Audi Claims The New RS3 Smells Better

The 2025 RS3 is making the headlines for the usual reasons. The compact performance car gets a mid-cycle update bringing exterior styling tweaks, a flatter steering wheel, and carbon bucket seats. In addition, there are some changes not visible to the naked eye. No, we’re not talking about the angrier exhaust, which now delivers a “more voluminous and even more distinctive” soundtrack. Audi touts the car smells better now. Seriously.

The RS3’s interior is made from approximately 200 components, all of which undergo chemical evaluation. Audi heats them in a special chamber and then analyzes the air. This complex process takes 2-3 hours per part. Once that’s taken care of, the materials are installed in the car to see how everything blends together. The German luxury brand then conducts additional testing.

To make sure everything smells nice inside regardless of weather conditions, Audi has a dedicated team of five chemists in charge of analyzing odors. The RS3 is fitted with external heaters that simulate scorching temperatures on a hot summer day. Despite a new trend among automakers to promote vegan fabrics, you’ll still find real leather on the seats and steering wheel.

That sounds like an impressive amount of work for what remains a lower-tier Audi in the grand scheme of things. The RS3 is indeed the hot version, but it still rides on the Volkswagen Group’s MQB platform. With Audi being a fancier brand than VW, Skoda, SEAT, and Cupra, it needs to justify the higher asking price by offering a nicer car. The fact it still has a decent number of physical buttons is a big plus.

But the RS3’s unique selling point is not represented by how nice it smells on the inside or how many traditional controls it offers. The real gem is underneath the hood where the five-cylinder engine is soldering on for a few more years. Audi has pledged to launch only electric vehicles from 2026, so this is the last car with the Four Rings to offer the unique powertrain. The TT RS died last year and the next-gen Q3 is unlikely to get a five-cylinder RS derivative.

If you’re willing to move to Europe, Audi will happily sell you the RS3 as a hatchback. If not, you’re stuck with the sedan. Since the car was originally launched in 2011, nearly 80,000 units have been delivered to customers. The latest (and last) iteration will be at dealers in Europe from October, with the US likely to follow in 2025.