Even five years ago, it would have been hard to envisage a test like this. Who foresaw the return of the rally car for the road, based on a Toyota Yaris of all things? To some in 2017, turbos were still antithetical for the mighty BMW M3, leave alone four-wheel drive. An Audi RS3 was nothing to write home about dynamically, and it was hard to imagine a desire (or a need) for a more powerful E63 - or a four-door Mercedes-AMG GT63, for that matter. Yet here we are: four fantastic driver's cars, with three, five, six and eight cylinders, separated by more than £100,000 and yet with one common thread - they all make a virtue out of all-wheel drive. As exponents of what can currently be achieved with power to every wheel, we couldn't think of better. The new cult homologation hero; what feels like third time lucky for Audi's hyper-hatch; the sacrilegious yet sensational M car; and the luxury Mercedes-AMG four-door that's within five seconds of a Jaguar Project 8 at the Nordschleife.
A brief reminder of the details, before we kick off (because four-wheel drive certainly isn't as simple as it once was). The Yaris, predictably, employs a bespoke system: the GR-Four setup uses a coupling to split power front to rear (with slightly different gear ratios for each axle) that's said to be lighter than a centre diff and more responsive than on-demand, Haldex-style systems. Which has always been the Audi RS3's style, though for the first time it's been dramatically enhanced with the Torque Splitter; where the divide was always just front to back, the torque can now be apportioned across the rear axle as well. Audi says that's fully variable, too, with up to 100 per cent of the engine's output able to reach one rear wheel in extreme circumstances. Which is a pretty drastic change from what always felt a fairly prescriptive layout.
If anything, BMW building a four-wheel-drive M3 was a more radical departure than Audi making an RS hatch that's interesting to drive. For xDrive, an electronically controlled multi-plate clutch in the transfer case is used for "smoothly adjustable, fully variable distribution of drive torque between the front and rear wheels". The M differential from the 2WD car then deals with the back end. Finally, the GT's 4Matic+ system, familiar from the E63, keeps the rear wheels permanently driven (this is an AMG, after all), sending power to the front as required via an electro-mechanically controlled clutch. Again, it's fully variable (up to and including Drift Mode), with AMG promising a "seamless" link between the two. All make sense?
Let's follow the money from most to least - because who wouldn't want to start their day with the GT63 4-door?. We could be celebrating V8 engines, AMGs, luxury saloons or grand tourers and the big Mercedes would still dazzle. That's as might reasonably be expected for £140,000, but for a car that's always had a slightly confused remit, the GT makes a compelling case for itself almost from the off. Once the graunching and grinding at parking speeds - an issue that afflicts all the 4Matic Mercs - has subsided.
Even without the benefit of the most recent facelift, this AMG remains something special. It rises to each and every challenge with aplomb. Wales doesn't seem far enough way for its cruising ability, the weather insufficiently grim for its four-wheel drive to falter, no stress or angst great enough not to be eased by a thumping V8 and a rich, inviting, only ever so slightly confusing interior. If no longer quite the standard bearer it was, the 4.0-litre hot-vee twin-turbocharged unit remains a real charmer, a hint of lag soon eliminated as the boost builds and the world is reeled in faster and faster. Its V8 thunder might sound a touch augmented, and its nine-speed auto can no longer keep up with the best out there, but the GT's powertrain is still almighty.
The fact that the '63 impresses even more when the roads are twistier and drier speaks to its dynamic quality. By combining the best bits of the entire AMG range - V8 muscle, 4WD security, and clever chassis tech - the 4-door makes for an epic flagship. It's notable how quickly the car dismisses the notion that it's a marketing ploy. You only need to glance at negative camber on the front wheels or experience the way 2,045kg can be made to change direction to know that any cynicism is misplaced. Four-wheel steer gives it an agility denied to the E63, and drive to every wheel unlocks the staggering impact of 639hp and 664lb ft of torque(!) on all those kilos. Not once does it feel advantageous to ditch 4WD, even though the option is there via Drift Mode; such is the thrill of having the performance nigh-on unaffected by the weather. Ditto its capacity for driving like a rear-drive car with uncanny purchase - accurate and authentic in a way its mixed heritage implied it might not be. The E63 is already one of the best super-saloons out there, but with even more power, pomp and attitude, the GT63 ekes that bit more drama out of the recipe. It's quite some achievement.
