2022 Audi A3 COTY Review: Three Flavors of Subcompact Luxury

As cars get ever bigger, we're always excited to drive something small as a palate cleanser. Fully redesigned for 2022, the smallest car in Audi's U.S. lineup is offered in three distinct sedan flavors—the base A3, the sporty S3, and the high-performance RS3. During our 2023 MotorTrend Car of the Year event, we enjoyed pushing the trio to their limits but encountered a couple sticking points along the way that made us question whether these pint-sized sedans are worth their liter-sized price tags.

With powerful turbocharged engines across the lineup, every A3 variant is quick; even the 201-hp A3 managed to run from 0 to 60 mph in 6.4 seconds. The more powerful S3 did the deed in just 4.6 seconds, and the turbocharged I-5 RS3 bested its siblings with a 3.6-second run. We found the drivetrains responsive and the dual-clutch automatic transmissions surprisingly refined as we accelerated to freeway speeds or ran through gears on a winding test track.

Each one of these sedans uses an independent suspension, and by and large our judges found each variant handled pavement imperfections well, though the RS3 is undeniably the stiffest of the bunch regardless of drive mode. High-speed stability was excellent across the board, and we found the steering feel to be dialed in, as well.

The Audi A3 plays the role of daily driver well but can still inject a little more fun into a spirited jaunt on a curvy road. The S3 is a proper sport sedan, approachable yet exhilarating to flog. But the RS3 is a different animal altogether, almost unrecognizable as part of the Audi A3 family. Director of editorial operations Mike Floyd called it "hilarious fun on the figure eight in RS Torque Rear," Audi's name for drift mode. With 400 hp at play, the petite RS3 has a feral characteristic that makes it a unique offering in its segment.

Our biggest complaint with the trio of Audis was the pervasive sense of cheap plastics in the cabin. Although the interior is well-designed and we like the unusual vent placement and hard-button control scheme, our judges couldn't get past Audi's cost-cutting approach. "There's nothing aspirational about the A3's angular interior once you start to touch it," buyer's guide director Zach Gale said. "The center console's cupholder area and the space around the gear toggle are boring and cheap-looking." Standard safety technology is also lacking, and buyers will have to option expensive packages to get desirable features that are becoming the norm on non-luxury offerings.

The hardest to justify was the RS3. Despite the special engine and splashes of green inside our test car that reminded some of a baby Lambo, several judges found its as-tested price tag approaching $75,000 tough to swallow—especially given the cabin's deficiencies.

If you're determined to spend money on one of these small Audis, we recommend the S3, the Goldilocks of the bunch in terms of performance and value. Its quilted leather seats elevate the cockpit to a more acceptable level for the money, and forgoing a few items on the options sheet would bring it down from its almost $57,000 as-tested price.

We appreciate seeing genuinely subcompact cars still on the market, especially ones with a solid enough platform to support such a broad range of variants. What the A3 lineup lacks are improved materials and enough standard features to make these cars as luxury-leaning as their prices suggest they should be.