Hi guys
feel free to move this to another thread if appropriate.
Just thought I would share what I posted on the ozaudi forum.
The car was misano red S-tronic with performance pack which allowed me to re-evaluate the value of the performance package we have ordered. At the time of ordering, no one was aware that the magnetic ride could be optioned seperately for $1600 and hence we ticked the PP despite the annoyance of losing electric adjustment of seats. Now that you can option just the magnetic ride, I was having second thoughts.
Here are some thoughts on the rest of performance package
1. Super sport seats: They do look nicer and makes the car a bit more special over standard seats. But my wife really wanted the electric tilt of standard seats as she often reclines the seat when we are driving down to Sydney. She finds the rotary control difficult to turn and hard(!) work.
2. B&O : Couldn't tell too much difference to the audi system to be honest but will probably need better set of music and time to appreciate. Both were significantly better than the crappy Golf R system. Hell, my VW UP!'s speakers sound better than the R's.
3. LED headlights : Couldn't test them out as was daylight. I like the concept and the exclusivity of them but not expecting significant improvement over the already amazing xenons of R.
4. Wheels and red brakes : Purely look related obviously but I'm not as big fan of the standard sline wheels. Standard wheels will prob need more frequent washing and I imagine more difficult to clean as well (but not as bad as the R's)
Hmmm so worth the $3400 when you minus the magnetic ride from $4990? I'm still not too sure. The collectiveness of the above will definitely help differentiate the s3 from sline a3. But if funds are tight then will be first thing to get rid of. Anyway our collection is already a bit delayed so not keen on waiting even further by changing options now.
What are my thoughts for the rest of the car? Nice is the word to sum it up really. I've previously had stg 2 MKV GTI and then stg1 golf R and now driving an UP!....
1. Noise : As I've heard so much about the amazing new engine noise, I was fairly excited to finally check it out in person. To be honest, wasn't as distinctive as I was hoping. Especially compared to focus ST and SQ5 I've spent a fair bit of time in recently. It certainly was louder in dynamic mode than the R but nowhere near the loveliness of r32 or m135i
2. Engine : Compared to the R, definitely had much more squirt earlier on in the rev range. Almost reminded me of MKV GTI with ECU and DP in the way it just picked up and went. Completely effortless and way way too easy to speed. Yikes!
3. S-tronic : Wouldn't really expect it to be much different from the R and the pop between gear change wasn't as loud as the wake-up-the-neighbours bang of GTI with the RSC exhaust. I did notice that in dynamic, there was much less vibration when in 3rd gear as it normally does around 60kph in the R. Almost didn't notice that the car was in 3rd gear. I really liked the coasting function as well.
4. Handling : went up and down a number of twisty roads trying to compare to the R. Definitely much less initial understeer that the R when you first turn in. In the R, you often account for the initial understeer then wait for the transfer of power for the R to pivot, grip and accelerate out of the curve. In the new S3, the turn in was just so much better that you can get on the power even earlier. Also noticed small lift off oversteer when you ease the throttle mid corner in a similar way to MKV GTI. This was something I missed greatly in the R.
5. Steering : actually forgot to notice this aspect on the test drive.... I definitely can't remember experiencing much feel so I guess it's as what many motoring journalists describe. Thought it felt pretty similar to the R actually.
6. Inside : NICE. I really like the simple and classy feel compared to the golf. This is one of the reason why I didn't consider the new R. The MK7 interior is fairly similar to the MK6 and we really wanted a nice place to sit in while doing the long weekend driving to Sydney and back from Canberra for 2014. Golf was nice but the new A3 is NICE.... lol
Overall, I think the new S3 is an all round car. I consider a45, m135i and even golf R's much more "selfish" cars. I say that because they are cars I would get if I was the main driver and really wanted euro performance. The S3 will be my wife's car and also our long distance car. Hence I wanted it to be comfortable. In this regards, it's better than the a45 for us. I wanted an all wheel drive car, so even on rainy days, wifey can be a bit silly without scaring the bejesus out of herself (unlike the m135i... which I LOVE). Lastly, we wanted to move away from the Golf R and the number of times someone asks what you drive and you answer golf R, they then go "oh a golf ay? My younger sister has one.... (probably a tdi or something!!)". At least now my wife can just say she drives a small audi and that's that.
Our car is currently week 5 build so still a long wait.... after the test drive my wife wanted one NOW.
feel free to move this to another thread if appropriate.
