Awesome Gti RR day

phantom said:
So with that in mind, i'd be better off putting the £200 it would cost me for a set of H&R's to a decent set of coilovers?

p
Click to expand...

I've never been a fan of lowering springs on standard dampers, I mean if you're just after looks I guess it does the job ok.

I'd say the main issue i'm describing is more of an issue with dampers than the spring rate though although it could be a mixture of the two. If you are going to invest in coilovers it's well worth getting someone who knows what they are doing to set them up otherwise it's just a waste of money IMO. Whoever set my 8L up with the Konis didn't really know what they were doing, they just wound the springs down all the way and job done :applaus:- Great on a nice smooth race track, not so great on bumpy roads at speed.

I've heard good things about Koni FSD's so that may be an option too with some springs.
 
S3IZZO said:
What did suprise me is the way the S3 handles at high speed on a motorway, it really didn't feel safe or planted at all - the suspension rebound feels very harsh and lumpy when you're getting on a bit. I had read about this in various reviews before buying the car but this was the first time i'd experienced it first hand and I didn't like it at all.

I'm going to have to seriously think about suspension and brake upgrades before even considering more power!
Click to expand...

Could be a lot to do with the wheels. Im sure a standard S3 with standard wheels will ride better. Thats a guess though :p
 
I do think if your planning on keeping the car a good few years and mod it like i'am, you may as well uprate the STD suspension.

Uprated lowering springs , is more for show.

New dampners + lowering springs , best of both worlds

Coilovers , the best handling and lowering prospect , but the cost!!!!! £700-800 + £200-300 set up and fitting!

I think option two for me!

p
 
L60N said:
Could be a lot to do with the wheels. Im sure a standard S3 with standard wheels will ride better. Thats a guess though :p
Click to expand...

They may play a small part granted but it's mentioned in more than 1 review on standard wheels too. They are just winter wheels I may as well run whilst they've got decent tyres on.
 
I noticed on the way back from Awesome on saturday (on a private road) that at 120mph my car felt 'light' and not 'planted' as you have described but at the time I put this down to maybe high winds perhaps I was wrong.

I don't usually travel any distance at that sort of speed so have never noticed it before but I did actually comment to some colleagues at work that although many of todays hot hatches are capable of 140 + the shape/lack of aerodynamic aids may not lend itself to sustained high speeds, in fact on the journey home i even considered cancelling my planned Nurburg trip in September - except I can't as I organised it and 5 cars are going.

After hearing the 3.2 on the rollers on saturday I'm now considering a second hand Boxster S for late this year so I'm unlikely to consider suspension mods, time and a test drive will tell.
 
Spin140 said:
After hearing the 3.2 on the rollers on saturday I'm now considering a second hand Boxster S for late this year so I'm unlikely to consider suspension mods, time and a test drive will tell.
Click to expand...

I've got a bit of thinking to do in line with this too, depends on the total cost of all the planned upgrades and if I feel they will be worth it in the long run.

It may make more sense to chop it in now for an RS4 that's a year or so old, I'd want a cab though because i'm a nancy and they may be just out of budget atm :laugh:
 
Boxster S wont sound anything like the VAG 3.2. The boxster is a flat 6, the VAG 3.2 is a V6.

Both will however sound better than the 2.0TFSI in the S3.

Modifying cars is always subject to diminishing returns, its nearly always better to buy the car that does what you want out of the box rather than trying to make somethig into something its not.

It seems effective to go for a remap on the s3, and then thats probably about it, anything more and you knacker the resale value. Maybe a HPP controller , but not sure about these.
 
julians said:
Boxster S wont sound anything like the VAG 3.2. The boxster is a flat 6, the VAG 3.2 is a V6.

Both will however sound better than the 2.0TFSI in the S3.

Modifying cars is always subject to diminishing returns, its nearly always better to buy the car that does what you want out of the box rather than trying to make somethig into something its not.

It seems effective to go for a remap on the s3, and then thats probably about it, anything more and you knacker the resale value. Maybe a HPP controller , but not sure about these.
Click to expand...


Agree with all of the above although sometimes modding is a cheaper way of getting some extra performance or items not available/too expensive on the standard version of the car.

I'll stick with remap only as this is easy to revert and past experience has taught me modded cars are a put off for most buyers/dealers so if you going to do anything keep the bits and put it back to standard before sale/px.
 
S3IZZO said:
I've got a bit of thinking to do in line with this too, depends on the total cost of all the planned upgrades and if I feel they will be worth it in the long run.

It may make more sense to chop it in now for an RS4 that's a year or so old, I'd want a cab though because i'm a nancy and they may be just out of budget atm :laugh:
Click to expand...

I think if you can afford it , it better to strech for the better car ( RS4 is a different class ) than a lesser car and mod it to bit's , and still never be what you want/looking for!

Thats what ive done , the S3 is at the top of my tree , and i'm buzzing with the car in STD trim at the moment , i'm also planning on keeping it past the 3 year warrenty , thats why i'm taking my time with the mods that will come:yum:

p
 
I think when you get a new car, it does feel like the ideal motor, like you could never part with it. But the truth is, after around the 2 year mark, im totally bored and out for something new. I could never keep a car 3 years + (even an aston *if i could* when i can afford it) :laugh:

I must be part of the throw away culture/generation.
 
Agreed , i'm the lad who sold his brand new Cupra after a month coz i knew it wasn't the car for me , and i'd made a mistake!!!!!

