Features / 6 October 2021 / Albert du Toit

Fully-kitted Audi S3 – The price tag is impressive

The price of a fully-kitted Audi S3 Sportback in South Africa comes in at R1,015,200 – with the Sedan model reaching an impressive R1,039,700.

This is a R220,200 and R229,700 premium over the S3’s starting prices of R795,000 and R810,000, respectively.

It also puts this entry-level sports car in competition with its larger sibling – the A6 S Line.

While the large chunk of extra money does not improve the S3’s performance, it does go a long way in enhancing the cabin and creating an individualised look.

The options

The standard Audi S3 is equipped with aluminium exterior accents, LED lights, metallic paint, and 19-inch, 5-double-spoke wheels.

The first option in the S3 configurator, the Black Appearance Package Plus at R10,800, gives you the opportunity to replace the silver Audi logos, grille, and accents with black bits, and swop out the clear headlight clusters for smoked replacements.

This option also makes it compulsory to add black mirror housings for R2,000.

The next customisable feature for the S3 is the exterior colour, with 16 shades available. The cost of these colours range from “included” options to R37,500 customised hues.

The custom paint option was selected, as it is vital in building a “fully-kitted” S3.

Four 19-inch wheels offer further tailoring options for the exterior, with one being the standard option, two being R13,500 all in, and the most expensive Audi Sport Wheels fitted to our S3 being R14,000 all in.

The R7,500 Matrix LED headlamps with rear combination lamps and headlight washer system was selected, too, which emits a “carpet of light” of at least 50 metres long – while indicating on the road where the car is positioned in the lane during low-light conditions.

The final exterior additions on this Audi come in the form of a panoramic sunroof (R17,000) and carbon fibre exterior mirror housings (R10,500) that replace the compulsory black caps.

For the Audi S3 Sedan, you can also add a carbon fibre boot spoiler for an additional R15,500 – an option that is not available on the Sportback model.

Inside

Even more customisation takes place inside the S3, where standard equipment includes fabric/leatherette upholstery, manual seats, aluminium veneers, and dual-zone climate control.

To replace the original seats, three upholsteries can be fitted – including a leather/leatherette option for R4,000, a microfiber/leatherette blend for R9,000, and Fine Nappa Leather at R21,500.

In this S3, Nappa Leather in black with red stitching is fitted to highlight the curves of the Audi sports seats.

The aluminium veneers were also swapped out for “Carbon Atlas” elements for R7,500, which prompted another compulsory addition – the Ambient Lighting Package Plus at R2,500.

In addition, three-zone climate control (R5,000), four-way lumbar support for the front seats (R4,400), and front-seat heaters (R5,500) were selected to enhance comfort in this premium cabin.

No million-rand car will be complete without electric seats either, and luckily the S3 has a R19,300 option to add powered front seats with memory functions for the driver.

A split-folding rear seat backrest allows the S3 to be a more versatile daily driver, too, and is installed at a price of R3,500.

Handling

While the visual customisation options for the S3 might be done, there is still a host of top-end equipment that can be fitted to make it more luxurious.

This includes replacing the sports suspension with the S sports suspension – with adaptive chassis control and Audi drive select system – for R13,000.

This makes an adaptive suspension system that electronically monitors road surface conditions and driving inputs to maintain optimal damping characteristics available.

Additionally, the Park Assist with Parking Aid Plus package (R5,800) will let the S3 autonomously park itself using an array of exterior sensors.

A rear-view camera (R6,500), side airbags in front with curtain system (R6,000), and the Audi pre-sense basic option (R3,500) further improve safety.

If the car senses an imminent collision, it will tighten the seatbelts, close all the windows, and activate the hazard lights in an effort to mitigate as much damage as possible.

Thereafter, only two comfort-oriented features are left – the convenience opening electric boot lid (R6,000) and comfort key (R7,200).

The comfort key is your gateway to smart entry and keyless start, with this option removing the need to ever take the fob out of your pocket.

The last optional extra the Audi S3 configurator affords is a premium Bang & Olufsen sound system, at a price of R8,500.

It is worth noting that the sedan gets an electric boot lid along with the R7,200 comfort key, meaning this option does not need to be added as an extra as it would be on the Sportback derivative.