What was the real reason you decided to order your Audi S3

Already had a 8P A3 (1.4TFSI) This time though, was the first time I had set out to buy a car because I could, not because I needed to. In the past car purchases where because we needed to replace old cars, or because we needed a second car or because we needed something bigger. There was nothing wrong with the 2010 A3, and I would be sad to see her go, but I had decided and was able to treat myself to something extra special.

What to buy?

My decision to stay with Audi was relatively easy, I did briefly think about a BMW X1, and it would have to have been an X model as I dislike RWD, but the one thing I like in all aspects of life is understated quality, the sort of quality which is there but does not shout out at you, the type of quality that you can't put your finger on but if you know a product type, be it a car or clothes, you know the quality is there with certain brands. BMW's are good cars but they are shouty, people who don't know one end of a car from another recognise a BMW, as for Mercedes, over priced, end of story, Audi all the way for me.

My A3 was large enough for the four of us for the vast majority of the time, it was only on odd occasions, like taking my daughter to university, when extra space would have been nice. I wanted something with a little more power than the 1.4 TFSI which had enough power and torque when I was the only person in the car but when carrying 4 people and luggage it lacked enough torque at motorway speeds, I briefly flirted with the idea of going for a year old Q3 but they were looking a little expensive as year old prices had not dropped by as much as I had expected. That said, even going for a diesel Q3 (170BHP quatro) the extra power did not compensate for the extra weight and so the performance compared to the A3 was no better and with the new A3 being available the Q3 interior was starting to look a bit dated. So that was it for me a 2.0 TDI A3 Sportback.