About this car in Paris

A compact car is a genuine advantage in Paris, where streets are narrow, underground car parks are tight and the 30 km/h limit covers most of the city. The RS3 Performance Edition, one of 300 numbered cars, keeps the footprint of a five-door hatch while carrying 407 hp and a 300 km/h top speed you will never approach in France. In town it is simply easy; outside, it becomes something else.

Forty minutes south-west, beyond Versailles, the Chevreuse valley regional park winds through woods and villages, including the well-known route des 17 tournants above Chevreuse, a classic Sunday morning for Parisian drivers. Further south, Fontainebleau's UNESCO-listed château and forest, with the painters' village of Barbizon on its edge, are about an hour away. Quattro all-wheel drive is reassuring on damp forest roads, and the five-cylinder sound fills the valleys.

The car has winter tyres in the cold season and takes three medium suitcases and a small one, so it works for a week as well as a weekend. Check the current Crit'Air rules for the Paris low-emission zone before driving in. We deliver to Charles de Gaulle, Orly, Le Bourget, Gare de Lyon, Gare du Nord or your hotel, arranged when you book.

• One of 300 numbered RS3 Performance Edition cars, 407 hp
• Chevreuse valley and Fontainebleau within an hour
• Compact enough for Paris streets and car parks