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Audi S3 vs. Chevy SS

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If you had $50,000 to burn on a sport sedan, would you opt for an all-wheel-drive compact with a high-strung turbo-four or go for a rear-drive full-size with a burly naturally aspirated V-8?

That?s the question that crossed my mind when, by happenstance, Chris Walton?s intro on our new long-term 2016 Audi S3 and Jonny Lieberman?s review of a 2015 Chevrolet SS came across my computer screen on the same day. Here were two dissimilar sport sedans that, surprisingly, offered conspicuously similar levels of performance at a parallel price point. Normally, cars boasting comparable chops and wearing window stickers within a pittance of each other reside in the same category-as in, the exact same category. Think BMW M3 and Mercedes-AMG C63. But in the case of the S3 and SS, we?re talking about way, way different vehicles. Or are we?

Whereas the Monroney on Jonny?s 2015 SS manual was $48,040, for a 2016 SS automatic optioned with the available $900 sunroof-the closest laundry list to that of our long-term S3 Premium Plus-the price would be $49,770, or a fancy steak dinner shy of the $49,950 Audi. Either way, it?s 50 grand. And either way, it?s 13.0 seconds flat in the quarter mile. But, oh, how they get there ?

At 3,420 pounds, the 175.9-inch-long S3 isn?t exactly a featherweight for its size, though to balance the scales with the 3,913-pound, 195.5-inch SS, it would need a wolverine and a momma grizzly wrestling in the back seat. But thanks to a brilliant Quattro all-wheel-drive system; a rapid-fire dual-clutch auto; and a 292-horsepower, 2.0-liter turbo-four that, more important, doles out 280 lb-ft of torque at 1,900 rpm, the S3 leaps from 0 to 60 in just 4.4 seconds on the way to that 13.0-second quarter mile at 105.3 mph. The SS, on the other hand, spins only the rear tires, relying on a lot more horsepower (415) and torque (415 lb-ft at 4,600 rpm) from the 6.2-liter LS3 small-block to get its nearly two-ton package to 60 in 4.6 seconds (4.8 with Jonny?s manual) and the quarter in an Audi-tying 13.0 ticks at 109.4 mph, its higher trap speed coming courtesy of those additional 123 horses. The Chevy?s brakes are bigger (+0.6 inch front, +2.0 inches rear), and its tires wider (+10mm front, +40mm rear), but the 60-0 stopping distances are on top of each other-105 feet for the SS, 109 for the S3.





Roaring down a runway is one thing, hugging a corner another. Makes no difference with these two. They?re still virtually neck and neck. Around our figure-eight course, the S3 clocked a hasty time of 25.0 seconds, a full 1.1 seconds quicker than the BMW 340i, by the way. If the Bimmer?s the Ultimate Driving Machine, the S3?s the ?ber Ultimate. And the SS? Oh, it?s even more ?ber, proving a hair hastier than the Audi at 24.8 seconds. Average lateral acceleration between the two-0.92 g for the SS, 0.91 g for the S3-is a wash.



Sure, the differences are stark (the SS has an engine over three times the displacement, and the S3 is a quarter-ton lighter), and the driving impressions are in sharp contrast (the Audi feels small, quick, and sure-footed, and the Chevy seems big, fast, and powerful), but both are deceptively deft at preying on big game. So do you feel like a wolverine or a bear? Either way, you?re gonna feast.

Read more on Motor Trend.
 


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