Which is useful, because right now there isn't a better super-saloon out there than the new M3. Having (just) edged itself ahead of the E63 at the end of last year, going straight from AMG to xDrive BMW makes sense. And even with the rollicking GT63 front of mind, it doesn't take long for the M3 to hook you in all over again. Never has an 1,800kg, four-wheel-drive car felt this athletic or so adroitly damped over craggy roads or endlessly eager to change direction. It's cohesive, too, each input perfectly correlated with a dynamic outcome to give the driver immediate confidence - which hasn't always been the case with the really powerful M cars. It's luxurious and cosseting, too, but it's also gratifying from the off. And in the Valleys, not noticeably slower than the GT63, either, 510hp and 479lb ft punching hard through short ratios and a more responsive transmission.
What really separates the M3 from the AMG - and in fact all the cars here - is the sophistication of its four-wheel-drive system and driver assists. The MDM mid-way setting for the DSC is both more permissive and subtler than the AMG's ESP Sport, allowing the driver to further explore the chassis as well as lending a gentler guiding hand when it does intervene. Beyond that (with the DSC off) is 4WD Sport, which is the car's real party trick, particularly in grotty conditions. It's more capable than a 2WD Competition thanks to the driven front axle, yet no less exciting thanks to the uncanny way in which power is moved around. Into, through, and out of a corner, the xDrive feels identical to an M3 - incisive, balanced, rear-biased - yet with the ability to keep powering forward and not squander momentum when the weather is against you. The engineering (and programming) aptitude required to make all this feel seamless and authentic must be enormous, especially for a trifling 50kg penalty - and very obviously it's the xDrive's trump card. Which makes it not just a more capable M3, but, in virtually any given circumstance, an improved one, too. Even the RWD setting is more easily accessed than in the AMG. It could be argued that xDrive has caused similar consternation to turbos and automatic gearboxes in BMW M's most iconic variant - but it's the most successful integration of new tech yet.
In any other year, switching from a 500hp M car into an Audi RS3 would have been a considerable downgrade, and not something you'd accept willingly. But thanks to Ingolstadt's own technical wizardry that simply isn't the case these days. A wet, windy, bumpy, and brisk Welsh mountain road is exactly where a car like the RS3 should always have delivered, yet never quite did - now it most certainly does.
After the big four-doors, the Audi feels light and compact, wieldy, and perfectly sized for the roads. Which has always been an RS3 trademark. With the same power and torque as before from the 2.5-litre, five-cylinder twin-turbo - 400hp and 369lb ft - the latest version isn't any faster, which may defeat the point to some. The engine is starting a feel a tad old-hat now, too, with its low rev lethargy and top end rush, though at least that's endearing; a less-than-stellar seven-speed dual-clutch 'box isn't quite so easy to excuse.
But the new Audi RS3 is not nearly as reliant on its inline five as its predecessors were. Changes to the two driven axles are key. A front end with more negative camber makes it keener to get into a bend - belying the fact that the engine is slung way out front - while the newly Torque Splittered rear axle deals with the exit. Commit to the power early in a bend and there's the most un-Audi-like flurry of oversteer; measure it out later and the torque can shuffle just nicely to straighten the last little bit of steering lock, which feels great. Assisted by undefeatable ceramic brakes and sympathetic damping, the RS3 makes mincemeat of a challenging road - but, more importantly, you're now engaged in the process as well. If there's a complaint, it's that the experience can feel a tad synthetic - the way it responds right at the limit isn't quite as consistent or natural as the larger cars, as if the Torque Splitter isn't 100 per cent sure of what to divvy up where. But the fact it takes hugely expensive rivals to show the RS3 up really does say a lot.
A shortfall in authenticity is not a complaint that could be levelled at the GR Yaris. If a car could wear a bobble hat, fleece and walking boots for the forest, this would be it - the Yaris is unashamedly about rally-based prowess. Where the other cars here are using new 4WD technology to be something they once weren't - AMG and M's reputation forged on rear drive, the Audi resolutely stability biased before torque vectoring - the Yaris wears its stripes proudly. It was always designed to be easily turned into a rally car, it's always going to drive like a rally car. Well, mostly: don't forget the Circuit Pack here is aided by two Torsen differentials.
On the road, initially at least, the setup actually makes the GR Yaris feel the most serious of all four. Party tricks aren't really its bag, instead preferring to claw all available traction out of the road and fire you towards the next one on a wave of thrummy three-cylinder boost. To call it a giant-killer is an overstatement - an equally hard-driven M3 would disappear up the road - but the GR remains awesomely capable; not least in its ability to have you driving it on its door mirrors. Of course, it shouldn't amaze any of us that a car designed on the other side of the world works so well in a little corner of Wales after all those years of Imprezas and Evos, but they really do feel made for each other. All that's familiar from the good old days of 4WD rally cars for the road is present and correct, too: it's wonderfully compact, the visibility is good, the manual gearbox satisfying and the turbo punch addictive.
