Audi RS3 Competition Limited's Upgrades Go More Than Just Skin Deep For The Five-Cylinder's Farewell

If you want to buy a new car with a five-cylinder engine in the U.S., there's only one choice: the Audi RS3. Recently facelifted for the 2025 model year, the RS3 is Audi Sport's smallest and most fun offering, combining the 401-horsepower turbocharged 2.5-liter inline-5 engine with a great dual-clutch transmission and awesome torque-splitting rear differential. The RS3 has more personality than anything else Audi current builds, which makes it more than a bit of a shame that the RS3 — and its five-cylinder engine — will be discontinued next year thanks to new European regulations.

Not content to just let the RS3 drive off into the sunset with no fanfare, Audi is releasing a new 750-unit special edition called the RS3 Competition Limited. Beyond just being a final edition for the model, it's a celebration of 50 years of five-cylinder engines, which Audi first used in the 100 in 1976. There are a bunch of features and design details unique to the Competition Limited, including a fancy suspension setup, but what you really need to know is that it comes in green with gold wheels.

Audi says that "sportiness informs all visual features" of the RS3, and of course it has made the Competition Limited look even sportier. There are a pair of matte carbon-fiber canards coming off each air curtain intake in the front bumper, plus carbon splitter element at each corner. Other carbon-fiber elements include the side skirts, rear spoiler, mirror caps and rear diffuser surround. Audi darkened the headlight lenses, and when the car is unlocked the matrix LED segments turn on in 1-2-4-5-3 pattern, echoing the engine's firing order.

The 19-inch wheels are the same cross-spoke design as on the existing RS3, but they're painted matte Neodymium Gold, which makes them way cooler. In addition to the Malachite Green paint — exclusive to this special edition and inspired by the Sport Quattro — you'll be able to get the Competition Limited in Daytona Gray (sadly described as a best-seller) or matte Glacier White. For the nerdiest among us, you'll notice that it's gained an RS badge in the front grille, and both it and the RS3 badge on the rear wear heritage colors. The final exterior detail is the subtlest one: "partial matting" on the side quarter windows that says the model name.

On the inside, there's still a lot of black material everywhere, but luckily the Competition Limited's carbon-backed bucket seats are covered in Dinamica microfiber in Neodymium Gold, as are the armrests and parts of the door panels. Rear-seat passengers don't miss out, also getting Neodymium Gold seat centers and armrests. There's Ginger White contrast stitching throughout, Ginger White seatbelts, and a Ginger White stripe at the 12 o'clock mark on the steering wheel.

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Open the doors and a puddle light projects "RS3 Competition Limited" on the ground. The floor mats and trunk carpet are also adorned with the model name, and a serial number just behind the shifter will say what number out of the 750 built your car is. As a final flourish, Audi made the background of the digital instrument cluster white, in a tribute to the white gauges of the 1994 RS2, the first RS model with a five-cylinder engine.

The Competition Limited's upgrades go deeper than just the design, though. As on the RS6 GT, Audi fitted the car with an adjustable coilover suspension setup that has been developed just for this special model. The twin-tube shock absorbers are made from stainless steel up front and aluminum in the back. External reservoirs up front and increased volumes make for better hydraulic fluid cooling capability and thus more consistent performance, and the rear damper tubes and piston rods are larger for better stability. Using dials on the shocks, you can separately adjust the low-speed compression (12 steps of adjustment), high-speed compression (15 steps) and rebound (16 steps).

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Carbon-ceramic brakes are standard, and super sticky Pirelli P Zero Trofeo R tires are optional. There's also a thicker, stiffer tubular rear stabilizer bar, with the rear spring rates increased to match the new stiffness. The Competition Limited's aerodynamic elements like the canards and rear spoiler are functional, too, designed in a wind tunnel to reduce lift.

Audi will only be making 750 of the RS3 Competition Limited worldwide starting in mid-2026, and they all come pretty much fully loaded. Pricing and availability in the U.S. has yet to be announced, but in Germany it will cost nearly €40,000 more than a standard RS3.