Audi‘s all-new RS 3 sedan was just revealed a few weeks ago, but it’s already setting records. This time, Audi claims the compact five-pot is the fastest compact around the Nurburgring with a time a few ticks over 7:40.
The official time is 7:40.748 minutes for the Audi RS 3 sedan around the famous race course and toll highway. It’s 4.64 seconds quicker than the previous record around the more than 20 km lap of the circuit, and was set with test driver Frank Stippler behind the wheel.
It’s a time that would put the Audi in the same ranks as the 997.2 Porsche 911 GT3 and Bugatti Veyron, so it’s certainly nothing to scoff at. Stippler’s only change from the factory specification for the lap was an adjustment to the pressures of the Pirelli P Zero Trofeo R semi-slicks to better suit track conditions.
Audi and Stippler credit the new RS torque splitter rear differential for the extra speed. “In general, the new RS 3 is much more agile when driving from the middle of the curve to its end and when accelerating out of the curve,” he said. The differential is fully adjustable to send torque to either of the rear wheels thanks to a pair of multi-plate clutches.
This RS 3 also had the 19-inch ceramic front braking system, sure to be a popular tick of the option box, as well as the RS sport suspension plus with adaptive dampers. The adaptive damping has a setting specifically for tracks like the Nurburgring, which are bumpy and uneven like public roads, as well as one for normal flat racetracks.
