Buttons back, curved dash added to S3 and RS3

'More capable and more digital', says Audi - and not much more expensive, either

By Matt Bird / Tuesday, 23 June 2026 / Loading comments

Good old Audi. Just when it seemed like everyone had given up on the hot hatch, so it continues to offer a brace of hot A3s with two different engines. And while nobody would suggest that the 333hp S3 and 400hp RS3 are budget options, they never have been in more than 25 years of Audi offering fast quattro hatches. What they are is fast, really good to drive, and now, thanks to a refresh for the entire A3 range, hopefully a little less annoying as well.

An interior refresh is the big news, and the significant change there is probably the return of buttons to the steering wheel. That one again, but it does make a difference. Additionally there’s now a ‘modern panorama’ for a dash, otherwise known as a curved display made up of 11.9-inch virtual cockpit and 12.8-inch MMI combined. The inlay that sits beneath can be carbon, Dinamica microfibre or black, with the 25-watt wireless charging tray now angled towards the driver. Which will mean easier access when the car is off and absolutely not while driving an S3 or RS3.

And when that’s the big news, you can probably guess the jist of the rest: there’s not much, but it’s a nice reminder that both the most exciting A3s are still out there. It’s largely convenience features that have been introduced for this update, tech now offered on the S3 and RS3 including stuff like remote parking, trained parking (where the car remembers spaces and manoeuvres) plus reverse assist. So if parking really isn’t your forte, there’s every stage of assistance possible - from 360-degree cameras all the way to autonomy - now on offer in the A3.

Furthermore, if motorways are a chore, adaptive cruise assist plus will do lane changes, maintain a gap and bring the car to a halt if needed, using swarm data to adjust the average speed to those vehicles around. Adaptive cruise can take the load off all the way to 130mph, in fact, so keep an eye on your TikTok for evidence of that (on a private road, obviously), in due course…

Finally, one for the Audiphiles. Ever since its launch in 2021, the current RS3 has had its own DRL signature; not to be left out, the 2.0-litre S3 now has its own ‘distinctive’ light arrangement of its own. That’s the way to identify the latest S3 against the last. Unless it’s parking itself, of course.

Both four-cylinder and five-cylinder models will be on sale in September (ready for the 76 reg, don’t forget), priced from £49,960 for the S3 - offered in Black Edition or Vorsprung spec - and £63,655 for the RS3, which you can have as a Carbon Black or Carbon Vorsprung. That’s actually cheaper than before for the flagship, which currently lists at £66,290 for the Carbon Black. With time rapidly running out for the 2.5 turbo, it’s starting to feel like now or never for a recent hot hatch hero - consider this a bit of encouragement from Audi before it’s gone for good…