I couldn't afford anything better than the S3 ( as a great allrounder ) for the forceable future!

p
 
phantom said:
Agreed , i'm the lad who sold his brand new Cupra after a month coz i knew it wasn't the car for me , and i'd made a mistake!!!!!

I couldn't afford anything better than the S3 ( as a great allrounder ) for the forceable future!

p
Click to expand...


I told myself that 9 months ago when I bought my S3 and to date it was far more than I'd spent before but as per usual for me I get bored quickly too even though common sense tells me there is nothing else currently available that can do what my S3 can, power/practicality wise. I would never seriously use all the power available to me now as I either run out of road or the speeds get ridiculous but the problem is once you move up a level expenditure wise as with the S3 it's not such a jump up to the next level and so damn tempting whilst your car still has good residuals.

I'm 41 and want to get all the car stuff out of my system but it just seems to get worse with age/increased affordability, my biggest problem is justifying the spend for my 6,000 miles per year :)
 
I think for S3 money ( maybe a few k more ) theres only a used M3 that could give you the pace/practicality/luxury of a S3 , but there common and can be seen as " Gangster cars " or go the other way a " a pure weekend car " a Lotus Exige , and a Pug 307 derv to potter about in! LOL

p
 
I've been thinking about the next car quite a bit as well, chances are by next year I'll be working in London and hence getting the train to work, so I can go a little less practical than the S3.

The contenders (all around 35-45k 2nd hand):

RS4
996 Turbo
Noble M12 / M400
Ferrari 355

an M5 would be an awesome car too, but I'm not a huge fan of BMW's and the M5 is pig ugly, saying that it would be a hell of a lot quicker than an RS4 and 355!

As for the S3, I totally love it still, I do agree it is a little on the boring side sometimes, but when I put my foot down it still gets the heart going! :)
 
S3IZZO said:
I'm on standard suspension!

Yes I will more than likely go for fully adjustable coilovers (adjustable rebound/damping), i'm not just going to drop it to the floor I want it setup correctly so i'll probably get Quattronics to do this for me.

Hard to explain but when going over bumps on a motorway at higher speed the rebound seemed to be too fast and the car seemed to skip and jump over the bumps, at one point it felt like the back end of the car was actually in the air and at high speeds that's a scary moment!
Click to expand...


H + R springs on standard suspension does it ok for me!

Gets rid of the issue you describe above as I did not like that either!
 
siu00adg said:
I've been thinking about the next car quite a bit as well, chances are by next year I'll be working in London and hence getting the train to work, so I can go a little less practical than the S3.

The contenders (all around 35-45k 2nd hand):

RS4
996 Turbo
Noble M12 / M400
Ferrari 355

an M5 would be an awesome car too, but I'm not a huge fan of BMW's and the M5 is pig ugly, saying that it would be a hell of a lot quicker than an RS4 and 355!

As for the S3, I totally love it still, I do agree it is a little on the boring side sometimes, but when I put my foot down it still gets the heart going! :)
Click to expand...


Have you been in a noble??? Necksnapingly fast!
 
phantom said:
Agreed , it's not just peak power, the extra 30-40lb ft will make a huge difference to how the car drives , and the speed it can reach peak power.

A remap will be worth the outlay of money for the drivability factor , but at this stage of my cars life , and the fact so little is known of the maps/long term damage, i maybe wise to hang fire for a while, ive only done 7k miles!

p
Click to expand...

You brought the wrong car mate if you need more power after 7k miles.
Unless you want to use it on track days you would do better to get a few hours on a driving course. 99% of people who need more power cant drive/use what they have properly. Look at the law drivers, they are worth another 20mph just because they know what they are doing.

Its a true fact that most 1000cc bike riders couldn't keep up with a racer on a 250cc. Same goes for cars.
Sorry to **** on your fireworks:yes:
 
paddy said:
You brought the wrong car mate if you need more power after 7k miles.
Unless you want to use it on track days you would do better to get a few hours on a driving course. 99% of people who need more power cant drive/use what they have properly. Look at the law drivers, they are worth another 20mph just because they know what they are doing.

Its a true fact that most 1000cc bike riders couldn't keep up with a racer on a 250cc. Same goes for cars.
Sorry to **** on your fireworks:yes:
Click to expand...

irrelevant
 
paddy said:
You brought the wrong car mate if you need more power after 7k miles.
Unless you want to use it on track days you would do better to get a few hours on a driving course. 99% of people who need more power cant drive/use what they have properly. Look at the law drivers, they are worth another 20mph just because they know what they are doing.

Its a true fact that most 1000cc bike riders couldn't keep up with a racer on a 250cc. Same goes for cars.
Sorry to **** on your fireworks:yes:
Click to expand...

If you read the post again my mate, i'm saying that at the moment i'm NOT getting a remap, as the cars only done 7k.

Sooner or later i will get my car remapped!

Thanks

p
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

S
Awesome gti RR day
Replies
9
Views
1K
Lima
Lima
CornRattle
Awesome GTI
Replies
13
Views
2K
_G_
G
M
Awesome GTI
Replies
7
Views
1K
AwesomeSarah
A
simon t
awesome gti remap
Replies
6
Views
1K
WALTO TDI
WALTO TDI
M
awesome gti remaps
Replies
54
Views
6K
munchkincoupe
munchkincoupe
Top
Back