A fresh report out of Australia claims Audi is developing an “extreme” version of its upcoming RS3 Sportback, with the flagship variant boasting a peak power output as lofty as 331 kW.

According to whichcar.com.au, the Ingolstadt-based firm will first launch the standard (for lack of a better term) version of its new hot hatch, featuring uprated outputs of 309 kW and 500 N.m from its turbocharged 2,5-litre five-cylinder petrol heart.

Those figures are up from the current model’s 294 kW and 480 N.m, and would put the new RS3 Sportback pretty much on a level pegging with the latest Mercedes-AMG A45 S, which generates 310 kW and 500 N.m from its turbocharged 2,0-litre four-cylinder engine.

However, the Australian publication claims Audi is also working on an even more extreme version of the all-wheel-drive hot hatch, packing up to 331 kW from a further-tweaked version of the famous five-pot. For reference, that figure would match the maximum power output of the turbocharged 2,9-litre V6 employed by the RS4 Avant and RS5 family.

The report suggests this high-output powertrain will also be used in Audi’s new RS3 Sedan.

The new S3 and RS3 will, of course, be based on the fourth-generation A3 Sportback revealed at the start of March 2020.

Original article from Car