My S3 thoughts so far.....

willmac

willmac

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Well, I have finally got to spend some quality time with my car at last, so thought I would post a few comments good and bad just as feedback if anyone is interested. As you will note it is not in technical speak more just general opinion:

The Good
  • Engine - sublime to be honest, power delivery is just fantastic, smooth and deceptively fast, seem to cover ground at an unbelievable rate of knots
  • DSG gearbox - 100% glad I went for this option, in manual mode it is a lot of fun and when you have had enough play time or get lazy, go back to auto mode, Best of both worlds.
  • Bucket seats - took a wee while to get used to them but now find them best seats I have had pleasure to be in, well worth the cash
  • Ride quality - I find it smoother than the S-line suspension to be honest, not too crashy but firm enough for what it needs to do on day to day basis. Not pushed it hard enough to feel too much understeer yet and has grip in bucketloads
  • RNS-E & AMI with BOSE- Glad I went for this option of RNS-E and coupled with BOSE it does enough to satisfy my music limitations. Have heard of a few that do not like BOSE but to me it is as good a sound you will get without spending shed loads on bigger amps etc
  • Fuel Economy - managed to average about 31mpg on long runs which I am happy enough with but just takes a while getting used to re-fuelling a lot more often than with the previous A3 2.0 TDI. Over all average is around 28 mpg which is still pretty good I think.
  • Suzuka Grey paintwork- best option box i ticked. I just love the colour and have never seen another colour that seems to change so much in different light's , it is just amazing. Just can't stop staring at it !
  • Auto dimming mirrors - Brilliant

The Bad
  • Engine - Almost too quiet ( as the 3.2 owners state the all too obvious on this one ! )
  • Exhaust note - Almost non-exisitant, so in near future will want something just to give that rasp at higher end of power band
  • RNS-E - I think that the media connection controls are too limited. In my eyes it is not that user friendly.
  • Suzuka Grey paintwork - The "Rozzers" seem to like the colour as well. Been stopped twice in last week due to the fact it comes up as grey on DVLA reg recognition but when headlights are on it / under bright street lights it still looks white... oh yes and it is an absolute b*stard to keep clean. But good far outweigh the bad on this one.
  • Fuel economy - not as good as a diesel !

The Ugly
The price !!

Mods carried out - Installed BBS CK's 19"
Future Mods planned - Fit Bilstein PSS10 Coilovers, H&R ARB's, MTM re-map stage 1, Maybe Miltek
Detailing - Using Werkstat Acrylic and after 2 coats is really showing off the colour. Couple of pic's below although my camera work seems to get worse rather than better.
DSCF0102-1.jpg

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DSCF0093.jpg

DSCF0096.jpg
 
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Car looks gorgeous and good choice on the alloys. Least your goods outway the bads lol. Doubt you will ever get all goods with no bads!
Enjoy the car!
 
Car looks lovely on the CK's, in all the pics it does look white, be good to get some shots in different light, spot on review, the S3 is a very subtle uber hatch that takes a while to really get under your skin and cross country regardless of weather is rapid, filling up can be painful but performance is relative to the cost over the Derv, don't get me wrong I loved my 2.0 tdi's but my heart prefers petrol for the high rpm action.

Nice to have another satisfied S3 owner post his initial thoughts.
 
Yes I agree, the 2.0 TDI is a great car but just can't set the pulse racing the way the S3 can.
A grown ups "Hot Hatch", or as you rightly say " very subtle uber hatch" just hits the nail on the head
 
willmac said:
Thanks for comment Sarah, yes never will be a perfect world for sure, but the S3 is pretty damn close to it
Click to expand...

You are very welcome and pics in a different light would be good too.

Anyway who wants perfection, wheres the fun in that, you'd have no tinkering to do! I know how you feel about economy lol, bit of a killer but after all the diesels ive had (and loved them to bits too) wanted to go back to petrol and wanted a V6 (well the nearly had V8 would have been good too lol)
 
Sarah's A3 said:
Anyway who wants perfection, wheres the fun in that, you'd have no tinkering to do! I know how you feel about economy lol, bit of a killer but after all the diesels ive had (and loved them to bits too) wanted to go back to petrol and wanted a V6 (well the nearly had V8 would have been good too lol)
Click to expand...

Yes I know what you mean about that V6 sound, makes the hair stand on end, well if I had any hair left that is :sob:
 
willmac said:
I was mate, was it you i saw turning into Finnieston off Argyle St ?
Click to expand...
indeed it was man. I swear I thought your car was white! Looks lovely. thought I saw this plate somewhere.

