2015 Audi S3 – Compact Luxury ACE

Snaking up and down the ribbons of road through a southern France mountain range, the 2015 Audi S3 gets a workout. The driver does, too, as the landscape keeps us busy dancing between the pedals, flicking the gearbox’s paddle shifters and cranking away on the steering wheel. Over the seemingly endless sharp off-camber turns and quick sweepers, the S3 never misses a beat and seems worthy of Audi’s sporty S moniker.

Once forbidden fruit in the U.S., the S3 finally makes its way stateside late next summer as part of Audi’s renewed compact-segment assault. It will follow the arrival of various A3 sedans, convertibles and a plug-in hybrid e-tron hatchback earlier next year. Like Mercedes’ mission with the CLA, Audi hopes the new A3 family will attract more ever-important Gen-Y customers. The performance-oriented S3 we’re driving is tasked with drawing in the enthusiasts of the bunch.

The sedan-based S3 distinguishes itself from its regular A3 brethren with specific fascias, grille, aluminum-finish mirror caps, extended side sills, rear-lip spoiler and standard 18-inch wheels upgradable to 19-inchers. Inside, it’s dressed with an S cluster with boost gauge, stainless-steel pedals, aluminum-door sill plates, leather-wrapped flat-bottom steering wheel and better bolstered seats.

Even more supportive S sport seats will be available as an option.

Providing the go is a high-output version of Audi’s workhorse 2.0-liter turbocharged I4 expected to produce around 290 hp and 280 lb-ft of torque on 17.4 pounds of boost. The only gearbox confirmed for the U.S. is a six-speed dual-clutch sequential manual routing power to all four wheels, but Audi hasn’t ruled out bringing over a six-speed manual if there’s enough demand.

A sport suspension is standard (MacPherson strut front, four-link rear) and lowers the S3 nearly an inch compared to the A3 with adjustable magnetic dampers being offered. Bigger brakes and progressive electromechanical steering round out the performance changes. To give drivers various performance options, the Audi drive-select system on all S3s changes the behavior of the engine, gearbox shift points, steering effort and suspension firmness if the magnetic shocks are installed, adjusting between auto, individual, comfort and dynamic settings.

For our mountain excursion, the dynamic setting was the choice to make the S3 feel downright eager. The 2.0-liter turbo features a wide powerband pulling strong from under 2,000 rpm onward up to redline to help greatly as we rapidly climb in elevation with just the slightest lull as boost builds from a dead step. Transmission shifts happen immediately when you pull back on the steering wheel-mounted paddles, with a pleasing audible “blap” coming from the exhaust during each gear change.

The thick-rimmed steering wheel falls nicely into our hands to control the well-heeled S3. Steering is snappy to respond to inputs, and it offers good weight and decent feedback in dynamic mode. With the help of our test car’s optional 19-inch Continental ContiSportContact 5D tires, there’s tremendous grip, with only sharp, tight downhill turns getting the front end to wash out.

Also helping is our tester’s magnetic dampers, keeping body movements in check with little roll through corners. Brakes stay strong throughout our brake-heavy drive route, but the pedal does get a little softer later in the day.

Our only real gripe is the standard seats’ insufficient side bolster, causing us to slide around a lot, making the available S sport seats even more enticing.

However, a typical drive for an S3 customer isn’t always going to be a challenging mountain road. For regular commutes, switch the drive-select system into comfort for leisurely steering, power delivery, transmission shifts and forgiving suspension behavior to turn the S3 into a relaxed and practical car. A stop/start function saves gas when the car is stopped in traffic, the trunk offers 13.7 cubic feet of cargo space and the back seats will carry a couple average-size adults just fine with normal rear-door openings to make ingress and egress easy – something the CLA can’t say.

If that’s not enough for the Gen-Y group, well, there’s this: The S3 is offered with technology features such as Audi’s Multi Media Interface with a touchpad integrated into the central rotary knob, retractable color center screen, Bang & Olufsen sound system and 4G LTE connectivity.

Topping things off is Audi-worthy build quality and materials. Panel gaps inside and out are tight, and the interior is constructed from premium materials throughout to ward off any thoughts that Audi cut any significant corners with its compact entry.

Unfortunately, we still have a ways to go before the S3 lands in U.S. showrooms, but the wait just might be worth it for what is the most well-rounded and refined luxury compact vehicle we’ve been in to date.