What It Is: An aggressive body kit, 18-inch wheels, and quad tailpipes caught our attention when photos of a track-testing Audi A3 came through from our spy photographer. This is almost definitely the upcoming hot Audi S3 model.

Why It Matters: On our shores, the S3 would be the flagship for Audi’s biggest push yet into premium compact cars. Being the first A3 variant to wear the “S” badging in the U.S., this new-gen car also will placate Euro enthusiasts who don’t have S4 money to spend.

Platform: The S3, like the A3 on which it’s based, will ride on an all-new platform. Audi and VW call the architecture MQB, an acronym for German words with several thousand letters apiece. It’s super flexible, and will underpin everything from the next VW Golf to a big three-row VW SUV. (We’ve got a detailed description of MQB and how it works here.) Underpinning the S3, the MQB platform will be in one of its lighter, smaller guises. The car in these spy shots is a three-door hatch, but it’s the least likely of the three global A3 body styles to come to the U.S. An S3 sedan is a near lock, and a five-door S3 hatch is at least on the table.

Powertrain: A turbocharged 2.0-liter four should give the S3 about 300 hp. The engine is most likely an evolution of the 2.0-liter four powering at least a dozen other Volkswagen and Audi products. Some current versions of this engine make just 200 hp, but the motor is good for 265 in the Audi TTS. The EA888 engine will mount transversely in the S3’s architecture, and an all-wheel-drive system will distribute power to all wheels.

CHRIS DOANE AUTOMOTIVE

What transmission Audi will offer in the S3 is a question we’re sore to even have to ask. A dual-clutch automatic is almost guaranteed, but the availability of a genuine stick is unclear as of now. Enthusiasts at the Church of Manual Transmissions chant the hymnal “No Stick, No Buy,” but we’re not always enough to persuade the product planners. We won on the Golf R, which comes only with a stick in the U.S., and control-freak American investment bankers are the sole reason BMW is offering a manual for the new M5. But the Audi TTS only has a DSG transmission, as do many of Volkswagen and Audi’s hotter offerings over in Europe.

Competition: BMW 135is, Ford Focus ST, Mini John Cooper Works, Subaru WRX STI, Volkswagen Golf R.

What Might Go Wrong: Prohibitive pricing could curb enthusiasm for a hot Audi hatch. So long as it starts at less than the 135i’s $40k-plus sticker, though, Audi should find takers. Potentially a bigger problem: Audi could well decide bringing the S3 to the U.S. isn’t worth the effort after all. Potentially tiny—in relative terms—sales numbers and a fluctuating euro could make the prospect of selling a small, premium performance car a daunting task.

Estimated Arrival and Price: We expect the S3 to make its debut at the Paris auto show this fall before hitting showrooms a year from now. The S3 likely will reside on the higher end of its non-BMW competition’s pricing scale, with a sticker in the $37,000 range.

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