Must Have options - Top 5 & First to Go

[kmacuk]

I had many dilemas and many configurations when building my Sportback and the budget goal posts moved several times, but ultimatley I got to a point where every config had a core set of must haves.

Mine were:

S-Line/TFSI Engine:

COD definitely appealed and drove me towards Audi as did the TFSI (turbo) engine. The extra power, performace and technology appealed to me compared to the basic 1.4, whic is an excellent engine. A lot of the reasons I chose the excellent 2.2 diesel engine really.

Comfort pack:

Lot of bang for buck, despite the fact that many should be standard kit in my opinion (Crusie control, auto lights/wipers). Getting the reversing function, accoustic glass and auto mirror was a bonus I guess, but not must haves.


Paint:

Once I settled on S-Line it couldn't get a block paint, although the £550 saving appealed as did brilliant red, if going for a sport this would have been the colour of choice I think. Settled on Daytona.

Heated Seats:

This was a big one for me having had a Civic, which has the worst ever heater and doing short journeys in the winter was not to a pleasant experience. I know this is an unusual one for most, but big deal for me.

Audi Sound:

Listned to standard, B&O and Audi sound and decided the middle ground upgrade worth the extra to do justice to the MMI and having all that music on tap + Dab.

First dropped:

Staying in budget the following went quickly:

Sat Nav (Co Pilot on S3 more than enough for me at £20)

Privacy Glass

Advanced Key

Thinking it would be good to see others logic on how they ended up with the ideal build when budget constainsts meant you could not have everything. Pretty happy with my selections, maybe should have added hold assist, nut missed the cut off when I tried to add it on after reading this forum.

 

[Fragup]

I had many dilemas and many configurations when building my Sportback and the budget goal posts moved several times, but ultimatley I got to a point where every config had a core set of must haves.

Mine were:

S-Line/TFSI Engine:

COD definitely appealed and drove me towards Audi as did the TFSI (turbo) engine. The extra power, performace and technology appealed to me compared to the basic 1.4, whic is an excellent engine. A lot of the reasons I chose the excellent 2.2 diesel engine really.

Comfort pack:

Lot of bang for buck, despite the fact that many should be standard kit in my opinion (Crusie control, auto lights/wipers). Getting the reversing function, accoustic glass and auto mirror was a bonus I guess, but not must haves.


Paint:

Once I settled on S-Line it couldn't get a block paint, although the £550 saving appealed as did brilliant red, if going for a sport this would have been the colour of choice I think. Settled on Daytona.

Heated Seats:

This was a big one for me having had a Civic, which has the worst ever heater and doing short journeys in the winter was not to a pleasant experience. I know this is an unusual one for most, but big deal for me.

Audi Sound:

Listned to standard, B&O and Audi sound and decided the middle ground upgrade worth the extra to do justice to the MMI and having all that music on tap + Dab.

First dropped:

Staying in budget the following went quickly:

Sat Nav (Co Pilot on S3 more than enough for me at £20)

Privacy Glass

Advanced Key

Thinking it would be good to see others logic on how they ended up with the ideal build when budget constainsts meant you could not have everything. Pretty happy with my selections, maybe should have added hold assist, nut missed the cut off when I tried to add it on after reading this forum.

S line - best looking inside (black roof lining / part leather, brushed ali inserts and cool steering wheel etc.) and out (Alloys and body kit) in my opinion and you get Xenons and a lot more besides in for price

Pano roof - missed my glass roof on my old Civic S type GT (looks cool on contrasting colour I.E. Misano Red)

C.O.D. - the numbers just add up as best for me on - buying cost / performance / Handling / refined / running cost (pick of the bunch and not seen a bad review from anyone and have seen a lot!)

Interior light pack - little bit useful, but mainly because is very cool for the money

Audi sound system - good upgrade for little cost (b&o was a bit dear unless compromised on the above)

unless had a lot of money to burn wouldn't have bothered with much else except :

Quattro / 1.8 petrol if budget allowed would be cool
tech pack & sat Nav - good but Way too dear for what you get
black styling pack - £400 ish for changing colour of plastic didn't seam value for money
privacy glass, better on 3 door, was close to adding, but other half didn't like and i got to choose every thing else.
titanium ?(dark) alloys, if had black styling pack.

