Audi has built its reputation in rallying, and after decades of shouting about its Quattro all-wheel-drive system, it should be the best in the business, right? Team O’Neil Rally School instructor Wyatt Knox took an Audi RS3 out on the test course, however, and found it pretty obvious that Audi has sat out of World Rally competition since 1986. On the same course with Knox at the wheel, a Toyota GR Corolla managed a timed lap over nine seconds quicker than the $16,000 more expensive Audi, and it did so with two fewer cylinders and 101 fewer horsepower under the hood.
While the RS is a pretty serious contender for most impressive compact sports sedan (perhaps because it’s one of the only compact sports sedans left on the market), it is out of its element when the surface gets loose. “Is the chassis designed for performance driving?,” Knox asks himself behind the wheel of the RS3. “No, not at all,” he concludes.
In order to get the RS3 to perform at its best in snow and ice conditions on a slippery day, Knox and crew pulled the fuses for the car’s anti-lock braking system and stability control. Unfortunately, after some testing on the icy skid pad doing drifts, the car’s electronically controlled all-wheel drive and suspension systems completely failed and put the car into full-stiff front-wheel drive mode. For the timed run, Knox had to put the fuses back in and deal with the driver assist electronics reining him in when he didn’t want the so-called help.
Why is it so slow?
In similarly slippy conditions to his run with the Audi, Knox managed to set a time on course of two minutes 30.44 seconds with Toyota’s comparatively inexpensive rally-inspired Corolla. Juxtapose that with the Audi RS3’s dismally slow two minutes 39.45 seconds run, and Audi RS3 owners have to be content with the fact their car with much more power is about 6% slower on the same course.
There are about a thousand variables that could have seen the Audi perform more impressively, not least of which is reprogramming the car to allow ABS and stability control to be turned off, and not most of which is bolting on a better set of winter tires, perhaps with some carbide studs added to the mix. There’s a lot of potential there, but from the factory it’s just got too many electronics trying to control everything to make it seriously quick.
As it stands, the Audi RS3 managed to deliver the same time on the course as a 181-horsepower Mini Cooper Paceman All4 in the very first installment of the school’s Will It Rally? YouTube series. That’s not optimal.
Toyota Gazoo Racing, as of this writing, is running 1-2-3 in the World Rally Championship standings for 2026. Maybe Audi could learn a thing or two about all-wheel-drive by diving back into WRC instead of spending hundreds of millions of dollars on an also-ran Formula One effort. Audi, you have a war to win, and it’s compact all-wheel-drive rally hatches. What happened?
