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Audi preparing 300-horsepower Q3 RS

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2012 Audi Q3 – Click above for high-res image gallery

Audi's 2.5-liter turbo five has shown remarkable potential. It powers the RS3 hot hatch, the new TT RS, the Volkswagen Golf24 endurance racer and was shoehorned into the A1 Clubsport Quattro concept. Now, word has it that this delicious powerplant will be dropped into the Q3 crossover to make for a new Q3 RS.

The news arrives only weeks after the Q3 started production at sister-company Seat's plant in Martorell, Spain. The model is initially being offered with 2.0-liter engines, burning gasoline as a TSFI with 168 or 208 horsepower, as well as a TDI diesel with 138 or 175 horsepower.

The turbo five produces 335 horsepower in the RS3 and TT RS, 450 horsepower in the race-spec Golf24 and upwards of 500 horsepower in the A1 concept, so you can count on the Q3 RS offering a considerable boost in performance over the existing models. Reports indicate that it could be detuned to 300 horsepower (possibly for the benefit of more torque) in the hot crossover, however. And while Audi has yet to confirm the model, sources inside Germany expect it to hit the market sometime next year.

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