Why do I hate my S3 so much?

MIKE GTR

MIKE GTR

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I bought my S3 as a daily driver and as my second car almost 2 years ago instead of buying a TT/Golf or equivalent and straight away was dissapointed in it.

The car came with what I found out to be every extra that was available at the time and had only 38k on the clock. It had front mount, forge recirc, milltek cat back, revo stg 1 and was lowered on blildsteins but it was basically slow as you like and handled like ****, however it was comfy and I lived with it!

Then to add to my woes of discontentment, one of the cambelt tensioners failed and resulted in me bending 20valves, smashing 4 pistons and cracking the head, so rebuild time - I decided at the same time to replace the turbo as it had done 50k and although not smoking or having any play though I may as well get a hybrid while the car was apart, so I did. Anyway, £3k later I got my car back and although it was slightly quicker it was nothing special (yes I know it will need stg 2 to make it better, but you understand that at present i'd spent enough).

Well sure enough 3 months down the line the turbo fails due to a boost pipe coming off and overspinning the turbo, so now I've gone for an even more uprated turbo, whilst also having new plugs, new coilpacks, new AFM, new rear disks, new front pads, new rear pads, new rocker gasket, lips welded onto the hardpipe kit to prevent the pipes coming off again and this time i'll be getting it mapped.

But to cut a long story short, during this period of it being off the road, I've been using a peugeot 306 GTI6 which I have to say is also a gutless dog and it was only upon getting back into the Audi and using the nice and smooth clutch and lovely gearchange that perhaps I finally appreciated it for what it is, which is a nice cruising car.

I think that perhaps its this site that has made me believe the car something that its not, as in a genuine hot hatch. I finally spend some quality time with the car, waxing it and hoovering it (i've never done this myself on this car, having always paid someone else to lol) and I even painted my 'Snoop Dogg Alloys' (supposidly 'scene' ABT alloys) and which I believe have improved the look of them ten fold (although still not my prefered choice).

I had put the car up for sale and it is still up for sale, but am I having second thoughts????? maybe! :ermm:

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do u have a skyline as ur first car? with the gtr in ur name?

if so everything else will seem fail no matter how much money u spend
 
Yeah I have and thats exactly what my mates have said, but even driving the 306 it gives the buzz of a hot hatch i.e. the handling, I can only think that having lowered mine its made the handling worse. I've had the tracking checked etc but there is no adjustment on the rear so you can only do so much.

If it handled I reckon i'd like it, but as it is it just doesn't give you any confidence and the fact you can't turn the traction completely off is also very irritating, i've just bought 4 good brand tyres so hopefully that will make it better, but if I'm honest its the lack of feedback through the steering, is this a common complaint?
 
MIKE GTR said:
Yeah I have and thats exactly what my mates have said, but even driving the 306 it gives the buzz of a hot hatch i.e. the handling, I can only think that having lowered mine its made the handling worse. I've had the tracking checked etc but there is no adjustment on the rear so you can only do so much.

If it handled I reckon i'd like it, but as it is it just doesn't give you any confidence and the fact you can't turn the traction completely off is also very irritating, i've just bought 4 good brand tyres so hopefully that will make it better, but if I'm honest its the lack of feedback through the steering, is this a common complaint?
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Having come from a Clio that handled like it was on rails, I can understand where you're coming from. My S3 is a wallowy bus. But it shifts OK for a 23/4 y/o (I drive the R8 quite often, as well as RS6s and Rs4s regularly) and is awesome on the motorway. Find me another comfortable car that can overtake with the ease of the S3 in 6th, but still yield 35-38mpg when on CC, in 6th in your comfy Recaros...
 
