Buying an S3

Hello everyone

I'm contemplating buying an 8P S3. Can anyone comment upon:

• Issues with the panoramic roofs - I searched on here and found someone with a leaky roof. Is this common?
• Performance in the snow - without driving like an idiot, just wondering what the traction is like?
• General idea on MPG pre remap - again searching on here I found people reporting mid to late 20's.
• How the DSG compares to the manual? (think I'd prefer a manual).

I'm just after some common opinions. I've looked at A3 170Tdi's whilst they'd be much cheaper to run, they just don't quite have the look of the S3!

Cheers

GuyJ said:

Hey! Recently bought my S3 8P2.
MPG I get around 25mpg but that is not driving economical!
Snow driving is good, no issues at all. I haven't been in any deep deep snow though.
What shape are you after? Facelift or pre facelift?

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Thanks everyone. That's some reassuring info. I'm not in a mega rush, as I'm hoping for a white one with the pan roof - best combo (IMHO of course), though I do like the sprint blue's too. There's not many on the market. I'm looking for an 09 plate. I'd really like the buckets, but my wishlist is: sportback,pano,sat nav, FBMFSW (though get the jist they all come with this?). Added niceties would be roof rails, parking sensors, folding mirrors (these popular?). Obviously that's kinda specific for an already made motor. I'm researching at the moment but don't get much chance at all due!! Thankfully this trusty old site can help me.

Never driven a DSG, so it might just be the fact of no manual on my mind bothering me. Hmmmm

Any other extras (other than the buckets) I should be wishing for?

Cheers

Brodster said:

Well I think you'll be waiting a while for that spec of car. And not all S3's came with FBMFSW and RNSE as standard. If your not in a rush the right car will pop up sometime.

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Yep. Totally right. I've already been looking for a while. Spotetd one previously but was a bit out of the prcie range, and I couldn't get access to the funds quite quick enough. We can all dream on a bit of a wishlist. Doesn't hurt to do a wee bit of research.

Another thing I'll need to know is how long the Sportback is...I only have a small garage and want to be able to open the boot when it's parked inside. My old 8L A3 fits fine n dandy, I appreciate the sportback is bigger.

Brodster said:

Well I think you'll be waiting a while for that spec of car. And not all S3's came with FBMFSW and RNSE as standard. If your not in a rush the right car will pop up sometime.

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(Ahem...)



Well didn't take too long to find the one I wanted. I picked it up around a month ago. Spotted it just after I posted and went to buy it. Been really busy so no chance to post about it yet. Excuse the crappy phone pic.

Nice spec on it, sportback with pan roof, FBMFSW, black edition grille and roof rails, RNSE (updated version - which is probably retro fit as it needs coding), front and rear parking, DRL's, auto dimming mirror, think it has the ambient pack , hill hold assist, heated leather, blue teeth , annnnnd....parking assist, which I am still yet to try. By all accounts a very expensive option from OEM, so we shall see what that's laike if I can find some cardboard boxes to practice against or at least small cones! hehe.

Unsure if it's remapped, though it's got a nice delivery and feels spritely.

Pretty happy so far, except needing to wash it more often than my old 8L A3T (which I'm still attached too!) hehe. Might look into some wheels and minor mods in the future - we shall see. Quite like the style of the RS6 wheels on these. Had a lot of compliments from colleagues. I think the sportback does feel a little more elusive than the regular variant (no offence to the 3dr boys there!).

Thanks