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2021 Audi RS3 LMS racer revealed, previews next-gen RS3 road car

The 2021 Audi RS3 LMS race car has been unveiled – providing performance-car fans their first glimpse at how the next-generation Audi RS3 hot hatch and sedan might look.


Designed to compete in the TCR touring car formula used by up to 24 regional categories globally (including Australia), the new RS3 LMS will undergo final development throughout 2021, before reaching the first customers' hands towards the end of the year.

Measuring 4650mm long and 1950mm wide, the RS3 LMS wears a suitably aggressive exterior aerodynamics package, with large front air intakes, wide wheel arches, dual air extractors on the bonnet, a tall 'swan-neck' rear wing and an aggressive lower rear diffuser.

Audi Sport proudly claims the car's aerodynamics were modelled and designed entirely though digital Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations, rather than using a conventional wind tunnel – a first for the brand.

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Crucially, the race-bred LMS car serves as our first look at the appearance of the new-generation RS3 road car, given past RS3 LMS racers have largely shared their front bumper designs and overall shape (sans 'box' wheel arches) with their street-legal equivalents.

Powering the RS3 LMS is a race-tuned version of Audi's 2.0-litre turbocharged 'EA888' four-cylinder engine, developing "up to" 250kW of power and 420Nm of torque.

While the unit has been honed for race use, the engine block, cylinder head, crankshaft, valves, intake manifold, and turbocharger are all shared with the engine's road-going applications, with the valve cover breather, exhaust and Magneti Marelli-designed engine management system some of the only bespoke components.

Drive is fed to the front wheels through a six-speed sequential gearbox with a new twin-disc clutch and a limited-slip differential.

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Under the skin, customer teams can tune an array of chassis settings and components to maximise performance, including control arm and track rod lengths, anti-roll bars, ride height, and spring and damper stiffness.

A set of 18-inch aluminium wheels fill the arches, hiding 378mm front and 272mm rear steel brakes.

Inside, highlights include a full roll cage, a race bucket seat, six-point race harnesses, a race fuel tank (compliant with FIA regulations) and an array of switches used to control the fire extinguisher, brake balance, ignition, lights and more.

First deliveries of the 2021 Audi RS3 LMS will commence by the end of 2021.

Meanwhile, its road-going equivalent is rumoured to be unveiled in September, ahead of a European market launch in 2022. Australian timing has yet to be confirmed.

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Alex Misoyannis

Alex Misoyannis has been writing about cars since 2017, when he started his own website, Redline. He contributed for Drive in 2018, before joining CarAdvice in 2019, becoming a regular contributing journalist within the news team in 2020. Cars have played a central role throughout Alex’s life, from flicking through car magazines at a young age, to growing up around performance vehicles in a car-loving family.

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