Having read your comments Mike, I have to say that I agree with everything you've said. It's only a hot hatch if you've been used to driving miss daisy and the fastest car you've owned is a modded corsa with a 2l lump in it!!! OK, a little bit harsh for all the Vauxhall owners but you get my point. I too have been spoilt by a rice rocket and my S3 doesn't even come close to my Impreza - ever!!! but, what it does give me is a car that doesn't look like a chavved up boy racer pile of sh!te that sounds like an egg box when I shut the door. It's quite a trade off really and when you consider the price of the damn things to start with and how much money they cost to fix..........all the ****** time then you start to wonder if all your sandwiches are nicely packed in your picnic basket!!!

The worst part about it now is the prices are dropping so quickly that they aren't worth any money now so there's only one way forward......throw a sh!t load more money at it and build a car like Kevs!!!
 
Having come from a Clio that handled like it was on rails, I can understand where you're coming from. My S3 is a wallowy bus. But it shifts OK for a 23/4 y/o (I drive the R8 quite often, as well as RS6s and Rs4s regularly) and is awesome on the motorway. Find me another comfortable car that can overtake with the ease of the S3 in 6th, but still yield 35-38mpg when on CC, in 6th in your comfy Recaros...
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I wish my car would over take in 6th J, it's slower than a horse and cart, even WITH the revo!
 
scoobyra said:
, what it does give me is a car that doesn't look like a chavved up boy racer pile of sh!te that sounds like an egg box when I shut the door.
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Lol they've got chrome mirrors and mines got chrome lipped ABT's lol, even 50 cent would consider it a little too bling!

I'm quite glad that its not just mine thats like this then.

As for the cruising in 6th, i'm sure their are comfier diesels out there that will easily out accelerate mine and still achieve 50mpg, but thats not what the S3 was supposed to be about, its a hatch, yeah it is comfy, but it really is outclassed in the hot hatch market, but perhaps the intention is to have a nice looking, comfy small car, in which case I suppose it ticks the box.

As for resale prices, I have to disagree, I think the S3 holds its price well and indeed in the 18 months of ownership that I have had I'd expect to get my money back, even with the extra 30k miles i've put on it, but the proof will be in the pudding on that count!
 
I agree on the pricing. I would expect roughly the same back for mine, maybe more due to the work gone in to the paint work in comparison to the minor miles accumulated.

The diseasel is an unfair comparision (I can feel a ClioSport special "Ford ST vs Clio" thread coming on!), but I get your point :)
 
I bought my S3 with 104k on it in Feb 2008 for £6500. It's now done 125k and it's worth about £4000 ish if I'm lucky. It's a buyers market now and there's a lot of cars out there at silly money which aren't selling, hence why I've decided it's not really worth me selling it.

Looking at it realistically, it first came out in 1997 so at 13 years old, it's never going to be at the cutting edge of handling - still, I do like my car for what it is, even though it's no where near as good as I thought it was going to be when I bought it.

Plus, it's 3 cars in one..........Red, Salmon Pink and F@CKING ORANGE!!!
 
i used to have a 306 they are light and nimble cars u can throw them around all day the handling was brilliant and the GTI-6 was pretty nippy too. U have to remember the S3 is alot heavier and as such the handling will be pants without spending some hefty money on it. lets face it the french know out to make hatches. in my opinion the A3/S3 is just an a4 with the boot cut off.

the skyline is the dog danglies of cars aswell and ur probably expecting too much of other cars. The s3 is good at alot of things but not superb at anyone one thing.

it is the jack of all trades master of none, but for that it makes a good daily driver which u can have fun at a track in then drive home comfortably afterwards.

i remember a video on top gear when they compared the GTI-6 with a Golf 1.8T and a fiat bravo HGT or something the GTi_6 won
 
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I must admit, I have to agree with Dave on the track point. It does handle well on the track, in actual fact, it seemed pretty effortless to drive and was a lot of fun!
 
