Why did you buy an S3?

This thread is nothing new, rapidly circular discussions ;)

At the risk of repeating myself, much of the suspension foibles are very apparent at lower speeds, well within the UK, and the grip issues are also apparent at low speeds ;)

This is not just me reporting this, either. Plenty of other owners reporting handling and grip foibles :)
 
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Once again, please keep to discussing the car, topic, and try to resist personalising it :)

It's nice to hear everyone's different opinions and views, without resorting to attacks on individuals just because they happen to have a different opinion :)
 
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While the set up is on the firm side there is nothing wrong with the low-speed ride on my S3 and no problems with grip either. Car isn't perfect but it is by no means as bad as you seem to suggest, Veeeight.
 
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Again, it's not just me reporting it. Plenty of others too.

Maybe only in this thread, but certainly not on the forum ;)

Have a look in the "Honest Opinions" and "Coilovers" threads if you're really interested :)
 
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Not really, the feedback through my backside and spine are enough to tell me about the ride quality of my car. That's my 'honest opinion'. :expressionless:
 
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veeeight said:
Again, it's not just me reporting it. Plenty of others too.

Maybe only in this thread, but certainly not on the forum ;)

Have a look in the "Honest Opinions" and "Coilovers" threads if you're really interested :)
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Yep, I'm one of those people. I'm happy to admit that.

Bit unfair guys to single out veeeight
 
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I'm not singling out anyone. I'm replying to Veeeight's post. Someone else had posted in another thread that he only ever drove around everywhere with all settings in 'dynamic' - which I think is absolutely nuts (because the ride would be too firm and the steering would be too stiff) but I didn't criticise his choice. It's a free world. As I said earlier, horses for courses. Seems like not a lot of people get that.
 
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monopole said:
....because Audi MADE you buy a car, you THEN complain about the handling (on the car they MADE you buy and part above 30k for..) and you do it to complete strangers on a forum... hmmmm...

bad Audi. how dare you.




....shoulda done a proper test drive before parting with a good chunk of money eh! lesson learnt? I doubt it.
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Have you had a proper test drive of your RS3? did Audi make me buy this car? you know they didnt.We all know about the the S3's "bounce" in my opinion its a defect as such,it just shouldnt be there
 
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Yeah way off Topic,l got my S3 because l wanted one and secondly my son is a Audi salesman and soon to be a Audi sales manager at 23 Awesome guy he is "Most the time"
l Apologise off topic
Jassy
 
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jassyo06 said:
Have you had a proper test drive of your RS3? did Audi make me buy this car? you know they didnt.We all know about the the S3's "bounce" in my opinion its a defect as such,it just shouldnt be there
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well, I'm NOT the one bleating like an adolescent little girl..................am I.................
 
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audi upgrades
jassyo06 said:
Yeah way off Topic,l got my S3 because l wanted one and secondly my son is a Audi salesman and soon to be a Audi sales manager at 23 Awesome guy he is "Most the time"
l Apologise off topic
Jassy
Click to expand...
Good lad, if only more folk his age had his drive.
 
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I think the summary in this thread is that the S3 is a good car for most people, most of the time. Great car for some.
However for those that have an exacting standard of how cars should drive, that will drive the car hard around corners (even within the boundaries of the law), or that value a sense of ocassion when driving a car, it's best to look elsewhere for your kicks.
Neither side is wrong (after all an opinion that is fact based can never be wrong), it's just their car loving DNA that is differently wired.
 
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Well, I had a brilliant time round Royal Deeside yesterday. Nice clean, empty, dry roads and the car was lapping it up.
When journalists are taking about tenths of a difference on a track does anyone really think that makes a difference on the road and with drivers of differing abilities?
I can feel exactly what the cars doing underneath so I work with it, I don't expect it do what I want it to do. Learn it's behaviour and adapt.
If you can't you're a one trick pony (not directed at anyone in particular)
 
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Craigl, the RS5 is a stunning car and I'd love one but it's got issues against its competitors too, but it's about the bigger picture eh?
 
Martinbanshee said:
Well, I had a brilliant time round Royal Deeside yesterday. Nice clean, empty, dry roads and the car was lapping it up.
When journalists are taking about tenths of a difference on a track does anyone really think that makes a difference on the road and with drivers of differing abilities?
I can feel exactly what the cars doing underneath so I work with it, I don't expect it do what I want it to do. Learn it's behaviour and adapt.
If you can't you're a one trick pony (not directed at anyone in particular)
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Good to hear Martin and totally agree with you (again!). No spinning off the road at 35 then? ;)

Carry on like this we'll be labelled Audi fanboys!