Btw re-the exhaust. Just stick a an MV on there, with an ITG/Evoms etc intake your engine sound exhaust will be transformed. Not to mention performance when combined with a map.
 
akash_sky1 said:
indeed it was man. I swear I thought your car was white! Looks lovely. thought I saw this plate somewhere.

Btw re-the exhaust. Just stick a an MV on there, with an ITG/Evoms etc intake your engine sound exhaust will be transformed. Not to mention performance when combined with a map.
Click to expand...

Yes that will be the plan I reckon although not too keen on cutting away at the engine cover, but i guess you can't have it both ways. But the engine / exhaust note is way too quiet. Not looking for "balls" out sound, but just enough to let you hear the engine is working a bit harder.
Maybe see you around anyway, will keep my eyes peeled
 
Seriously , its just a iddy-piddy piece of plastic! Even if it make no performance difference at all , which it won't ( top end and throttle resp. vastly improved) the sound makes you rev your engine for no reason at all , just to hear it.
Trimming is easy or you can just leave it off. Or you can just buy a TT-S cover.
Just a downpipe and cat alone gives alot more balls to your exhaust and the turbo spools alot faster.
Haz1 and Muneeb too I think have full Milltek's and they sound amazing from the outside.
 
Easily the best colour/wheel combo for an S3 SB.
Nice :yes:

Cheers
Paul
 
Looks white! but what a lovely colour!! looks great!
 
i agree with akash here, sportbacks look much better with 19's cant get away with 18's as much.... car looks so sweet tho Willmac!
 
Looks fantastic.

But "not as good MPG as a diesel" really is a null point. A positive should be "much faster than a diesel" to balance it out!
 
Interesting post!

I'm also well impressed with the ride quality. Tho i do have the mag ride - feels really smooth when off, much better than i was expecting (My last motor was a super smooth is250 lexus, so i was prepared to be shaken up - literally!). But it feels so 'everyday' usable.. even dog doesnt mind it, if i keep the speed down of course... And it feels much nicer than my wifes hard as nails (anti-puncture tyres) 1 series.
I've not driven an S-line, but it must be a fair bit harder if their are complaints about it, anything softer on an S3 would be just strange i think.. having said that i found my old S3 (8L) was a little too soft and bouncy oddly - that could have done with being a tad stiffer i think.
On hard mode, u definitely feel the car tighten up when you switch it on, feels more like its ready to go fast, and bumps feel harsher in road.. however, not had the car long so don't know what its really like to drive it round for any length of time regular roads with it permanently on... yet.

Id be interested to hear from anyone who has driven an S3 with and without the option?!
 
JD09 said:
Looks fantastic.

But "not as good MPG as a diesel" really is a null point. A positive should be "much faster than a diesel" to balance it out!
Click to expand...

Yes you're right on that point, I'd lost touch with the power delivery of petrol turbo's after a succession of "oil burners". I just love the car to be honest just a great all round package
 
Update on negative side unfortunately :

RNS-E has packed in, or at least is on it's way out. Keeps coming up with page "Info", "CD / DVD not recognised", even though there is no CD or DVD in the drive. You sometimes are then able to go back to what ever page you were on , ie Radio or Media, then a few seconds later it will go back to the info page. Then the system will re-boot itself. It pretty much continually does this and is annoying as hell. So reckon that will be a new unit required probably, as soon as Glasgow Audi has a slot to get it booked in.

Also the seat belt "connector" ( mind has gone blank as to what right name is for it !! ) rubs against the side of the bucket seats when seat belt is connected . And makes the most annoying creaking sound ( My mates TT does same thing but he is obviously more patient than me as he has lived with it for over 3 years ). Driving me nuts. Has anyone else come across this problem ? If so what have you done to correct it ? Only thing I can think of is to find some felt similar to what is on the back side of the connector to try and stop the constant creaking noise it makes.

So last few days have been some what disappointing , unfortunately, but just teething problems I am sure.
 
Mine was same mate ....i got some velcro strips and used the ''soft'' half of the velcro and stuck it on the back of the seatbelt holder....quite as a mouse now !
 
audi upgrades
My seat belt has cut right through the plastic guide /slot where it comes out of the door pillar. As you pull it out over your shoulder it acts like a band saw against the plastic ;-( Very poor design.
 
Suzuka Grey is a much underated colour! It looks good!
 
I'll be back next week, can't wait to get in the S3.

Ps can offer someone a ride for 'demonstration' purposes lol
 
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