There’s a familiar formula that’s quietly defined some of Audi’s most enduring enthusiast cars. Not a mechanical spec formula, but a visual one—Nogaro Blue over Avus-style wheels. It’s a combination that doesn’t need explanation to those who know it, and when executed properly, it just feels right on an Audi.
This 2024 Audi S3 Sedan (8Y) leans into that formula. Delivered just one week before the facelifted S3 (8Y.5) broke cover, it was delivered just before the earlier 8Y S3 ended production. A more noteworthy distinction comes from its foundation: Audi exclusive Nogaro Blue, a color whose roots trace back to the birth of Audi’s modern S and RS-badged performance era.
Originally offered as “RS Blue” on the Audi RS2 Avant, this blue would name shift to Nogaro Blue and really find its stride across the S-car lineage. By the time it arrived on the Audi S4 (B5) and later Audi S4 (B6), it had become one of the most defining colors the four rings have ever produced.
Yes, its association with the RS2 Avant is perhaps more legendary, but its that association with the S4 that really saw it come into its own as an iconic S-car formula and that’s where the basis of this story picks up.
In those B5 and B6 days, the S4 was offered primarily with “Avus” wheels – a clean, purposeful, and unmistakably Audi design first shown on the 1991 Avus quattro concept. One the years, the “Avus” wheel design has evolved but the basic idea has remained – six wide straight spokes and often (but not always) some sort of dimple at the end of each spoke.
In production, the Avus design traces back to those years following the Avus show car’s debut when the Audi S6 (C4)—the so-called “ur S6”—and the Audi S2 received the wheel as optional kit. Same goes for the first S8, famously fitted to the car on screen in Ronin. It was a wheel that balanced simplicity and presence, and over time, it became inseparable from Audi’s performance identity in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
That pairing became part of the brand’s visual shorthand for performance, specifically in that short span of time between the Porsche-developed RS2 and the launch of the first RS 4 Avant (B5). None of those RS cars wore Avus. In fact, prior to the RS 6 GT, no RS car ever received an Avus design. In as much, it was strictly an S-car affair and one that complimented those B5 and B6 S4s most when painted Nogaor Blue from the standard factory S4 color palette.
That’s why, for those who prefer the deep cuts, the S3 you see here is the more obvious basis for revisiting the formula. Sure, the RS 3 is more of a fantasy car, but the S3 is already the same formula as those early S-cars – subtler appearance, capable performance and highly tunable – a platform that suggests a greater level of practicality but with a fun side worn on its sleeve.
With this S3, that formula is reinterpreted through a modern lens. The 19-inch Rotiform AVS wheels are a direct homage to the Avus design, scaled and refined with more convex shape for a contemporary and slightly less conservative form. In Nogaro Blue, the nod to lineage just seems natural even if it isn’t immediately obvious. The proportions, the contrast, the restraint—it all lands in an unmistakably authentic way.
The rest of the build follows that same disciplined approach. Maxton splitters subtly sharpen the car’s edges, while a rear carbon spoiler and Rieger diffuser add definition without disrupting the S3’s clean look. Lowering springs from Racingline bring the stance into focus, tightening the visual relationship between body and wheel.
Mechanically, it remains the known quantity. The 8Y S3’s 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder delivers 310 horsepower and 400 Nm of torque through quattro all-wheel drive—quick, composed, and usable. But in this context, performance isn’t the lead. It’s the base line that allows the design language to speak clearly.
And that’s where this car quietly makes its case. It is neither a sleeper nor a fantasy. It is approachable and attainable yet highly respectable. It could likely roll into any automotive event, from cars and coffee to a tuner show, and still invite universal respect.
In the end, Formula S isn’t about chasing the most extreme variant or grabbing the most eyeballs. It’s about getting the proportions, the references, and the intent exactly right. Those who know will know.
WORTH A FOLLOW
Owner: @s3.nogaro (Nick)
Photographer: @maciejsulek
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