The GR is inevitably busier than the rest here, fidgetier on a wheelbase that looks half that of the Merc - yet still endowed with the sort of finesse that cars for competition always have. The passive suspension, mostly tuned off-road, never seems to run out of ideas, the brakes are strong, the three-pot tirelessly enthusiastic (it really is like nothing else so small) and the experience sufficiently engrossing that leaving the other cars for a few more minutes seems the only sensible thing to do.
Set to Sport mode from Normal, which diverts more power to the rear, and the Yaris comes good on its rally-bred promise; a lift when turning in just rotates it a tad, almost immediately after which you can get back on the gas to get all the wheels driving with a tiny smidge of lock to catapult out of the bend. Appropriately, given the test, it feels a completely different experience to the other four-wheel-drive cars here, tightly wound and focused for maximum ground-covering ability - yet with a character to discover all of its own.
That's the real joy of having all these cars together. Not so long ago, the fun would've plateaued and we might've mourned not having a rear- or even front-drive car along to enjoy the drier roads. But there was never a desire there to lose 4WD from any of them, because they wouldn't appeal as much with the just one driven axle. The Yaris's rally heritage is to be celebrated in a front-drive segment; a fast Audi just wouldn't be the same without quattro (helpfully embellished now by rear torque vectoring); and the AMG wouldn't seem anywhere near as all-conquering with just its back wheels doing all the hard work. Even the BMW imposes virtually no penalty for its traction advantage; if the future of M is all-wheel drive - and the evidence suggests it might be - then there'll be no complaints with more cars like this.
All day they impress. The RS3 for its ability to show that eminently secure and slightly silly don't have to be mutually exclusive traits in an Audi; the GT for the unforgettable way it complements old school AMG swagger with four-wheel drive; and the Yaris for returning an obsessively engineered Japanese rally rep to the UK, 30 years after Subaru introduced the first. The latter is half the price of anything else here and arguably more relevant than all of them for the average enthusiast. But as electrification likely means more four-wheel drive, all three prove what an opportunity that could be.
The BMW deserves a special mention, though, not just for broadening the scope of the M3's ability without diluting its traditional appeal - though that is a mighty triumph - and not because it's almost certainly the best super-saloon out there either. It might very well be the best AWD performance car, period. And that's a wonderful thing to proclaim in BMW M's 50th year - with a wagon waiting in the wings.
SPECIFICATION | 2021 MERCEDES-AMG GT 63 S 4-DOOR COUPE
Engine: 3,982cc, V8, twin-turbo
Transmission: 9-speed 'multi-clutch' transmission, 4Matic+ 4WD
Power (hp): 639@5,500-6,500rpm
Torque (lb ft): 664@2,500-4,500rpm
0-62mph: 3.2sec
Top speed: 196mph
Weight: 2,045kg (without driver)
MPG: 22.1
CO2: 257g/km
Price: £145,495
SPECIFICATION | 2022 BMW M3 COMPETITION XDRIVE (G80)
Engine: 2,993cc, twin-turbo straight-six
Transmission: 8-speed auto, four-wheel drive
Power (hp): 510@6,250rpm
Torque (lb ft): 479@2,750-5,500rpm
0-62mph: 3.5sec
Top speed: 155mph
Weight: 1,775kg (DIN)
MPG: 28-28.2
CO2: 230-227g/km
Price: £76,950
SPECIFICATION | 2022 AUDI RS3 SPORTBACK
Engine: 2,490cc, five-cylinder turbo
Transmission: 7-speed dual-clutch auto, four-wheel drive
Power (hp): 400@5,600-7,000rpm
Torque (lb ft): 369@2,250-5,600rpm
0-62mph: 3.8 seconds
Top speed: 155mph (174mph and 180mph optional)
Weight: 1,570kg (DIN unladen)
MPG: 31.4
CO2: 205g/km
Price: from £50,900
SPECIFICATION | 2021 TOYOTA GR YARIS
Engine: 1,618cc, three-cyl turbo
Transmission: 6-speed manual, four-wheel drive
Power (hp): 261@6,500rpm
Torque (lb ft): 266@3,000-4,600rpm
0-62mph: 5.5 seconds
Top speed: 143mph (electronically limited)
Weight: 1,280kg
MPG: 34.3
CO2: 186g/km driving
Price: £34,620 (Circuit Pack)
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