Just thought I would share what I posted on the ozaudi forum.
The car was misano red S-tronic with performance pack which allowed me to re-evaluate the value of the performance package we have ordered. At the time of ordering, no one was aware that the magnetic ride could be optioned seperately for $1600 and hence we ticked the PP despite the annoyance of losing electric adjustment of seats. Now that you can option just the magnetic ride, I was having second thoughts.
Here are some thoughts on the rest of performance package
1. Super sport seats: They do look nicer and makes the car a bit more special over standard seats. But my wife really wanted the electric tilt of standard seats as she often reclines the seat when we are driving down to Sydney. She finds the rotary control difficult to turn and hard(!) work.
2. B&O : Couldn't tell too much difference to the audi system to be honest but will probably need better set of music and time to appreciate. Both were significantly better than the crappy Golf R system. Hell, my VW UP!'s speakers sound better than the R's.
3. LED headlights : Couldn't test them out as was daylight. I like the concept and the exclusivity of them but not expecting significant improvement over the already amazing xenons of R.
4. Wheels and red brakes : Purely look related obviously but I'm not as big fan of the standard sline wheels. Standard wheels will prob need more frequent washing and I imagine more difficult to clean as well (but not as bad as the R's)
Hmmm so worth the $3400 when you minus the magnetic ride from $4990? I'm still not too sure. The collectiveness of the above will definitely help differentiate the s3 from sline a3. But if funds are tight then will be first thing to get rid of. Anyway our collection is already a bit delayed so not keen on waiting even further by changing options now.
What are my thoughts for the rest of the car? Nice is the word to sum it up really. I've previously had stg 2 MKV GTI and then stg1 golf R and now driving an UP!....
1. Noise : As I've heard so much about the amazing new engine noise, I was fairly excited to finally check it out in person. To be honest, wasn't as distinctive as I was hoping. Especially compared to focus ST and SQ5 I've spent a fair bit of time in recently. It certainly was louder in dynamic mode than the R but nowhere near the loveliness of r32 or m135i
2. Engine : Compared to the R, definitely had much more squirt earlier on in the rev range. Almost reminded me of MKV GTI with ECU and DP in the way it just picked up and went. Completely effortless and way way too easy to speed. Yikes!
3. S-tronic : Wouldn't really expect it to be much different from the R and the pop between gear change wasn't as loud as the wake-up-the-neighbours bang of GTI with the RSC exhaust. I did notice that in dynamic, there was much less vibration when in 3rd gear as it normally does around 60kph in the R. Almost didn't notice that the car was in 3rd gear. I really liked the coasting function as well.
4. Handling : went up and down a number of twisty roads trying to compare to the R. Definitely much less initial understeer that the R when you first turn in. In the R, you often account for the initial understeer then wait for the transfer of power for the R to pivot, grip and accelerate out of the curve. In the new S3, the turn in was just so much better that you can get on the power even earlier. Also noticed small lift off oversteer when you ease the throttle mid corner in a similar way to MKV GTI. This was something I missed greatly in the R.
5. Steering : actually forgot to notice this aspect on the test drive.... I definitely can't remember experiencing much feel so I guess it's as what many motoring journalists describe. Thought it felt pretty similar to the R actually.
6. Inside : NICE. I really like the simple and classy feel compared to the golf. This is one of the reason why I didn't consider the new R. The MK7 interior is fairly similar to the MK6 and we really wanted a nice place to sit in while doing the long weekend driving to Sydney and back from Canberra for 2014. Golf was nice but the new A3 is NICE.... lol
Overall, I think the new S3 is an all round car. I consider a45, m135i and even golf R's much more "selfish" cars. I say that because they are cars I would get if I was the main driver and really wanted euro performance. The S3 will be my wife's car and also our long distance car. Hence I wanted it to be comfortable. In this regards, it's better than the a45 for us. I wanted an all wheel drive car, so even on rainy days, wifey can be a bit silly without scaring the bejesus out of herself (unlike the m135i... which I LOVE). Lastly, we wanted to move away from the Golf R and the number of times someone asks what you drive and you answer golf R, they then go "oh a golf ay? My younger sister has one.... (probably a tdi or something!!)". At least now my wife can just say she drives a small audi and that's that.
Our car is currently week 5 build so still a long wait.... after the test drive my wife wanted one NOW.
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