From the March/April 2026 issue of Car and Driver.
Lap Time: 2:58.9
Class: LL2 | Base: $71,295 | As Tested: $77,640
Power and Weight: 394 hp • 3625 lb • 9.2 lb/hp
Tires: Pirelli P Zero R
F: 265/30ZR-19 (93Y) R1
R: 245/35ZR-19 (93Y) R1
The Audi RS3 returns to VIR handicapped. The turbocharged 2.5-liter inline-five now has 394 horsepower, a loss of seven horses (thanks, European regulations), and the sticky Trofeo R rubber from 2023 is now a Europe-only option. The Pirelli P Zero R is one of two available tires for the Dynamic Plus package. So equipped, this RS3 was good for a 2:58.9 lap, three seconds quicker than the last car on P Zero PZ4s.
What hasn't changed are Ingolstadt's pragmatic fixes for a nose-heavy, understeer-prone platform: wider tires in front and a rear differential that can send all available torque to the outside wheel. With this setup, the RS3's proclivity to rotate on power alters how you approach corners.
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Consider the Infield, or the mid-speed corner left-right-left sequence following NASCAR Bend, where you'd normally adopt a careful brake-and-set routine. In the RS3, you can replace that with something lazier and more entertaining: brake, aim, commit, and keep your right foot down.
The result is the anticipation of oversteer that never quite arrives. You end up sawing at the wheel, braced for a slide that physics usually eventually cancels. It is unnerving, assuming you dislike fun. The Audi also gobbles curbing, protesting with a brief cut in power if you get aggressive enough to send a tire airborne at Oak Tree.
At VIR the RS3 hangs with its closest rival, the Tesla Model 3 Performance, despite carrying 1.3 more pounds per horsepower. The Audi is slower coming into the Climbing Esses (126.3 mph to the Tesla's 130.0) but averages 4.0 mph faster through them and exits faster too, by 5.6 mph. At 91.4 mph heading into Spiral (16.7 mph faster than the Model 3), the RS3 matched the Model S Plaid and was faster than heavier hitters, the M5 Touring and the 911 GT3.
There is the constant noise of tire squeal and the work of chasing the wheel. There's also that feeling mid-lap that you're getting away with something great.
