What are the exterior differences between the A3 and S3?
3 Answers
Here are the exterior differences between the Audi A3 and S3: 1. Audi S3: The S3 comes with a sporty body kit, featuring an aluminum lower lip below the front grille. The front grille is replaced with aluminum metal strips bearing the "S3" logo, while the sharp lines of the rear taillights give the car a more rugged and sporty appearance. The deep yet vibrant Sepang Blue body color offers a pure and striking impression. 2. Audi A3: The A3 inherits the design language of the new generation of Audi products, with a redesigned front end featuring a shield-shaped grille. The lighting elements add a more dynamic touch, giving the A3 a confident look. The rear hatch has smoother and simpler lines, showcasing a balance between aerodynamics and aesthetic design, while also providing better headroom.
I just picked up my Audi A3, and coincidentally, my friend drives an S3. The exterior differences are quite noticeable. The A3 has a more rounded front fascia, with a standard black plastic honeycomb grille and simpler headlight design. The S3 looks much more aggressive, featuring oversized air intakes on both sides of the bumper, silver fang-like accents, and even silver mirror caps. The biggest difference is in the wheels—the A3 comes with 17-inch five-spoke rims, while the S3 sports 18-inch blade-style wheels with red-painted brake calipers. At the rear, the most striking contrast is the exhaust: the A3 has a subtle single-sided dual exhaust, whereas the S3 boasts four bold tailpipes that look ready for takeoff. Owning an A3 really makes you understand why the S3 costs over 200,000 yuan more—just the exterior alone is on another level.
Last week while filming a car video, I specifically compared these two models. The Audi A3 is like an office worker in casual clothes, while the S3 is an athlete in a racing suit. For the front grille, the A3 uses horizontal chrome trim, whereas the S3 features a piano black honeycomb grille with an S badge in the center. From the side, the S3 has a lower ground clearance, more pronounced muscular lines on the front and rear wheel arches, and a much lower tire aspect ratio. The taillights look quite similar, but the S3 adds a diffuser-style lower bumper and more three-dimensional reflectors. On the road, the S3 is highly recognizable, especially at night when its matrix headlights display a dynamic turn signal effect during unlocking—features not available on the A3.
