Audi S3 review

There are two versions of S3 to choose from: the £44,445 Black Edition car, or the £51,040 Vorsprung model. The former represents a £7.5k jump over the diesel-powered A3, while the latter throws the kitchen sink at the S3 with extras galore.

Those prices are for the Sportback (hatch) versions of the S3, of course. If you want to go for the Saloon car it costs £1,120 more, but does possibly look better these days. Just us?

What do you get with the trims?

The Black Edition car has got a very high level of specification, with all of the sporty upgrades of the S3 plus adaptive cruise control, head-up display, front and rear parking sensors with rear camera, a fancy sound system and ambient interior lighting.

The Vorsprung nets you adaptive dampers, matrix LED headlights, panoramic roof, powered tailgate, 360-degree parking cameras, carbon mirror caps and powered front seats. 

There are few other options to go for, apart from around £4k on fancier paint or £300 on red brake calipers.

Which one should I go for? 

We’d probably say in for a penny with this car: if you’re going to be spending a load of cash on an S3, you might as well go top spec and get everything that Audi is willing to chuck in.

The panoramic roof that comes with the Vorsprung spec livens up the cabin and the adaptive dampers make for a more comfortable everyday car.