Audi S3 Facelift Spied During Cold-Weather Development

The whole Audi A3 family has refreshed styling on the way. This gallery catches the mildly sporty S3 hatchback testing in the snow.

The S3 wears a revised front fascia that now has two stacked openings and trapezoidal inlets in the corners. The bar in the middle of the grille appears to be larger. The headlights are the same shape but have new graphics inside of the lamps.

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Along the sides, the engineers cover the fenders and side sills with camouflage. However, the styling doesn’t seem significantly different than the current car. Concealing these areas could mean there are styling tweaks we can’t yet see.

At the back, the S3 wears taillights with new graphics. The bumper now has vertical reflectors, rather than the current horizontal design. It also appears that the simulated vents and diffuser are gone.

So far, we don’t have spy shots showing the refreshed A3’s interior. We’d expect there to be some tweaks, though. 

Powertrain tweaks for the refreshed A3 range are also a mystery. In the United States, the current S3 comes with a turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine that makes 306 horsepower (228 kilowatts) and 295 pound-feet (400 Newton-meters).

Previous spy shots have let us see the refreshed A3 and RS3 in sedan form. The styling tweaks are similar to the S3, including a revised front end, updated lights, and an altered rear bumper.

We expect the updated A3 range to debut in 2023. It’s not yet clear whether Audi would debut the standard model at the same time as the S3 and RS3 or stagger their arrival. Spy shots also indicate that a version that goes by either Allroad or Allstreet is on the way.

Audi plans to stop introducing combustion-powered vehicles in 2025. We expect the next-gen A3 to arrive after that year, meaning it would be an EV.

For a discussion about the current RS3, check out this episode of Rambling About Cars: