Audi has rolled out a new race car at the 2016 Paris Motor Show offering customers a cheaper way to get into motorsport behind the wheel of an Audi.
The new RS3 LMS has been developed for customer racing in the relatively new TCR category, a quickly growing motorsport class.
“The TCR market has even larger potential than that of the GT3 category,” says Chris Reinke, Head of Audi Sport customer racing. “In 2016, there were ten TCR series with races in 18 countries, and more and more series are being added. With the TCR version of the RS 3 we’re also reaching countries where no GT3 races are held. The costs for a TCR race car are very low.”
2016 Paris Motor Show Coverage
The new RS3 LMS will be available for the 2017 race season. To conform to TCR regulations, the race car will use a 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine with 330 horsepower, less than the 400 hp that can be had in the road-going Audi RS3.
SEE ALSO: Audi RS3 Will Hit US in 2017 With 400-HP Five Cylinder
Sprinting from 0 to 62 mph will take 4.5 seconds while top speed for the car is limited to 149 mph (240 km/h).
A full safety kit is provided with the race car including an FIA-spec safety fuel tank, a racing safety cell, the PS3 safety seat, FIA safety nets on both sides of the seat and a rescue hatch in the roof like the one used in the Audi R8 LMS.
Pricing for the race car starts at 99,000 Euros for the Club Sport version while it climbs up to 129,000 Euros for the TCR-ready version. Deliveries will begin in December of this year.
