Upgrading to an S3 - Reasons for doing so.

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nates

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Aside from the typical, you'll never look back comments, this is more a thread to discuss the pros and cons when you consider particular circumstances - namely, how much of an upgrade is it?

Most members on here have made the upgrade from an A3 whether diesel or petrol to an S3 and haven't looked back, but I'm abit hesitant to make the jump. I'm of age where insurance won't be a concern or even running it, but I have an (08) 8p2 tfsi with most boxes ticked spec wise and fast enough to 'do the job' on most days; so the only incentive is the additional power and overall capability in terms of driver satisfaction. Most s3's currently on the market have hardly no options and ones with options without moon miles are almost double the cost of most 8p2 a3s (north of £13k) sticking with stronic, this narrows options down to MY58+ unless I opt for manual.

Having a basic/older 8p a3 without any options makes the decision far easier as the tangible benefits are more obvious. For those who have made the change, what has the s3 delivered aside from the increase in power to make it a good move and worth more or less double the money?
 
For me personally... It's just the knowing you are driving an S3, whichever version you have/want, it is one of THE hot hatches to own/drive, always has been, always will be... plus of course, as you have stated, all the other stuff... power, performance, styling, options etc...

Of course everyone has their own opinion about their own car, and there are what people might say are better hot hatches out there, but if you love Audi's, and you can afford one as you say, you have to have owned one of them I feel...

The best advice is get in one, drive it and then make your comparisons and decision based on how you feel... I park up and walk away from mine everyday, look back and smile, that's actually pretty intangible :rockwoot:
 
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Hi @nates - good question! I too am at an age where insurance isn't too much of a concern (although I did have to shop around for a good deal) but I purchased an my09 facelift A3 in September last year, 48K on the clock and generally in mint condition. It was purely as a second car and within budget; I went with a 1.8tfsi. I had a wishlist of cosmetic and performance updates/upgrades I wanted to make and after spending £2k on RNS-E, front sensors, full-detail, Ram-Air filter, S3 alloys when looking at the remainder of the wishlist it was still c£2k to implement.

Throughout this short process I didn't stop looking at Auto-Trader and reading this forum and wanting more.

The long-of-the-short is, I didn't realise how few performance upgrades were available for the 1.8tfsi (without big-turbo); lack of research on my part prior to purchasing I guess but nevertheless (I'm not after a race car) but implementing the rest of my wishlist would still leave me 30-40hp short of a standard S3 so I made the decision to take the hit and upgrade to a my61 S3 in Jan this year.

Yes it's a completely different car - 1.8 (161hp) to 2.0 (260hp) you would expect it to be. I get all the extras that I added to the 1.8 but also the Quattro, bigger brakes, performance upgrades for ever. I lost money on changing-up within 3 months but I'll not think about that however that loss and the amount I spent updating/upgrading would have taken my S3 to StageII+.

It's amazing how budgets change and price points adjust and it's amazing that my wife only sees a move from a black car to a silver car. I'm sure I'll experience more benefits moving forward but I'm happy I made change.
 
For me its the car that does everything.

Had a MK5 Golf R32 a few years ago but as me and the wife where wanting a house that had to go and for whatever reason I brought a Corsa VXR N/Ring to save money. It was OK but very basic and a bone shaker. Didn't move in the end so I said to my wife (and to my surprise) can I buy a new car? She gave the go ahead and said I hate that Corsa.

Wanted a R32 again but all the MK4 and 5's I looked at where shagged or any good ones people wanted stupid money. Thought about the MK6 R but again to much for what it was. Knowing the S3 8P was more or less the same car underneath I thought I wonder if I could afford one? Tell you what excellent value for money. Took about 5 months for me to find one to near enough the spec I wanted but for the last 12 months iv'e been very happy. Cheap to run. Lots of room for passengers. And comfortable.

They do look a little bit boring but looks with this car are very deceiving. And when searching for one I told myself I am NOT BUYING BLACK!!!! But out of the numerous ones I looked at I settled for a black one as it had been well looked after.

My S3 the dealer had it sitting on his lot for a good few months and I kept a eye on it for ages. Even after a couple months I thought why has it not shifted? It had low miles, SATNAV and full history. Even looking at it in the flesh I thought wow I need to try and get it. But the water pump,Cam belt and haldex along with break fluid were all due and he wasn't shifting on the price. A week or so later he called me and said did I find one which I didn't. He said I can tell you were serious so if I get all the jobs done do you want it? Got what I wanted for the Corsa from him and never looked back.

Like anything if your patience the right deal will come along.
 
Like people said already, styling is more inspired, sportier ride and more power over the A3. I'm not sure if it's worth the extra if you are not fussed about how the car looks or how quickly it goes. As standard, it's handling and braking are its two biggest weaknesses. For normal driving it offers little over the less powerful models, as you're unlikely to be using the extra performance while sitting in traffic or going shopping...

Saying that, it offers a fast, yet practical performance daily. As a base for modification it lends itself well to relatively inexpensive upgrades with significant power increases, compared to other Audi variants, but also offers big power options if you want to go a bit wild. You can also make is handle much better too, as it does have a tendency to under-steer quite badly.

In the end, it comes down to personal choice and your circumstances... I wrote about my logic for choosing the S3 over other cars in my project thread, so hope that helps too.
 
