Black or Silver?

Spook

Spook

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That old chestnut, I'm afraid... colour.

Colour is obviously a very subjective thing, but I've narrowed it down to either Silver or Phantom Black.

I was always going to go with black (my previous S3 was Ebony Black) but annoyingly, silver has come up on the rails from nowhere to throw me into confusion just as I'm on the cusp of making a final decision. I'm starting to think that perhaps silver is the way to go because it shows off the lines of the car better, the S3 publicity brochure clearly suggests it was the colour Audi thinks shows it off best, and it's the Audi racing colour (thinking R8/R10 here) .... but then, I wonder whether silver is too lacking in contrast with the S3 wheels, grille and ally mirrors, is too bland and nondescript, and even too common nowadays? Perhaps, all these things considered, I should stick with the mean, moody and stealthy look of black...?

I'm back to square one, so I would be interested to hear the reasoning of those who have faced the same dilemma, and what the factors were that clinched it one way or the other.

Should it be back to Black or is it time for a change to a Silv3r Arrow?
 
I went from black to silver, i love black, but it is so demanding to keep clean, where as silver is forgiving, you just wash, rinse and go.
 
I saw a silver S3 at the mph 2006 show at the NEC. To me there was not very much colour contrast between all of the parts. As you know, the black looks good when clean. As the interior is black as standard it can be gloomy. Here is my red one to give another pespective. Sorry it is a bit dirty!
img0027nu3.jpg


Just a thought as there not many red ones around!

prt
 
Well, from all the colours available silver would be my last choice because of the thins I like about the S3 is that contrast with mirrors and wheels... I choose black and I know it will be a pain to keep clean but when clean and shiny it will look fantastic...

Sprint Blue or Red would be my other choices, the car looks great in blue!

My colours choices where around those 3, black, blue and red.

Silver suits the A3 fine but you loose the individuality given by the ally mirrors and I quite like them to stand out a bit...

Personal choices my friend...

Pedro
 
Silver!

I looked at alot of colours in the S3 when I ordered mine in the flesh and the silver one parked next to the other colours totally stood out. You could see the side skirts and lines so much better, yes the ally mirrors do get slightly hidden but you can still see them!

Sprint Blue - Nice but EVERYONE is ordering it!
 
d3fy said:
I thought that was brown?
Click to expand...

No, that's white.

I was determined not to get black again. My last car was a Black Magic Octavia RS, Phantom Black in all but name. I sat there with the Audi salesman saying 'Oh no. Not black. Nightmare colour. I like <whatever> colour'. He went off to get something and by the time he came back I said 'Nah, **** it, black. It's the dogs danglies.'

And I have to say that after today I still go with that. I spent the afternoon doing a delimonene/clay/SRP/Collinite 476 combo and it looks absolutely stunning :)
 
My previous car was silver and was so easy to keep clean and shiny for the 8yrs of ownership

Before i got the Audi i didn't realise it was such an **** keeping the damn thing clean

I clean it every week and wax it if the weather is good and boy it looks good in black, scratches and swirls show very badly but a layer of wax makes it gleem in the sun!

i would go for another black car even though its an **** to keep clean
 
Am glad i got sliver now. Really wanted black, but sliver is really good and worked out for the best. Ido fancy the newer looking sprinter blue. Now thats one i wouldn't mind. But if i now had the choice of black or sliver, i would say sliver.
 
Black is damn hard to keep clean and shiny if you drive to anywhere dusty ... Silver blends in more compare with other colours... Why not meet half way and go blue, red, or grey?

All those shows the lines and grille, yet can hide a little more dust maybe?

Try this, put one word to describe each colour and see which word you want the most out of your car?!?!