 

[cemerson]

I tried not to set limits on this - my view was that if I'm spending that much on a car, I'm going to make damn sure it's the car I want! I intend to keep it for a while

 

[bpnike]

My one:
2.0 tdi 150 sportback sport amalfi white sport suspension
tech pack
light pack

thats pretty much it as my budget was 25000£
pickup next monday. Cannot wait!

 

[Psyman79]

On order:
1.4TFSI COD S-Line 3 door
c/w comfort pack with park plus
sd based sat nav

To stay in budget i cancelled glacier white paint (dealer added it for free though )
also took off privacy glass, friend knows a guy who does Audi windows for £100.

Would have liked B&O but i could feel the wifes eyes burning the side of my head.

Also opted for s-line sports suspension as i thought sport still felt a little loose round the bends on test drive, think i'm just used to my last 2 cars setup.

Si.

 

[arad85]

To me the 5 must haves are:

• Non-solid paint
• Comfort pack
• Interior lighting
• Some form of integrated satnav
• s-line (the body is way nicer due to the front bumper styling IMHO, plus I regard xenons as almost an essential having had them before and that's half the cost of Sport->S-line)

I think the "no brainer" options due to cost are:

• TPM
• auto-release

The "nice to haves" we have ordered are:

• Uprated sound system
• Lumbar support (Ms arad85 has a bad back so we ordered this)
• Quattro (always wanted a quattro!)
• Progressive steering
• Alcantara/leather seating (or full leather, but would have to have heated seats then)

The ones I'd have with money no object

• Connect system
• Mag ride
• LED lights
• S3 (I went with A3/184TDI quattro instead)

• Uprated mirrors (I just won't use them, but cheap enough)
• Possibly super sports seats (but I'd have to try them first)
• B&O

Perhaps I should have just gone for it! Would only have been another 3-4k ish....

 

[geefunk1978]

1. 300+ bhp (TFSI Engine)
2. Quattro
3. Handling (Sports Model)
4. Quality Sound System (B&O)
5. Looks

All equal S3!

 

[PilotAudi]

1. 300+ bhp (TFSI Engine)
2. Quattro
3. Handling (Sports Model)
4. Quality Sound System (B&O)
5. Looks

All equal S3!

agree BUT it is spelled quattro !!!

 

[steeve]

Options,

Whatever get Zenons.

 

[steeve]

1. 300+ bhp (TFSI Engine)
2. Quattro
3. Handling (Sports Model)
4. Quality Sound System (B&O)
5. Looks

All equal S3!

Not really options are they

 

[cuke2u]

Options,

Whatever get Zenons.

What are Zenons and why aren't they on my options list?

 

[Fragup]

What are Zenons and why aren't they on my options list?

XENON head lights standard on S line , but you can spec them up if you wish with high beam assist / cornering lights etc. etc.

 

[Zygote]

Must haves for me include

* S-tronic!
* Xenon
* Quattro (Winters in Norway.. oh man)
* Advanced Key
* Sunroof
* Tech package + Navi Pro

First to go

* Auto park (I can park a neat and nimble car such as the A3 just fine myself, really)
* Line Change assist, or whatever audi calls it (I rarely drive very long distances which could potentially make me sleepy)
* Privacy Glass
* Magnetic Ride (Would pick it if I could afford it)
* Progressive Steering (Would pick it, but budget was limited due to Quattro + S-tronic

 

[cemerson]

XENON head lights standard on S line , but you can spec them up if you wish with high beam assist / cornering lights etc. etc.

I think it was a joke because of the poor spelling

 

[cemerson]

Must haves: Functional stuff. Absolute requirements for me though were towbar, bluetooth (standard anyway), cruise control.
First to go: 'Styling' options. Just completely un-bothered about paying for looks. Hence not bothered about paying more for s-line which is all style and pretty much no substance. Full leather seats were a no as well for me.

 

[geefunk1978]

Not really options are they

Yes they are otherwise I'd have ordered a bog standard diesel.

