The 2025 Audi S3 is the middle child of the lineup, fitting above the regular A3 and the feisty, track-slaying RS3. It’s Audi’s high-performance entry-level sedan, and boy, does it deliver just that. The S3 feels swift and decisive in city and backroad driving, but one of its standout features is the spectacularly comfortable seats. Visibility is also good, so for those reasons alone, this car’s an excellent choice for commuting and country-road adventuring.
I peered through some comments under our First Drive review and noticed a few people were down on the styling. “…exterior design looks more 2010 than 2025,” as one reader put it. Had to laugh at that one. From where I’m sitting, cars are almost universally uglier than their predecessors. If you see that line in one of my reviews, it’s meant as a compliment.
The use of black plastic cladding is a bit heavy. But generally, the new S3 has a sharp, if somewhat sedated, look. Real exhaust tips add some sparkle to the back end. The interior layout’s very classy, though I’m slightly let down by the very mid-feeling plastics.
With 328 horsepower, 295 lb-ft of torque, a seven-speed dual clutch transmission, and a sleek user-selectable torque splitter setup, it’s definitely not slow. However, it didn’t egg me on to drive like a maniac the way some sporty cars do, and it didn’t really reward intensely aggressive driving.
I enjoyed this car the most when I was buzzing around big towns and country roads at a quick but socially acceptable clip. Its downsides are not dealbreakers, but there were a few weak points I found disappointing.
Pros
The biggest takeaway for me was ride quality. The new S3 is super smooth and sure-footed, even over crappy roads, without feeling numb underneath you. The thing just felt great. By the same token, I loved its handling behavior—predictable, consistent, clean. The context of this is, like, 65 mph in a 55 mph zone, not midnight canyon blasting or track attack. But the S3’s new rear torque splitter is really quite advanced, so I suspect the car could maintain stability at a pretty aggressive pace, too.
You can watch the quick briefing below to see some cool cutaways and get a sense of what precisely the S3 can do. It can allocate power between the left and right rear wheels to keep you under control in rapidly changing conditions. And as far as I could tell, it works brilliantly. The transmission itself is great—quick and responsive. Just put it in “S” and let it do its thing.
The seats are cool-looking, supportive, and comfortable for all-day driving. They have extendable thigh supports, which I absolutely love. The steering wheel feels great, and the whole interior design has a cool, simple, angular look that almost feels retro.
The S3 does allow for some user customization—you can change the car’s handling characteristics and torque-splitter behavior in the menu settings. But I felt like the vehicle seemed happiest in its “automatic” setting.
The shifter, a slightly unusual slider mechanism that you nudge forward or backward, became second-nature to operate quickly.
And finally, the sunroof had a slideable mesh screen independent of the glass opening that I really liked. You can open the sunroof but close the mesh to get just a little al fresco air as you drive around without getting too much sun on your head in the middle of the day.
Cons
I’m not one to hate paddle shifters on principle—I’ve used plenty that I like. Not these, though. The S3’s paddle shifters are terrible, with a tragic combination of being disappointing to touch (they feel like toy packaging-grade plastic) and deeply unsatisfying to use.
While the steering and suspension have some personality by modern-car standards, and there is some sensation of thrust when you’re hard-charging, the engine itself feels quite numb. With music on or windows open, you can’t really hear or feel anything at all as the revs rise. So if you’re planning to shift yourself, you need to actually stare at the tach. Which is silly. At that point, shifting just feels like playing a timing minigame within a video game.
This is part of the reason I never really felt the red mist to let it rip in this car. It’s sporty and quick, but it’s not aggressive. Realistically, I don’t think that’s a detractor—most of your driving is going to be at a moderate or only slightly speedy pace anyway.
Another let-down I found was in the interior broad surface, and button plastic quality. A lot of the things you touch in the cockpit remind you that you’re in a nice Volkswagen. And while we’re talking about ergonomics, the drive mode interface is a bit of an airball. To change modes, you have to hit a “drive select” button below the infotainment screen, then a menu briefly takes over the whole screen with “comfort, dynamic,” and so on, requiring you to move your hand to that menu and pick a mode before it disappears. This is very annoying and distracting to do while you’re driving. It’s silly to me that you should have to visit two separate places to change drive modes.
Verdict
The Audi S3 is a great daily for somebody with money who enjoys driving, appreciates elite engineering, and likes comfort without necessarily wanting to do track days. It’s not arrestingly gorgeous, but it’s handsome, and despite some cheapo materials, the cockpit is a fun place to be.
If you like this car, the main argument against buying it is the Volkswagen Golf R, which offers a very similar powertrain (including a torque splitter system) and the added cargo space of a hatch, for less money. I have only sat in, not driven, the latest high-end Golf, but can’t say the S3 is all that much fancier-feeling.
I guess that Audi took ride quality and chassis refinement further than VW, making the S3 more comfortable, but at least part of what you’re paying for with this four-ringed sedan is the high-line brand.
The 2025 Audi S3 started at roughly $49,000, but climbed up to $53,000 for the 2026 model year. My test car had 19-inch, multispoke S design wheels as part of the 1,800 Black Optic package, Daytona Gray pearl effect paint for $595, and S sport suspension with damper control as part of the S sport package that includes red brake calipers for $1,100. It also came equipped with the $6,200 Prestige Package that included a suite of driver aids, LED headlights, a heads-up display, and the Audi Virtual Cockpit which lets you turn the whole gauge cluster into a map view. I would skip all of that, grab it in a good color (Audi offers a great red, yellow, green, and two blues), and call it a day with the base 18-inch wheels for about $55,000.
This isn’t a car that left me dreaming about it after it was picked up, but I enjoyed being in it every time I took it out. I’m glad that sporty, inoffensive-looking sedans still exist, and this is a solid one.
Audi provided The Drive with a seven-day loan of this vehicle for the purpose of writing this review.
| 2025 Audi S3 Specs | |
|---|---|
| Base Price (As Tested) | $48,700 ($60,840) |
| Powertrain | 2.0-liter turbo-four | 7-speed dual-clutch automatic | all-wheel drive |
| Horsepower | 328 |
| Torque | 295 lb-ft |
| Seating Capacity | 5 |
| Cargo Volume | 8.3 cubic feet |
| Curb Weight | 3,549 pounds |
| 0-60 mph | 4.4 seconds |
| Top Speed | 155 mph |
| EPA Fuel Economy | 23 mpg city | 31 highway | 26 combined |
| Score | 7.5/10 |
Quick Take
It doesn’t have the soul or ferocity of an RS3, but that’s totally ok.
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