Example, my opinion for starter:

Blue -Sporty
Red -Sexy
Lava grey - elegant
Black - Aggresive

Hope it helps!
 
audi upgrades
yuk! neither silver or black im afraid they are both horrid! If I were getting an S3 id get one in a colour which is ONLY available on the S3 such as the sprint, orange or the yellow - prob sprint blue to be safe - silver and black are balnd and can be had on a 1.6 base model.
 
steve184 said:
yuk! neither silver or black im afraid they are both horrid! If I were getting an S3 id get one in a colour which is ONLY available on the S3 such as the sprint, orange or the yellow - prob sprint blue to be safe - silver and black are balnd and can be had on a 1.6 base model.
Click to expand...

Yeah, but you can get sprint blue on a 1.2 Skoda Fabia mate, not to mention a kia I saw the other day and my Mrs' mate's 1.2 Fiesta. It only looks good on an S3 because it is an S3, and you can have sprint blue on a 1.6 if you want.
 
White is where it's at. How many good looking white A3's have you seen on the road? That's right, the only good looking ones are already in black. Be bold
 
Just spent the weekend cleaning my car and getting mighty upset at all the fine scratches I can see in the sun light due to it being in Phantom Black. I would say Lava Grey, saw one in this colour at my local dealer and is v. vice. Shows off all the chrome nice and good contrasting.

Phantom Black looks the nuts when clean but if you have 'OCD' like me about the car and hate seeing fine scratches then don't do it to yourself.

So Lava Grey or Sprint Blue all the way.
 
Its such a difficult choice colour.

My last two Audi's were silver (A3 1.8T, my current S3), so this time around I've gone for black.

When I was choosing 8L S3, I went for Silver because:- a) everyone was ordering black S3's at the time and b) Silver does look cleaner longer. However once i'd got the car, I always wished I'd got black. Especially when you see a well polished one.

So I've gone for black this time, but seeing the recent pics of Silver 8P S3's...it does suit silver very well, and I'm now wondering if I should have gone for silver!!! Nightmare. Anyway, can't go back now. But...you do get a bigger sense of achievement when you've washed and waxed a black car.

AL
 
If it were only a choice of the two,it would be black.
Black at least gives some reward for effort,coz a shiny black car looks superb.
Silver just doesn't reward you in the same way.
You could spend hours polishing a silver car and it won't look much better than the bloke who's spent two minutes washing it with fairy liquid.
My wife likes black cars which,in turn,encourages me to look after them.
I wouldn't bother my backside if it were silver.
Silver's a good colour for lazy folk though.
I can chuck my car through a carwash and it looks great.

My next car (if I get the 159 I want) will probably be red.
Only Alfas and Ferraris should be red.
 
im sorry but noone in their right mind is going to pay 1600 quid to have sprit blue on a 1.6 base!!!!!!
 
i think the point being made was that, no colour is really exclusive to a particular model
 
Spook said:
Silver - ????????
Click to expand...

All of the above....

and "Silver's a good colour for lazy folk..." :icon_thumright:
 
I don't think that there's is much argument that everyone would love it in black, it is just a lot more work to keep it looking great.
 
bowfer said:
Only Alfas and Ferraris should be red.
Click to expand...
Spot on! I really like my Alfa! If only they had a new 147 GTA 4 wheel drive.....

Hoping the S3 was a good choice!...

Pedro

P.S.: At least once in your life own a proper Alfa! (I mean petrol) You will see AR differently if your passionate about cars... all the niggles and things seem not to matter that much...
 
Personal choice, but I would also go with silver.

I think silver shows off the lines of the car better, mainly because you get the sharp contrast between the dark glass area at the side of the car against the light bodywork. With black, it tends to merge together.

Red or blue would also look good, for the same reason.
 
One thing I will say about black is that (thanks to the advice of the likes of Marriedblonde) the right carcare products can make a helluva difference.
Thanks to superb products,the wife's black car always looks great after even the quickest wash.
I wish I'd known that when I had my black A4,but never mind.
I won't fear black again,like I used to.
 
Agree with everyones silver comments and thats why I got mine in silver after looking at a black one.

Just look at the black one above, the side skirts and lower valance on the rear bumper are completely hidden, look at a silver one (pics on Audi site or on pic of silver S3 on this site) and they really stand out along with the lines of the car.
 
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