Nothing proves that the customer is always right quite like the RS Q3 Sportback; on paper and in theory this is the less practical version of the RS Q3, itself a less practical and more expensive version of the RS3 hatch. Let's not forget that the RS3 itself is already a pretty desirable and exceptionally fast car, even at the end of its life - but the market gets what the market wants, and there's nothing like a Sportback to prove it.
Anyway, we digress. Abt (another firm acutely attuned to every opportunity) has leapt on the SUV bandwagon with the first tuned example of the Audi crowdpleaser. Employing the AEC software module used in everything from S1 to RS Q8, Abt has liberated another 40hp and 40lb ft from the turbocharged inline five - meaning grand totals of 440hp and 384lb ft, which are not to be sniffed at.
Even though the Sportback weighs in at a surprisingly portly 1,700kg, those figures are sufficient for a 4.3-second 0-62mph sprint. The software also unlocks the 155mph limiter, apparently making 177mph possible. Or, to put it another way, 3mph more than if a customer pays Audi to have the restrictor lifted - every little helps. Abt claims "a unique character and incredible performance", which it's hard to argue with given those numbers.
This being Abt, the RS Q3 hasn't just been treated to an ECU tickle. Buyers will have the choice of four new wheel designs, all "guaranteed to draw a lot of attention", and offered as 20-inchers (with one design uniquely available on a 21-inch rim). Don't be too quick to mock, either; the 20-inch FR used here reduces weight over the standard wheel through its construction methods, and the unsprung mass benefits are always handy. So there.
Abt's range of RS Q3 upgrades are available now as, of course, is an array of donor vehicles for tempted parties. This aptly named (or should that be Abtly named?) Turbo Blue Sportback is for sale at Audi Exeter - just the thing, surely, for Abt's treatment and a renewed vigour for baiting sports cars.
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