That is the 2026 Audi RS3 Competition Limited and it serves not only because the full-stop model on this generation of the RS3 itself, but a final, fond farewell to the German automaker’s long-serving five-cylinder engine.
Available in each Sportback hatch and Sedan body styles, just 750 examples of the RS3 Competition Limited will likely be made for all global markets – and Australia will receive 18 of them, split into 10 Sportbacks and eight Sedans.
There’s no word on pricing, but in its native Germany the Competition Limited is definitely not low cost; at just beyond €100,000, it’s about 43 per cent costlier than the bottom price of an ordinary RS3 Sportback, which in Australia is $104,800 before on-road costs.
CarExpert can prevent 1000’s on a brand new automobile. Click here to get a terrific deal.
That said, it comes with quite a lot of the otherwise-optional kit, and there are specific components that are unique to the Competition Limited and never available on every other variant, regardless of how much money you throw at your Audi dealer.
Chief amongst these is advanced coilover suspension. This comprises twin-tube dampers that are chrome steel on the front and aluminium on the rear, with the items on the nose of the automobile also fitted with external reservoirs.
On the rear, there are larger-diameter shock-absorber tubes with thicker piston rods, and a thicker and stiffer anti-roll bar too.
Audi’s done this trick with generation-ending RS model variants to impressive effect before – each the B9-series RS4 Avant, which gained coilovers in late Competition form, and the magnificent C8-series RS6 GT Avant employed the identical suspension setup.
For the RS3, Audi will sell the Competition Limited with a road-biased setup, in addition to a advisable ‘track’ tune plus a full toolkit – with instructions – for adjusting the assorted settings of the coilovers, and likewise raising or lowering the automobile’s ride height.
For reference, the RS3 Competition Limited has 12 settings of low-speed compression, 15 settings of high-speed compression and 16 settings of rebound to play with, all adjusted on the suspension towers themselves (or their top mounts), with easy ‘+/-’ markers for every.
Which means adjusting the way in which the Competition Limited rides and handles would require some proper mechanical work, quite than simply tapping a button within the cabin.
But Audi says all owners might want to do is to lift the automobile within the air on a ramp as no wheel-arch liners nor other bits of trim must be removed to fiddle with any of the compression or rebound settings.
You’ll have to pop the wheels off if you need to raise or lower the ride height, and the Competition Limited will be dropped 10mm closer to the tarmac than every other RS3 if an owner so desires.
What else is special in regards to the Audi RS3 Competition Limited?
The opposite detail which is exclusive to the Competition Limited special is matte-effect carbon-fibre on the surface.
You’ll spot it in several places, resembling on the door sills, the mirror caps and above the rear diffuser, but it is usually applied to several features that are specific to the limited-edition RS3 – notably, the roof spoiler on the Sportback (there’s a lip item on the rear decklid of the Sedan), the divided-in-the-middle front splitter, and the brand new canards on either corner of the Audi’s nose.
Beyond that, and a discreet ‘RS3 Competition Limited’ decal within the rear-quarterlight windows of the back doors, what distinguishes essentially the most special variant of Audi’s five-pot wonder are the body colors and wheels.
On the previous rating, there are only three shades available, two of which – Daytona Grey metallic and Glacier White matte – are offered on other RS3s.
Nevertheless, the special finish that is exclusive to this model is Malachite Green. It’s the primary time this lustrous shade has been seen on any Audi for the reason that road-going version of the outstanding Sport Quattro short-wheelbase of the Nineteen Eighties.
This finish is complemented by the Neodymium Gold (remember this color – we’ll be coming back to it for the inside) alloys, of 19 inches in diameter. These are either clothed in Pirelli P Zero tyres as standard, or optionally semi-slick Trofeo R rubber from the identical manufacturer.
Peep through the ten spokes of those rims and also you’ll see each the red brake callipers of the carbon stoppers, plus the red-and-silver detailing of the coilover suspension.
A final note on the surface pertains to the locking/unlocking graphics of the LED running lights up front. When activated, these placed on a display which mimics the 1-2-4-5-3 cylinder-firing order of the engine – a lightshow bespoke to the RS3 Competition Limited.
Contained in the Audi RS3 Competition Limited
Neodymium Gold is the signature color of alternative contained in the RS3 Competition Limited, even though it’s also accompanied by Ginger White.
The gold is employed for the seat centres and a few of the door cards, while the off-white then contrasts with that for the stitching and the seatbelts.
Meanwhile, within the digital instrument cluster, the background color of the RS3 Competition Limited’s dials is pure white. It is a nod back to 1994’s RS2 Avant, which was the primary automobile to make use of an RS variant of the five-cylinder engine and which, yes, had a white-backed instrument pack.
On top of all that, there are numerous ‘RS3 Competition Limited’ decals and graphics, including for the mirrors’ puddle lights outside, while the actual highlight is the front seats – they’re exquisite, matte-carbon-backed RS sports buckets and so they not only look tremendous, but also they are super-supportive to sit down in.
Each of the 750 RS3 Competition Limited vehicles sold internationally may have a sequential number displayed on a special graphic situated down on the centre console.
The cars we were invited to see in person in a studio near Munich were all numbered ‘000/750’, because they were pre-production prototypes.
Incidentally, right-hand drive RS3s are slated for a quartet of markets, with the three others besides our own allocation of 18 comprised of 10 for Latest Zealand, 11 for the UK after which 100 for Japan, which will likely be the biggest territory for Competition Limited after the Audi’s homeland of Germany.
Under the bonnet of the Audi RS3 Competition Limited
Interestingly, relating to the very thing being celebrated by the 2026 RS3 Competition Limited – its turbocharged 2.5-litre five-pot engine – buyers will get no more power than the usual automobile.
But whenever you’ve got 294kW of power and 500Nm of torque to play with, leading to a 3.8-second claimed 0-100km/h time, then additional outputs aren’t crucial. One thing the RS3 Competition Limited does get is a raise in its speed limiter, to 290km/h.
One other interesting point: Audi has trimmed some sound-deadening out of the RS3’s firewall, so although the standard-fit sports exhaust isn’t any louder on the surface and thus meets all of the mandatory worldwide noise regs, contained in the cabin you get more of the five-cylinder’s flavour.
But the important thing thing here is the coilover suspension, which should benefit from the RS3’s latent roadholding abilities and deliver a fitting swansong for that five-cylinder engine.
Because, sadly, this is unquestionably a goodbye from Audi. Strict European emissions laws because of come into force in 2027 mean the corporate is not going to be taking the two.5-litre engine any further into the longer term.
So, other than its application within the Cupra Formentor VZ5 and possibly even a mooted sign-off model of the Volkswagen Golf R, the 2026 RS3 Competition Limited will likely be the last-ever automobile to hold the legendary five-cylinder powerplant – and it’s almost definitely going to be the ultimate outing for the RS3 itself, at the least as we realize it.
This Article First Appeared At www.carexpert.com.au