For an 11 year old they still hold their own. My expectations when i bought mine where probably too high , i expected it to shift but in standard form it is a league behind the new hot hatches. With a stage 1 remap im happy with it now and coming from a Ford Escort it really is a big step up. After spending 6 month hammering it and the clutch going i realised i enjoy driving it more when i take it steady and give it a good thrashing every once in a while, that way i can appreciate all the other good things about the car instead of focusing purely on performance.

I only do 50 mile a week now so when i do drive it its almost like driving it for the first time all over again.
 
Don't really know how you can compare a GTI-6 to an 8L Audi S3, two totally different type of cars, the GTI-6 always gets the thumbs up from road testers for it's handling etc. along with Integra type R's, modern sporty Clio's and older hothatch Peugeots, that where it belongs, so from a fun factor point of view, it's going to be hard to beat.

With the S3 though, you can use the performance come rain or shine, it's comfortable, well built and looks good... a good all rounder as most of us put it.

I have to admit though, after owning mine for the best part of 9 years, it's not an exciting car. Infact, it does get boring, but I can't see anything out there I want to replace it with, but that's just me.
 
jojo said:
Don't really know how you can compare a GTI-6 to an 8L Audi S3, two totally different type of cars, the GTI-6 always gets the thumbs up from road testers for it's handling etc. along with Integra type R's, modern sporty Clio's and older hothatch Peugeots, that where it belongs, so from a fun factor point of view, it's going to be hard to beat.
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A 210 brake hatch based on a golf floorpan - i'd say it comes under exactly the same bracket as the above mentioned - OK so you get a few more frills and better build quality, but why is the driving feel so vacant, at least in the peugeot you can feel where the drive is and when the car is going to lose traction - all of this in the Audi is very far removed which IMO detracts from the whole experience and spoils what could be a very nice car. As for using the perfomance come rain or shine lol, well its not hard as it hardly has any, the traction control is retarded, the turn in is awful and it has a FWD biased 4WD lol, useable on reflection is probably the correct term lol.

As for replacements - E46 M3, V6 Clio, R32 Golf, Evo7 there are plenty of alternatives - what are we comparing it against, as you imply its not a hot hatch?
 
Mike you really can't compare the above.

M3, find one for my 8k
V6, will break, find a ph2 for less than 10k and are just dogs apart from the looks
R32, same thing really, not that much quicker, drinks, large engine weight
Evo 7 - one point, running costs!!
 
And Mike, the above is just my thinking, not trying to be an arsey response! I know how written word comes across, so just thought I would mention it!
 
JD09 said:
Mike you really can't compare the above.

M3, find one for my 8k
V6, will break, find a ph2 for less than 10k and are just dogs apart from the looks
R32, same thing really, not that much quicker, drinks, large engine weight
Evo 7 - one point, running costs!!
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M3 = BMW : bmw m3 laguna seca blue (2001)
V6 = my S3 has cost me £4k in under 3 months
R32 = was just used as a basis of comparison
Evo 7 - Running costs definately no more than what I'm paying unless i went for an FQ400 (although I think that was an 8?) Also if I were to add the mods I've had on my S3, i'd see a better bang for my buck thats for sure!!!

I've taken everything in a positive way fella, no worries on that front. Everyone is entitled to their opinion and I'm not a non-owner coming on here to slag off a brand, i'm just trying to air some of my frustrations over what is supposidly a well sought after car!
 
M3 - was damged in 2007 fully repaierd

No ta, although I did think hmmmm blimey!!!! for a few seconds!

If memory serves you were complaining about it when I first joined this forum ;)
 
my advice would be to buy a cheap 'fun' car you can abuse when you get bored, because at the end of the day the s3 isn't a hooligans car. Im looking at buying a clio sport and totally stripping it out and abusing that on track, i should definately get my kicks out of that. i mean my s3 certainly does it for me, but i know what you mean, its just not mental enough when your feeling like schumacher. but then i think, could i buy anything else for the same money and get the performance, quality,comfort and looks that the s3 gives, definately not.
 