 

[Fragup]

Must haves: Functional stuff. Absolute requirements for me though were towbar, bluetooth (standard anyway), cruise control.
First to go: 'Styling' options. Just completely un-bothered about paying for looks. Hence not bothered about paying more for s-line which is all style and pretty much no substance. Full leather seats were a no as well for me.

Aren't metallic paint and alacantra (although practical) styling options really as much as any most things are ?

Sline comes with mainly styling options (in my opionion very cool ones), but also Xenons, daytime running lights, storage pack, ungraded cloth etc. all practical and all things you have paid most of the extra the Sline costs to get them. Understand you don't like s line as all individual matter of taste, but quite a strange view to say all style and pretty much no substance as your signature / spec partly contradicts this some what.

 

[McAudi]

1. S Line
2. COD 1.4 TFSI
3. Comfort pack
4. Pano roof
5. Privacy glass

Would have like seated seats, especially as I currently drive a 2.2 civic diesel, but I could have added and added and added. Got to stop somewhere.

 

[Rup]

The best option is the most powerful engine you can afford

 

[Itguy]

My top 5 must haves

1. S3 with 5drs
2. S tronic
3. Comfort pack
4. Nav/tech pack
5. B&o

things I couldn't care about

1. Super sports seats
2. Pano roof
3. Parking assist (the auto parking thing)
4. Mag ride
5. Side assist

 

[PilotAudi]

I'd ditch S tronic and go for Pano roof! Much more fun and lighter too!

 

[cemerson]

Ditch one of his top 5 for something he doesn't care about?!

 

[cemerson]

Aren't metallic paint and alacantra (although practical) styling options really as much as any most things are ?

Perhaps, I like things that make it high quality though. Colour is a big thing, and metallic paint usually adds resale value, and the interior with the leather/alcantara is such a nice place to be. I just mean all the pointless body kit and stuff like that, I just don't get it - the A3 isn't exactly a bad looking car without it!

S-line comes with Xenons, but not as good as the xenon light pack (unless you pay the extra for the adaptive function), all cars have DRLs (not the eyebrow ones though on SE and Sport by default), I have the storage pack (required with leather/alcantara). When you spec it all up to the same, s-line is still much more.

 

[Fragup]

Perhaps, I like things that make it high quality though. Colour is a big thing, and metallic paint usually adds resale value, and the interior with the leather/alcantara is such a nice place to be. I just mean all the pointless body kit and stuff like that, I just don't get it - the A3 isn't exactly a bad looking car without it!

S-line comes with Xenons, but not as good as the xenon light pack (unless you pay the extra for the adaptive function), all cars have DRLs (not the eyebrow ones though on SE and Sport by default), I have the storage pack (required with leather/alcantara). When you spec it all up to the same, s-line is still much more.

I really like the "pointless" S Line, front bumper, rear bumper, side sills, rear diffuser, rear spoiler, 18" alloys, flat bottom s line steering wheel, part leather / bi-athlon sline trim, metal s line door sills, blushed Ali trim, etc. etc.
but as you say pointless so not sure why anyone bothers ?

 

[Itguy]

I think we're loosing the key thought behind this thread - it's all about personal preference and choices.

Some people may either not like or see the s line styling as pointless, but would spend nearly a grand on a glass roof.

I think what we should all celebrate is the fact that we can have our cars how we want them and most of us here are in a very lucky position to be buying new, so we do have a genuine choice.

I find looking through the S3 register fascinating as people have such varied priorities for their cars.

Im a real tech-head so wanted to load my new car up with whatever I can from that perspective as it WOWs me, but others will get the same feeling from nicer leather, a glass roof or a £2k paint job.

 

[Leeber]

The big one for me was ACC, I like using cruise control but find it extremely frustrating that nobody seems to be able to drive at a constant speed or the right lane in this country. Cannot understand why this option is virtually non-existent on second hand cars either.

 

[snakehips]

Had to be the 184 Quattro S-line with B&O and LED.
Then I fully loaded it, and after I'd recovered from the shock of that price I stripped out all the unnecessary (for me) driver aids such as ACC, park assist, lane assist etc. Those with it rave about ACC but even the idea of it freaks me out so it was first to go.