Michael Chuang compares the 2020 Audi TTRS and RS3, which share a 394 hp turbocharged five-cylinder engine. The TTRS is 300 pounds lighter, but in 30-40 roll tests the RS3 was faster: 7.38 seconds 40-100 mph versus the TTRS's 7.64 seconds. The hosts explore why fuel octane and transmission type might explain the gap.
Questions this video answers
2.5 liter turbocharged inline-five
394 horsepower and 354 ft·lb of torque
Approximately 300 pounds lighter
7.38 seconds
13.11 seconds
Chapters
Sam.
So normally we do head to heads with cars from different manufacturers, but today we got something a little different going on right behind me. I have none other than the Audi TTRS and the Audi RS3. They're basically two peas in a pod. Twins separated at birth, brothers from another mother. Call it what you want, but they serve two different purposes. One is geared toward family duties while the other is living more of that bachelor life. They both share the same heart and that's the lovely sounding 2.5 liter turbocharged inline five, pumping out 394 horsepower and 354 foot pounds of torque. The only real physical difference is The TTRS weighs 300 pounds lighter, so theoretically it should be faster, right? I mean, just look at the thing. It's already won the race based on the front end, so you'd be wise to put your money on it. But oddly enough, when you go on carandriver.com, they run practically the same time. So today we're going to put them against each other and see what they do on our little Runway.
Let's go.
We're going to do the usual 30 to 40 roll and if we're lucky, we can get a dig or two in as well.
Sam. It's sam. It's. It.
Definitely not the result I was expecting, but based on pure numbers alone and our previous testing, the TTRS should have won every single time. I mean, the first race was pretty effing close. The Rs3 won by a bumper. But every race after that it was pretty clear cut. Thank God we had draggies in both cars. Let's take a look. Here are the best da corrected times for both cars during those runs. The Audi RS3 put down a 40100 of 7.38 seconds and a 60130 time of 30:13.11. Not great, but not too far off from our initial test of the car. The TT RS on the other hand did a 40 to 100 of 7.64 and a 60 to 130 of 13.81 seconds. That's pretty far off from the times it should be running, but luckily I think we have an explanation for this. So both cars are running pump 93 octane. Now I'm not sure about which gas station they're both filled up at, but from what I've heard, this platform is super picky on what type of fuel it uses. So the theory here is that if it doesn't use the finest blends of 93 octane, then the car starts pulling timing which is kind of silly. So it's possible that the 93 in the RS3 was better than the 93 in the TTR S, or that the factory may have tuned the RS3 a little bit more lenient. And maybe it's just a factory freak. Hard to tell, but the RS3 was in manual mode for most of its runs and the TT RS was in sport auto in our previous test. Manual mode put down faster times with these cars by a few tenths of a second, so it's possible that was a factor as well. Regardless, I still think that under all the right conditions the TT RS is a quicker car, but for whatever reason the RS3 took it this time. What would you guys rather flex the sports sedan or the sports coupe? Let me know in the comments below.
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