Is it just me or is being called an AUDI fanboy on an AUDI forum just about the most nonsensical thing you ever heard? :)
 
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You guys can get up to 35?

You're brave. I tend to reign her in at about 30 for fear of pogoing off the road ;)
 
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Martinbanshee said:
I can feel exactly what the cars doing underneath so I work with it, I don't expect it do what I want it to do.
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So do I (work with what I've got) ;)
However, I do expect a S3 to have better grip than a Fiesta Diesel around a roundabout at 35 mph, I think that's perfectly reasonable from a £30k+ Audi "S" car :p


Simon L said:
Is it just me or is being called an AUDI fanboy on an AUDI forum just about the most nonsensical thing you ever heard? :)
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Not really, evidence on said Audi forum suggests otherwise :)

Again, you just can't resist the personal potshots, can you! Do try and desist! ;)
 
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veeeight said:
So do I (work with what I've got) ;)
However, I do expect a S3 to have better grip than a Fiesta Diesel around a roundabout at 35 mph, I think that's perfectly reasonable from a £30k+ Audi "S" car :p





Not really, evidence on said Audi forum suggests otherwise :)

Again, you just can't resist the personal potshots, can you! Do try and desist! ;)
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.....and my comment is different to yours @ post #173 how exactly? :)

Veeeight, seriously I have absolutely no personal issue with you whatsoever. I find a lot of your posts hugely entertaining, and as others have said numerous times before your advice and guidance has literally helped heaps of folks out (including me) :)

If there is an issue it's perhaps we're maybe alike in some ways but obviously coming at this from different angles.

Hope that clears things up :friends::racer:;)
 
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Martinbanshee said:
Craigl, the RS5 is a stunning car and I'd love one but it's got issues against its competitors too, but it's about the bigger picture eh?
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Somewhat off topic, but the RS5 is the perfect package for me. Been searching for that for a while, now it's landed I'll likely keep this one for the foreseeable.
I'm not sure what you mean about bigger picture, it's about finding a car that meets your expectations.
The RS5 does for me. It's not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but it scores highly in the elements in a car that I place the most value on.
The S3 fell way short. It was a poor decision by me to purchase one, I compromised way too far. I've addressed that with the RS5.

Life is too short IMO to live with a car that doesnt give me that spark of excitement. Probably why I've had more than 30 in just over 20 years of driving. The RS5 is the best so far........
 
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CraigI said:
Somewhat off topic, but the RS5 is the perfect package for me. Been searching for that for a while, now it's landed I'll likely keep this one for the foreseeable.
I'm not sure what you mean about bigger picture, it's about finding a car that meets your expectations.
The RS5 does for me. It's not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but it scores highly in the elements in a car that I place the most value on.
The S3 fell way short. It was a poor decision by me to purchase one, I compromised way too far. I've addressed that with the RS5.
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Couldn't agree more with the RS5. Without a doubt Audi's finest hour in my opinion and one of my favourite cars period. :)

I'm at the other end of the spectrum as far as kids are concerned, finishing school/about to start college so I reckon in 3-5 years will be perfect for me. Haven't run this by the missus yet though ;)

As far comparing to S3 though, a tad unfair. They really are different markets entirely, at least financial ones anyway! :)
 
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RS5 - awesome and potentially next on my list but agree with Simon L, to compare it against an S3 is somewhat unfair given the substantial difference in price!
 
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I don't think he (Craigl) meant a comparison in terms of performance or other material/tangible characteristics.

From his previous posts, I'm pretty sure that he means that the RS5 is an exciting, involving drive, which was/is severely lacking in the S3 for him (and me).

In this respect, price isn't really a factor, you can get into a Fiesta ST or JCW or other less expensive cars, and experience a more connected/involving/exciting drive and sense of occasion, than a S3.

At least that's my interpretation of what Craigl was trying to say in post #186.
(but please correct me if I'm wrong)
 
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Mods, can we lock this thread, its seen more repeats than the BBC at Christmas!!!
 
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^ You'll be lucky ;)

You might not have been around at the time of locked-thread-gate, now that was a (non-BBC) drama ;)
 
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veeeight said:
I don't think he (Craigl) meant a comparison in terms of performance or other material/tangible characteristics.

From his previous posts, I'm pretty sure that he means that the RS5 is an exciting, involving drive, which was/is severely lacking in the S3 for him (and me).

In this respect, price isn't really a factor, you can get into a Fiesta ST or JCW or other less expensive cars, and experience a more connected/involving/exciting drive and sense of occasion, than a S3.

