Here’s the thing about the Audi RS 3. You can point to how it was panned by Chris Harris for having too much understeer, yadda, yadda, yadda… though you can’t argue with its success. Audi sold out of its stock of the RS 3 in record time and even built an additional run of the cars for the UK market. To this measure, this is the most successful RS car quattro GmbH has built thus far. Good news then for RS 3 fans (and also for those looking for a re-match in the aforementioned Chris Harris piece). The next-generation RS 3 will be available in early 2014.

A report published today by What Car? confirms that, instead of waiting until near the end of the A3 product lifecycle as was done with the current car, the release date of the new RS 3 is just over a year away.

Power is expected to come from Audi’s potent 2.5 TFSI 5-cylinder turbo, though power may be up from the current car’s 335 bhp. We’d fully expect the Sportback configuration to continue in Europe though the USA will almost certainly get a sedan version. Either way, the new MQB-based chassis on which the next RS 3 will be based will sport more use of lightweight materials, improved handling dynamics and a considerable upgrade to the cabin and infotainment systems.

Care to see more renders by our staff and by our readers? Follow the link below to our MQB RS 3 photo gallery.