It changes direction eagerly and feels far more neutral, especially in RS Performance, where the Torque Splitter is at the most aggressive. Put simply, the RS3 feels distinct from any previous RS product. At no point on that first day did we gain confidence in the car, instead worrying about how the front end would respond, even at moderate speeds. No amount of fiddling with drive modes or the behavior of the Torque Splitter improved the situation, and while we spent several hours on twisting tarmac, the RS3 felt vague, like entering a corner with too much speed would cause terminal understeer.
On that first day, our tester wore factory low-rolling-resistance Pirelli PZero tires that completely underperformed Audi's excellent chassis and tech.
Audi says the Torque Splitter curbs understeer, leads to more precise responses to steering inputs, and improves acceleration on corner exit. The rear tires share the love on straight roads, but once you attack a corner, the computers will shuffle up to 100 percent of that torque to the outside rear wheel. Using two multi-disc clutches (one on each side), this collection of gizmos and gears provides the front-drive-based RS3 with rear-axle torque vectoring and a handling character that's quite unlike what we've come to expect from nose-heavy, understeer-prone Audis.Īs before, the RS3 sends up to 50 percent of its torque to the rear axle, but the Torque Splitter transfers that power laterally depending on the selected drive mode and input from a host of sensors. In the hills northwest of the city, the Audi underwhelmed in corners despite its headlining feature, the RS Torque Splitter. Admittedly, our first meeting with the RS3 was not a positive one as we departed our hotel outside Athens, Greece.
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