What Do an Audi RS 3 and a Pontiac Grand Prix Have in Common?

The Audi RS 3 is surprisingly engaging and fun to drive, something that you can’t say about a lot of other Audis.

Audi’s RS models are very fast and feature an advanced all-wheel drive system, so they feel very sure-footed, which is great for driver confidence and bad weather, but perhaps not the best for getting giggles while you drive. They’re amazing cars, but they don’t feel very alive. In fact, they can feel quite sterile.

So when we drove the new Audi RS 3 for the first time recently in Salalah, Oman, we were surprised (and delighted) to find it a bit tail happy, sliding up and down some of the switchbacks in the Gulf state. Considering that the competition for this car includes the rear-wheel drive, easy-to-drift BMW M2, Audi’s entry in this segment has to be just as much fun to drive. Fortunately, it is.

So how did Audi make the RS 3 feel as lively as the M2? One trick they used was a unique tire setup. Unlike the Toyota 86, the German automaker didn’t use tires known for limited grip — they used staggered sized tires instead. That means the tires at the front and rear of the vehicle are differently sized. In most applications of staggered tires, vehicles have wider tires at the rear to increase the contact patch and improve traction, preventing oversteer. It also looks pretty cool.

On the Audi RS 3, however, that’s reversed because the all-wheel-drive car is offered with an optional tire setup that puts wider tires up front. By increasing the size of the contact patch up front, the car has excellent turn-in and there’s more grip in the front than the rear, allowing the car to slide a bit. This makes the car feel more playful and gives it some personality that other Audis might be lacking.

According to Audi, this optional tire setup was also offered on the last-generation RS 3, a vehicle that wasn’t sold in North America. The last stock car you probably saw with this front-biased staggered setup was the old 2005 Pontiac Grand Prix GXP.

Who would’ve guessed it? Not only is the new Audi RS 3 model a blast to drive, but it also shares something in common with an old Pontiac! We think it goes without saying, but the Audi is far more enjoyable than the Grand Prix could ever be.

This article first appeared on Auto Guide

The post What Do an Audi RS 3 and a Pontiac Grand Prix Have in Common? appeared first on VWVortex.

from VWVortex http://ift.tt/2oiG7bH
via IFTTT

Comments

2018 Lamborghini Aventador S Roadster Review

“Supercars just don’t excite me anymore.” These words, spoken to me over a month ago by another journalist, friend, and (so-called) enthusiast were echoing in my head for far too long, but they’ve finally been drowned out. Drowned out by the wail of a naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12 engine mounted in the middle of the new Lamborghini Aventador S Roadster. My friend’s point is that back in the good old days, there was a crop of supercars that captured the imagination with amazing style, sounds, performance, and more. Today, it seems like everything is capable of supercar performance, with large luxury sedans outdoing some of the best and most dedicated teams of car nuts, while former pillars of automotive excellence are suddenly pumping out family-friendly SUVs. Beyond that, another league of supercars, dubbed hypercars have cropped up with hybrid gas-electric powertrains that make magical things happen quickly, but at the cost of the acoustic drama, visual flair, and engag...

Project SportWagen: Going Stage 2 with APR

When we last left you, the humble little SportWagen was fresh from the development process with our friends at AWE Tuning, sporting a new downpipe, exhaust and intake, allowing things to breathe a bit easier. The car sounded great, but there was no getting around the fact that our wagon was still quite, well, slow. While we realize that nothing we do to the Golf SportWagen at this point will make it a race car, we still felt compelled to do something . To put it bluntly, we had a fever, and the only cure was more power. Flash forward a few hours, and we found ourselves at Waterfest, staring down APR’s palatial spread and the numerous tuned vehicles surrounding it. Earlier in the year, APR had hinted to us that their 1.8 TSI files would be quite impressive, and based on what they were able to do with the 2.0 TSI found in the new GTI and our time in their Golf R, we knew it’d be worth the wait. So with this in mind, we lined our G...

PZM 73rd Rally Poland Kicks Off

The WRC is in Poland and after only one stage there are three Volkswagens in the top five. Today’s special stage at the Mikolajki Arena is the first stage, but the rally doesn’t begin in earnest until Friday. Today’s super special stage was less than two minutes long, and less than a second separates the top five drivers. Hyundai Motorsport’s Thierry Neuville tops the charts today, followed closely by Volkswagen’s Andreas Mikkelsen. Sebastien Ogier and Jari-Matti Latvala are in fourth and fifth, respectively. Expect Ogier to climb the rankings, though. Not only did he win the rally last year, he has won every year since 2013. And with rain expected on Friday, Ogier’s chances are even better. “If it’s a bit wet then I hope I can make some good times,” said Ogier earlier today. “The best would be some good rain during the night so it’s a damp surface and then not too bad weather during the day so specators can enjoy the show without being too wet.” If it is dry, though, speed is on ...

Vorderman Volkswagen

Search This Blog