JD09 said:
M3 - was damged in 2007 fully repaierd

No ta, although I did think hmmmm blimey!!!! for a few seconds!

If memory serves you were complaining about it when I first joined this forum ;)
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Sorry it was the first one I saw, but they are about at that price, all e it the dregs.

You're right, I think i was moaning the first time it broke lol, but from day one i've been underwelmed by it. It does have some redeaming qualities, it doesn't look like a 10 year old car, the leather is nice, the climate control is good, the plastics are top quality BUT and its a very big BUT, its let down by how it drives - I'd hoped in some respects that it was just my car, but it appears this is a commn complaint - I'd looked at changing all the bushes as a precaution, but we're talking about £600 for a complete polybush set!!!!

Karl, one thing for sure is I don't want a track car, driving the Peugeot these past weeks has made me sure of that lol, so much so that i'm worried i'm gonna hate the Skyline when it comes back out to play - perhaps i've just hit the nail on the head!! Perhaps i've found what the Audi is good at and thats being a good everyday car - and maybe the fact that the previous owner had lowered it and put silly wheels on it and spent loads on tuning that I was expecting more. Nonetheless it is up for sale and if it does sell i may well regret it, but my experience of ownership wouldn't exactly lend me to speaking well of it
 
superkarl said:
surely nothing can beat the thrill of driving a skyline?! i went in an r33 years ago and its like being sat on a rocket!
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I've never had a car offer so much positive feedback to the driver, for a car that weighs so much it just doesn't convey that on the road. Its totally controllable with lift off oversteer/poweroversteer and sheer speed through corners etc and the turn in is amazing. I owned a Escort Cossie before the skyline and much like the S3 I was very much underwelmed by both the handling and the speed, even after spending thousands on the engine/turbo and ultimately 3 gearboxes it still wasnt quick and the handling hadnt got any better lol, then along came the skyline and while the interior resembled that of a 1990 corrolla, it more than made up for it in the driving experiance and everytime you went it it makes you feel special - Perhaps knowing its the fastest car on Gran Turismo helped lol.
 
i think i had an 800hp skyline on gran turismo! i could do the ring in about 7 minutes lol. ahhhh if only it wer real.

maybe you should consider making the skyline a more comfortable and quality place to sit?? similar leather recaros as the s3 etc, line everything with leather, quality plastic, make it a nicer place to be and you'l have everything you want! not a 1990 corolla that goes like a bat out of hell!
 
Iv read the op but skipped though the rest.

Soon as you start spending money on a car, not modifying money but repair money, I think it kind of ruins a car. They never feel the same. I put up with my S3 knowing full well id be happier a golf or even my old gti6, which was cheap as chips and a wicked car. After spedning so much money on the s3 I feel im getting no where with it. They do a poor job of being a hot hatch tbh.

Im thinking next year im going to sell and maybe get a golf diesel and maybe an r1 to satisfy my wild side.
 
Did you actualy test drive the car you bought?
If i drove a car i disliked so much and had non of the things i was looking for the last thing i would have done was hand cash over for it.

I too drive a skyline. all be it a 32 gtst yes its fun. feels great but as for feed back.... by christ yes ! every pot hole, every cats eye. on a smooth sweeping run on a dry day... yes skyline everytime.BUT here in yorkshire... not many roads like that and not many days like that.
The 8L S3 does what it does very well. I too became bord with it... i too spent a fair few quid on it... with money spent in the right areas alot of its problems can be sorted. I honestly think... audi didnt build it to be a "hot hatch" more of an S4's baby brother.
 
S3 Paul said:
Did you actualy test drive the car you bought?
If i drove a car i disliked so much and had non of the things i was looking for the last thing i would have done was hand cash over for it.
QUOTE]

Exactly....you can make the s3 a decent handling car with a few mods...unfortunatly your money has gone on repairs, not everybodys s3 has blown up! its bad luck thats all, that has no doubt left a sour taste in your mouth, understandbly,
I cant believe al the negativity on this forum sometimes why ****** buy one!!
some cheap volvos out there......
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i like s3s just cause they do everything very well... and i hate tts.
being a jack of all trades car and also how much do s3s weigh? 1500kg? its never guna handle or go very well with out mods.
 
