The RS3 Sportback is turning out to be a popular choice among tuners willing to squeeze more power from the turbocharged 2.5-liter five-cylinder engine. After ABT bumped the output from the series 367 horsepower (270 kilowatts) to 430 hp (316 kW) and then MTM
took it to 502 hp (369 kW), now it’s MR Racing’s turn. A first stage
kit includes an ECU remap and a hand-made stainless steel sport exhaust
system that will lift power to 448 hp (330 kW) and 482 pound-feet (653
newton meters) of torque.
That doesn’t sound very impressive compared to MTM’s kit, but MR
Racing has a stage 2 tune which brings a more efficient intercooler,
high-pressure fuel pump, and a custom turbocharger. As a result of these
hardware changes, the five-cylinder will develop no less than 535 hp
(393 kW) and in excess of 517 lb-ft (700 Nm) of torque.
There’s no word about performance, but you can imagine it’s seriously quicker than a stock RS3
which hits 62 mph (100 kph) in 4.3 seconds and maxes out at 174 mph
(280 kph). It should also prove to be faster than the MTM version which
runs the sprint in 3.6 seconds and reaches 186 mph (300 kph).
Besides the added muscle, MR Racing has fitted the high-powered
Sportback from Ingolstadt with a custom Martini-inspired body wrap and
19-inch lightweight “traffic red” wheels shod in 235/35 R19 Pirelli
tires. There’s also a height-adjustable KW Clubsport coilover suspension
kit, and on the inside the tuner has fitted a custom DVD player with
sat-nav.
If you are not too fond of tuners, we should remind you that Audi will soon introduce an RS3 Sedan with 400 hp and most likely the facelifted RS3 Sportback will have the same output.
Source: MR Racing
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