ABT Sportsline’s main field of expertise is making vehicles from the Volkswagen Group more powerful and tampering with their looks every now and then, and their latest project, the Audi RS Q3 Sportback, follows this recipe to a tee.
Also available for the regular RS Q3, which is basically the same car with a different body style, the biggest upgrade concerns the 2.5-liter turbo’d five-cylinder gasoline engine that, in stock form, delivers 394 HP (400 PS / 294 kW) and 354 lb-ft (480 Nm) of torque to the quattro all-wheel drive system through a 7-speed transmission.
Review: Turns Out There’s A Lot To Like About The Audi RS Q3 Sportback
With the tuner’s engine control unit installed, the power unit releases 434 HP (440 PS / 324 kW) and 384 lb-ft (520 Nm) of torque. As a result, the 0-62 mph (0-100 km/h) acceleration has dropped to 4.3 seconds, a 0.2-second improvement compared to the stock version. Top speed has also increased from the standard 155 mph (250 km/h), or (optionally) 174 mph (280 km/h), to 177 mph (285 km/h).
Unless you rock a strong wheel game, you won’t be able to tell the tuned RS Q3 Sportback apart from the regular one. Nonetheless, it’s available with four different sets of 20-inch rims, as well as 21-inch ones as an option. On the pictured sporty crossover, they have a five-spoke design with diamond-machined outlines and mystic black finish.
Except for a custom start-stop switch cap, the interior of the RS Q3 remains untouched. Nevertheless, knowing ABT, they could launch more upgrades for the SUV in the future, from aftermarket entry sills to other bits and pieces that will help it stand out even more.