(Mon 19 May 08)

Audi has concocted an exceptional version of the A3, which will be one of the stars at the 27th annual Lake Wörther Tour in Austria later this year.

The A3 TDI clubsport quattro looks very impressive, thanks to the funky paint scheme and various body add-ons, but the real news is under the bonnet. Housed in there is the Volkswagen Group's two-litre TDI turbo diesel engine, which has been tuned to produce 221bhp - some way off the output of the same unit developed by SEAT for the World and British Touring Car Championships, but thunderous for a road-going engine of that size all the same.

This power, along with maximum torque of 332lb/ft, pushes the clubsport quattro from 0-62mph in 6.6 seconds, while the top speed is 149mph.

Other technical features include a six-speed manual gearbox, a four-wheel drive system, 265/30 tyres on 20" wheels and the magnetic ride suspension system used in the TT. The interior has racing seats and an aluminium gearlever gate with cutouts.

There is no word of Audi developing anything similar for production, but we reckon it would be rather splendid if this happened.

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