The Audi RS3 Sedan (8Y.5, 2025-2026) is the facelifted range-topping halo of the fourth-generation A3, still powered by Audi's signature turbocharged 2.5-liter inline-five (EA855 evo) through a 7-speed S tronic dual-clutch and quattro all-wheel drive. Unusually for a facelift, peak output actually dropped slightly for this generation - Car and Driver attributes the change to European emissions and regulatory harmonization narrowing the gap that used to give the US car a power edge over its European counterpart. Torque is unchanged.

The real engineering story is in the chassis: a refined version of the RS Torque Splitter rear differential with fully variable torque distribution, a new brake-based torque-vectoring layer, and retuned adaptive dampers and stability control. Audi used a pre-production car to set a new Nürburgring-Nordschleife lap record for the compact-car class, and despite the lower peak power figure, independent instrumented testing found the facelifted car quicker in a straight line than the car it replaced. It remains sedan-only in the US, same as before.