW (eighth) and Mercedes, which came second.

There aren’t any RS3-specific horror stories floating around, that being said, so no major causes for concern. Audi offers a three-year, 60,000-mile warranty as standard, which is on par with BMW, and you can extend it for a fee.