Audi RS3 vs BMW M3 xDrive review | Which 4wd saloon is best? | Autocar

The new 2022 Audi RS3 has at least five things going for it. Yup, the RS3 is back and Audi has stuck to the formula for making its small hatch and saloon go fast, and that's to stick a 2.5-litre five-cylinder engine in the front of it. Goody.

That means the new RS3 makes 394bhp and 369lb ft of torque, and with a four-wheel drive system it's good for a 0-62mph time of just 3.8sec and, if you tick the right boxes on the options list, a top speed of 180mph.

If you do tick those options, though, you can get an RS3 that costs upwards of £65,000. Which brings it close enough to the 2022 BMW M3 Competition for the two to be in the reckoning of each other.

Conveniently the new M3 is also, for the first time, available in four-wheel drive. The new BMW M3 Competition xDrive shares quite a lot with the rear-drive M3 variant. It has a 3.0-litre straight-six engine making 503bhp and 479lb ft, but the additional traction and security offered by the four-wheel drive system means it can go from 0-62mph in 3.9sec, while the top speed is also 180mph with the optional M Driver's Package, or 155mph without.

The M3 Competition xDrive costs from around £78,000. More than the RS3, and it's a bigger car, but they exist on a close enough sphere for us to put them together.

So, with winter looming, which secure driver's car will it be? Join Matt Prior and Matt Saunders as they find out.
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