Yahoo Autos 2017 Audi RS3 at Lightning Lap 2018
Lap Time: 3:05.6
Class: LL2 | Base Price: $61,700 | As-Tested Price: $66,775
Power and Weight: 400 hp • 3560 lb • 8.9 lb/hp
Tires: Pirelli P Zero PZ4, F: 255/30R-19 91Y R: 235/35R-19 91Y
Part straight-line rocket, part lawn mower, the Audi RS3 trimmed more grass than any other contender this year. Its potent 400-hp inline-five gets the Audi to 139.5 mph on the front straight with ease, but VIR’s braking zones are brutal, its corners unforgiving. The carbon-ceramic front brake rotors endure for a while, but as the temperatures increase throughout a lap, there’s more fade here than in Kid ’n Play’s haircuts. We aborted multiple hot laps after the brakes went soft on the back straight and we blew past Bitch.
The Pirelli P Zero PZ4 tires lack the lateral stability of the more aggressive rubber fitted to the RS3’s dizygotic twin, pulling just 0.91 g in Turn 1 to the TT RS’s 1.04 g’s. Quick to get hot and greasy, the RS3’s tires howl in nearly every turn as the front end hunts for bite. Even with wider 255-section-width rubber (included in the $1450 Dynamic package) on the front axle, the 235s fitted to the rear have little interest in coming around. The all-wheel-drive system is a tease, urging us to smash the accelerator right at the apex, but the inherent understeer of the nose-heavy RS3 means you need to be patient before doing so.
If you want to get through the Climbing Esses quickly, there’s no avoiding the curbing in the first right, but the RS3 completely unravels after the impact, wagging its tail and scrubbing some 20 mph before the next left. Its average (108.4 mph) and exit (99.6 mph) speeds for that segment were the slowest of this year’s contenders-slower, even, than a plain old Honda Accord. A 3:05.6 lap might be 5.7 seconds quicker than the S3’s in 2015, but the RS3 is capable of more. A few minor modifications-more track-oriented rubber, better brake pads and fluid-would make for a great RS3 Plus if Audi were so inclined.
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