The high-performance RS 3 variant of Audi’s new A3 sedan and hatchback has been in development for some time, but now that the more mundane variants of the subcompact luxury car have been revealed, Audi has stripped some of the camo off of its RS 3 development mules, giving is a better idea of what to expect in terms of unique treatments. 

While RS represents the pinnacle of each Audi model line’s performance, VW’s luxury subsidiary tends to keep its styling on the more conservative side. That appears to be the case here too, and the already muscular looking baby sedan gets some flared fenders, reworked front and rear bumpers, and more pronounced side skirts.

All of those details are obscured by the remaining vinyl on this prototype, but at least Audi’s disguise lets us know where to look. We’ve also seen the RS 3 Sportback being tested, but we already know it will not come to the States yet again. Instead, Audi is giving us some cool new wagons to compensate for this oversight.

The regular Audi A3 was revealed back in March, so we expect to learn more about this RS 3 soon. As for a launch, especially here in the States? Don’t hold your breath. Chances are we won’t get a concrete timeline until sometime in 2021, especially with automakers revising schedules because of the coronavirus crisis. When the RS 3 is revealed, we expect it to have an updated version of the current turbo 2.5-liter five-cylinder engine making more than 400 horsepower.

Source: https://www.autoblog.com/2020/09/17/audi-rs3-sedan-spy-photos/