Audi is testing the new 2013 S3 model and these new spy shots were taken while the Audi hot hatch was out testing in the Californian desert.
The next Audi S3 will be available across all the myriad bodystyles available on the new A3 family – there will be five distinct shapes of A3 – and the sportier model will include a body kit and go-faster engine.
You can see the trademark quad exhaust pipes nestling under the disruptive camouflage of this three-door prototype Audi S3, which is expected to follow after the regular three-door bows in at the 2012 Geneva motor show next spring. Talk is, the S3 versions will follow in 2013.
What powers the new Audi S3?
Today’s Audi S3 develops 265bhp, but that’ll nudge up to 280bhp on the new 2012 version. Torque remains capped at 258lb ft from the upgraded turbocharged 2.0-litre four-pot.
All S3 models will come with Quattro all-wheel drive, and the S tronic twin-clutch transmission is available now too.
New Audi A3: the background
This is the third iteration of the Audi A3. Importantly, it switches to the Volkswagen group’s super-flexible MQB architecture and sources confirm that all the current bodystyles will be repeated – with a surprise or two.
What will those five different bodystyles of Audi A3 be? Our moles in Ingolstadt suggest the choices are:
A3 Hatch The sportier three-door A3, due summer 2012
A3 Sportback The more practical five-door, due late 2012
A3 Notchback A crossbreed between saloon and four-door coupé, due spring 2013
A3 Cabriolet Based on the notchback rather than the hatch, due autumn 2013
A3 Allroad Quattro Not yet approved, but follows A4/A6 recipe
All new A3s will be equipped with start-stop and brake energy recuperation. Here is a list of all the available engines:
Petrols
1.2 TFSI 105bhp/129lb ft
1.4 TFSI 140bhp/184lb ft
1.6 TFSI 160bhp/192lb ft
1.8 TFSI 180bhp/199lb ft
2.0 TFSI 280bhp/258lb ft
Diesels
1.6 TDI 90bhp/170lb ft
1.6 TDI 105bhp/184lb ft
2.0 TDI 140bhp/236lb ft
2.0 TDI 170bhp/258lb ft
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