At least that's my interpretation of what Craigl was trying to say in post #186.
(but please correct me if I'm wrong)
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I think you might be right there.

Though from an ownership point of view an S3 is streets ahead of a JCW - even one with Bilstein coilovers like the R56 I had. I think a lot of fairly regular modern cars just aren't built with much thought given to rather important traits such as damping and suspension unfortunately. The S3 isn't alone in terms of kicking out unexpectedly at low speed. I had pretty much the same thing happen in my M135i....
 
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veeeight said:
I don't think he (Craigl) meant a comparison in terms of performance or other material/tangible characteristics.

From his previous posts, I'm pretty sure that he means that the RS5 is an exciting, involving drive, which was/is severely lacking in the S3 for him (and me).

In this respect, price isn't really a factor, you can get into a Fiesta ST or JCW or other less expensive cars, and experience a more connected/involving/exciting drive and sense of occasion, than a S3.

At least that's my interpretation of what Craigl was trying to say in post #186.
(but please correct me if I'm wrong)
Click to expand...

Correct.
Cost not even considered. You can get all the things I crave in a car that costs less and has less power than a S3.

It just so happens I switched from having two cars to just one and that allowed me to change to a RS5.
The only comparison is that I had a S3 and now have a RS5.

I don't know that I even brought the RS5 up in this thread, merely responded to a query about it.
 
Do the people with the bounce/understeer issues have mag ride? I don't have it and can honestly say I have never had any issues with understeer, a little bounce yes but always goes where I want it to.
 
CraigI said:
Correct.
Cost not even considered. You can get all the things I crave in a car that costs less and has less power than a S3.

It just so happens I switched from having two cars to just one and that allowed me to change to a RS5.
The only comparison is that I had a S3 and now have a RS5.

I don't know that I even brought the RS5 up in this thread, merely responded to a query about it.
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I merely brought up the RS5 to point out that one persons ideal car is not necessarily the best car at everything. Although the RS5 is an awesome car it still falls behind some of its competitors on the track but it wouldn't stop me buying one if it was in my price range. Some people would argue the RS5 has the usual Audi traits but it's not just about going round a track 2 tenths quicker, we all know that driver ability is worth more than that.
Also, if you're happy with the feel of an S3 it doesn't mean your settling for less or are happy with a car that goes no more than 35mph round a corner, it is very capable when pushed hard, it just behaves in a way some people are not comfortable with.
Ultimately, I respect everyone's opinion on the S3 but I personally find the car is very capable and also the faster I go the better it feels. It's difficult to say how fast each of us go when pushing on as someone will shriek with horror but it's a 300hp car and you don't buy one for MPG and I PUSH IT.

Keep the thoughts coming as I'm grateful that we're discussing the S3 and I'm not on the Aygo forum
 
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The bounce happens out of the blue, but mainly on uneven/badly surfaced B roads or on undulating roads surface's

Understeer l can cope with,l would sum it as the S3 handling can be very wayward indeed at times
but its not going to stop me keeping the car for 3 years
l still love everything about it.
RYuill said:
Do the people with the bounce/understeer issues have mag ride? I don't have it and can honestly say I have never had any issues with understeer, a little bounce yes but always goes where I want it to.
Click to expand...
 
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And another reason for buying a S3 A BIG REASON

Sepang blue paint
IMAG0644
 
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Martinbanshee said:
I merely brought up the RS5 to point out that one persons ideal car is not necessarily the best car at everything. Although the RS5 is an awesome car it still falls behind some of its competitors on the track but it wouldn't stop me buying one if it was in my price range. Some people would argue the RS5 has the usual Audi traits but it's not just about going round a track 2 tenths quicker, we all know that driver ability is worth more than that.
Also, if you're happy with the feel of an S3 it doesn't mean your settling for less or are happy with a car that goes no more than 35mph round a corner, it is very capable when pushed hard, it just behaves in a way some people are not comfortable with.
Ultimately, I respect everyone's opinion on the S3 but I personally find the car is very capable and also the faster I go the better it feels. It's difficult to say how fast each of us go when pushing on as someone will shriek with horror but it's a 300hp car and you don't buy one for MPG and I PUSH IT.

Keep the thoughts coming as I'm grateful that we're discussing the S3 and I'm not on the Aygo forum
Click to expand...

I've never tracked any car, so that is wholly irrelevant to me.
I judge my cars on how they handle a B road blast and how they make me feel when I get out of it after (including how they are set up, both ergonomically and visually).
As I said before, the S3 is a good car for some. It wasn't for me.
We all have different requirements/expectations of our cars, the S3 didn't meet mine, so I moved it on.
 
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