In 2006/07 I was in the position where I could afford something like an R32. At the time I was and still are driving a Mk 4 1.8T as my daily.
I had driven the 2.0 TFSI in both DSG and manual but yearned for more. I test drive lots of R32s and loved the exhaust noise. However, it never seemed to be that fast and the interior was a down grade to my Mk 4 in my view.
So in 2006 the S3 8P was released. The local Audi salesman gave me the keys to their demo and said bring it back in a couple of hours. My son who was 13 at the time had been with me on most of my test drives.
I gave it the beans and his eyes were like saucers and his jaw dropped!!
It aounded very raw on boost and went very well. I went back to the garage after my 2 hour thrash and placed an order there and then.
For about 8 years I kept it standard and then I became interested in extracting more power. This is the benefit of the S3 compared to the 2.0 TFSI as it has uprated engine components as standard. So I enjoyed the standard S3 but I am now enjoying it all over again at stage 2+.
Searching for a good one can take a while. Now that my son is 23 he wanted an S3 as well. We travelled many miles looking at cars described as excellent or even mint. Most in his price bracket were very rough.
We did a bit of lateral thinking as the S3 engine is a peach. We came across a TTS with 20,000 on the clock. As he is young free and single he does not need the space of a hatch back. He had a Golf7R before but much prefers the characteristics of the S3/TTS engine. Much better at lower to mid engine speeds where it will pull well from 2.5K all the way to the redline. The "ordinary" 2.0 TFSI engine pulls well from 1800 rpm but runs out of puff at the top end.
 
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My reason for Not upgrading to an S3/RS3 was that you can't tow with them. Happy with the A3 Quattro though, it's got more extras than the S3 :smile new:
 
From a modding point of view buying an s3 and getting it to say stage 2+ (360+ hp) will cost less than buying a 2.0tfsi a3 and getting it to that power with the same spec brakes suspension etc, plus it wouldnt look like an s3, but as far as upgrading it depend how much youve put into your car and how cheap and good a spec you can get an s3. personally id upgrade reguardless its an s3 after all

Cheers
Dave w
 
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Hello everyone, my first car was an A3 2.0 TDI 170hp Quattro SPB black line, tuned to 200hp more or less. I dreamed the S3 since it's older version, always wanted one and when i had the opportunity to buy, I had to go with the closer-to-an-S3 I could afford/maintain (in italy car tax are crazy, I pay 750+€/year only for owning a 265hp car) so here comes my beautiful A3. I love it, first car, very nice specs, it goes but it gets a map anyway so i run +/- 195/200hp.. and i always keep an eye on autoscout. A friend wants to buy my A3, i made something like 20.000km (13.5/14k miles) in 2 years, so I realize I don't need a diesel car, and pops up this S3, black like mine, with not many km, fully loaded and used as a second car. well, obviously I upgraded! since then I made little more than 1000km (650miles) and I stopped a lot of times to the gas station, but would I go back? never, what gives you a petrol engine no diesel on earth can give
 
The only two things that set the S3 and A3 2.0tfsi apart is wet road grip and the badge.
A well sorted A3 2.0tfsi stage 2 or 2+ 270/300bhp will pull faster on the straights then a stage 1 tuned S3 manual due to a massive weight advantage especially with a DSG, even with the disadvantage in grip on corner exits in the wet.
If you tune a front wheel drive car, you want mid range torque for best results, too much top end power will be wasted, also anything over 300 bhp on a front wheel drive is pointless, but thats where the S3 comes into its own as you will be able to lay down all the power you throw at it, at a cost obviously.
An S3 is a haldex 4 wheel drive and not permanent too, so it works as a front wheel drive until the front breaks away and the rear kicks in to counter that. Good tyre are a must on either cars.
Less to go wrong on a front wheel drive.
 
There's more than two things that set two apart.
And s3 isn't permanent awd but also isn't front wheel drive until front breaks away.
 
S. said:
There's more than two things that set two apart.
And s3 isn't permanent awd but also isn't front wheel drive until front breaks away.
Click to expand...
Thats what I said.
Its NOT a permanent 4wd.
And it is a front wheel drive, it only kicks into awd when the front breaks away.
So biased.
 
I can think of one good reason......and that is to buy mine as I am about to upgrade to an 8V:whistle2:!
 
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S3 all day for me, drove lots of mk5 gtis unmapped mapped etc...hated the wheelspin.
 
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audi upgrades
Some really positive feedback, previously owned a MK6 GTI and a MK5 prior so not at all new to VAG cars, but think a drive in one is due. They certainly don't fall short on power and as above seem to have a lot of tuning potential, what is quite surprising is how well the facelifts in particular hold their value - with quite a few costing more than the 8V!
 
Interesting, I keep having a conversation with myself about getting a new car. I've looked at the S3 and really like it, although I am also tempted by the Leon Cupra 300 as I can save about £100 a month getting that.

ON the other hand, my 2011 A3 170 BE is great, I've got no real problems with it, other than wanting a bit more oomph, so also consider getting a remap...

In the end I do nothing because I can't decide :D
 
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I drove the new S3 a few weeks back, ****** quick but felt a little numbing to drive, as if there was no need to think. was so tempted to turn off the esp, but thought better of it as it was chucking it down, saying that I still wish I had the funds to own one, the only reason I dont run the 8P S3 is to get the spec I have on my 2.0tfsi S-Line id have to fork out 8k more as it stands now, and when I bought mine 3 years ago they were 19/20k as apposed to 9k I payed for mine, a lot of money for not that much more performance, I`m stage 1 at the moment and I can stay with a standard S3 given power to weight ratio and decent Michelin PS4 tyres on audi A4 dtm wheels will make it a very nimble car, a few more suspension mods in the pipeline, and just fitted Bilstein B12 kit, with bcs exhaust and stage 2 map coming soon.
Big plans on the DSG with upgraded clutch plates, remap and different diff to stop the spin on corner exits,
The plan is to have a spot on front wheel drive car and be quick in its class. A long way to go though.
 
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