By posting a lap time of 7 minutes and 40.748 seconds, the new Audi RS 3 Sedan has set the record as the fastest compact model on the legendary, 20.832-kilometer Nurburgring Nordschleife.
Audi Sport racing and development driver Frank Stippler beat the previous lap record in the compact model class by 4.64 seconds.
Audi RS 3 Technical Project Leader Marvin Schwatter said the team “didn’t know just how quick” the new RS 3 Sedan would really be on the Nordschleife when development work started on the compact sports sedan.
“But over the course of endurance testing, we determined that we could reach very good times and set a new record,” he said.
Before the lap, the team only had to adjust the tire pressure of the new Audi RS 3 Sedan’s Pirelli P Zero Trofeo R semi-slick tires to suit track conditions.
A key factor in the record-setting performance of the new Audi RS 3 Sedan—unveiled only in July—is the car’s torque splitter, which for the first time is used in an Audi model. The system constantly varies the distribution of torque between the rear wheels via a multiple disc clutch on each of the drive shafts. During dynamic driving, it increases the drive torque to the outer rear wheel with the higher load. This means that on right turns, there is more torque on the left rear wheel, and the opposite on left turns. The result is that the new Audi RS 3 Sedan can turn into the curve even better and can follow the steering angle more precisely.
Stippler called the torque splitter a “quantum leap in terms of agile driving,” especially because this is combined with the newly developed RS Performance driving mode that calibrates engine and transmission characteristics for the racetrack. The torque splitter ensures the most neutral handling possible, minimizing oversteer and understeer in various driving situations, to allow the new Audi RS 3 Sedan to accelerate as quickly as possible out of a curve. This leads to faster lap times.
Complementing the performance gained from the torque splitter and the semi-slick tires are the 19-inch ceramic front brakes, as well as the RS sport suspension plus with adaptive damper control that individually and continuously adjusts each shock absorber to road conditions, driving situation, and the Audi drive select mode chosen.
Powering the new Audi RS 3 Sedan is the 2.5-liter TFSI five-cylinder engine that has been named “International Engine of the Year” nine times in a row. In its current form it outputs 400 hp and 500 Nm of torque, allowing the latest RS 3 models to sprint from rest to 100 km/h in just 3.8 seconds. Top speed can be set to as high as 290 km/h. These make the new Audi RS 3 the best in its class in terms of acceleration and top speed.
Paired to the 2.5 TFSI five-cylinder engine is a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission that has short shifting times and a sportier gear ratio spread. For the first time, the exhaust system features a fully variable flap control system that supports intermediate positions, broadening even further the already unique sound characteristics of the five-cylinder engine.