I agree with Murran.

The 8L S3 is a grown up GTI,the flared arches-the white needles-comfy Recaros-0-60 in 6 secs ain't no slouch and the stance of the S3 is far better then any around them days in my opinion and you couldn't go out and buy the S3 extras like you can with the 8P version,I had my car from the Dealers when it was 3 years old,so paid a lot more than any of the figures banded about here but still love it.
The missus moved the car the other day and I stood and admired the look of it which if your driving it you just don't get to see....but seeing as your getting second thoughts on selling then maybe you have ?
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I've always said there's only so much you can do with an S3. Doing BT's and so on is good if you wanna do it but it's just not 'S3' anymore if you catch my drift? Don't get me wrong, i'd love that much power! But i believe doing a bit too much to it will just lose a little bit of the S3 touch.

The S3 is a luxury performance car and so i'd want to keep it sweet. If you want to do 400bhp and all that stuff, i don't think it'd belong in an S3, that S3's too nice for that. Buy an LCR if that's what you want.
 
DJ_Troopa said:
...Doing BT's and so on is good if you wanna do it but it's just not 'S3' anymore if you catch my drift? Don't get me wrong, i'd love that much power! But i believe doing a bit too much to it will just lose a little bit of the S3 touch.

The S3 is a luxury performance car and so i'd want to keep it sweet. If you want to do 400bhp and all that stuff, i don't think it'd belong in an S3, that S3's too nice for that. Buy an LCR if that's what you want.
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Couldn't disagree more mate... my car drives as well with BT as it did with a lowly K04... its all down to the how you go about it... I agree the S3 isn't going to break any handling records but mine is still the luxury performance car she was (now with a little more performance granted) and I love her to bits...

If I wanted a car to have 'fun' in I would get something rear wheel drive and most likely an E30 3 series or hunt around for a Mk2 Escort and bung something with throttle bodies in it... I built my S3 so I can retain all the 'character' of the S3 but give it an extra bit of punch... I am a cruiser more than a 'driver' so the S3 ticks all my boxes...

The S3 is a pretty car especially when lowered a little and the wheels spaced to fill those lovely arches...

How could you not love them :)

20100806_IMG_6884.jpg


...oh, and an LCR won't put 400bhp down anywhere as well as the quattro'd S3 ;P

<tuffty/>
 
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I had a feeling i would see a reply from you, oops! That's just the way i see my S3 though and obviously others such as yourself see it differently. I didn't mean anything bad by what i said though. I love my S3 to bits but i just can't see myself spending too much on it.

1 of my friends just put a K04 in his Mk3 Ibiza Cupra and my other friend is getting an IHI VF35 put in his TT! They keep telling me to upgrade mine but i just can't bring myself to do it! I guess i'm not that type of person to do all that really! For example, i've probably slowed myself down a little by putting my 2 12" Aliante LTD's back in but it's all good because i love my S3 just the way he is :)
 
After reading through the whole thread it is obvious why you dont like your S3, you own a very fast Skyline which your S3 will never be able to compete with in terms of power, speed and handling.
Also you have had to pay out a lot in repairs which is just bad luck.

In every other department the S3 is a better car IMO.
 
In you original post you said it was bought as an everyday car. You'd have to be pretty well off to get a better everyday car imo.

Good economy for a 260+bhp awd heavy car
Comfortable
Reliable (for me)
Effortless performance
Looks good
Interior is a nice plce to be
Solid build quality
Quiet
Awd so good in any condition

With the modifications Ive done I think it looks better and drives better. Definite improvement which only betters the experience.


p.s

s4.jpg


yes.
 
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