Worrying over the colour

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Wxmchris

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Hi All
I have a new S3 saloon arriving on sept 1st, and I'm worrying over the colour , ridiculous I know. I decided on brilliant black , as a compromise , I wanted the virtual cockpit , bang and olufsun sound system and privacy glass . But having metallic paint was pushing me over the £40k and I didn't fancy paying £450 a year tax . Coming from £30 a year for my A4 at the mo . My ideal choice would've been Daytona grey, but ended up with brilliant black, and not sure whether I did the right thing or not .
 
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Have you considered a wrap? This would also protect the original paintwork.. if you're worrying then it's definitely worth looking into atleast..
 
To be honest I might love the brilliant black , don't really know what a wrap is. I'm popping to see it on Thursday for the first time , so hopefully I'll love it . Just worrying in case I don't !
 
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Brilliant Black is a perfectly, decent colour.
Wifes current Mk3 TT is in that very colour as was her Mk2 TT.
Don't fret, it'll look great.
 
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Blacks look stunning, just be prepared to hand wash it quite often and carefully.
 
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Wxmchris said:
Hi All
I have a new S3 saloon arriving on sept 1st, and I'm worrying over the colour , ridiculous I know. I decided on brilliant black , as a compromise , I wanted the virtual cockpit , bang and olufsun sound system and privacy glass . But having metallic paint was pushing me over the £40k and I didn't fancy paying £450 a year tax . Coming from £30 a year for my A4 at the mo . My ideal choice would've been Daytona grey, but ended up with brilliant black, and not sure whether I did the right thing or not .
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@Wxmchris - Hi & :welcome!: to Audi-Sport.Net !

Your new :s3addict: sounds fab !
Looking foreword to the pic's

Black can be a real PITA to keep clean & swirl free IMHO but I wouldn't worry yourself too much unless you have car OCD (that a few members on here reckon I have lol)
 
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Bristle Hound said:
@Wxmchris.......I wouldn't worry yourself too much unless you have car OCD (that a few members on here reckon I have lol)
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Totally agree. Wifes car get snow foamed and rinsed (occasionally dried) once a month on average and it comes up like new every time.

@Wxmchris don't be put off if you don't have the aforementioned OCD lol
 
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Bristle Hound said:
@Wxmchris - Hi & :welcome!: to Audi-Sport.Net !

Your new :s3addict: sounds fab !
Looking foreword to the pic's

Black can be a real PITA to keep clean & swirl free IMHO but I wouldn't worry yourself too much unless you have car OCD (that a few members on here reckon I have lol)
Click to expand...
I have a mate a few houses down from me with an RS4 and he has got OCD . But luckily he looks after my A4 at mo and I'll be taking the S3 to him on a regular basis
 
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Audi Bairn said:
Totally agree. Wifes car get snow foamed and rinsed (occasionally dried) once a month on average and it comes up like new every time.

@Wxmchris don't be put off if you're don't have the aforementioned OCD lol
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Thanks , I'll def be getting it looked after .
 
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I have metallic black (a.k.a. mythos black) because have no other option to pick.
IMO,
disadvantanges:
1) incredible difficult to maintain clean, its a matter of daily care, even with gtechniq C1.
2) Car exterior design (panels frames, etc) are shaded and equalized, thus sporty waist of car is not very recognizable. Clear colors are better if you like to enjoy the external design of this car, which IMO is great and very very sporty. - if you pay attention, the S3 is always advertised in RED, or clear colors, in order to emphasize this external frames/lines design.
3) clear coat (according my detailler) is very easy scratchable, and also noticeable, so please special attention when washing in order to avoid any swirls / scratches.

advantages;
1) with a decent pair of rims, looks superb, ridiculous sober, and
2) if you leave the car parked outside, nobody notice that much as it would be red or sepang blue.
 
martinlop said:
I have metallic black (a.k.a. mythos black) because have no other option to pick.
IMO,
disadvantanges:
1) incredible difficult to maintain clean, its a matter of daily care, even with gtechniq C1.
2) Car exterior design (panels frames, etc) are shaded and equalized, thus sporty waist of car is not very recognizable. Clear colors are better if you like to enjoy the external design of this car, which IMO is great and very very sporty. - if you pay attention, the S3 is always advertised in RED, or clear colors, in order to emphasize this external frames/lines design.
3) clear coat (according my detailler) is very easy scratchable, and also noticeable, so please special attention when washing in order to avoid any swirls / scratches.

advantages;
1) with a decent pair of rims, looks superb, ridiculous sober, and
2) if you leave the car parked outside, nobody notice that much as it would be red or sepang blue.
Click to expand...

By a clear colour you mean non metallic?
Audi advertise cars in red just because its eye catching and sporty as most Audi adverts are for sporty cars although they advertised the new A5 in Daytona in conjunction with the Willy Wonka world of imagination song...

As for the OP.... I wouldn't sacrifice a cars road tax price over a paint colour but we are all different.... I would have sacrificed a other option over the paint..... Flat black paint is probably best kept out of the earth's atmosphere and free of human contact... Almost true lol just too much hard work mate....
 
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For me, colour and how it looks on a my chosen car is at the top of my option list.
 
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Ohhh one of the reasons I was looking to change my car was because of the colour! Black is gorgeous when clean, but keeping it clean is a full time job! Make sure you know how to wash it before washing it! In the winter I just snowfoam, jet off and let drip dry.

When dirty:
0-jpg.62412


When clean:
1-jpg.62413
 
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jassyo06 said:
By a clear colour you mean non metallic?
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nope, the opposite of dark... any white, grey, yellow, where the beltline, trim details, crease lines are more defined and noticeable.
 
S32B said:
Ohhh one of the reasons I was looking to change my car was because of the colour! Black is gorgeous when clean, but keeping it clean is a full time job! Make sure you know how to wash it before washing it! In the winter I just snowfoam, jet off and let drip dry.

When dirty:
0-jpg.62412


When clean:
1-jpg.62413
Click to expand...
Your car looks great clean , I got a mate who lives by me with an RS4 who does detailing. He's very good , so he'll be looking after my car. I wouldn't risk doing it myself .
 
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S32B said:
Ohhh one of the reasons I was looking to change my car was because of the colour! Black is gorgeous when clean, but keeping it clean is a full time job! Make sure you know how to wash it before washing it! In the winter I just snowfoam, jet off and let drip dry.

When dirty:
0-jpg.62412


When clean:
1-jpg.62413
Click to expand...
Black looks great when clean! But doesn't your car get covered in water marks when you just leave it to drip dry? I had that problem when washing my old black A3 and water marks are still really obvious on my ara blue S3 that I've got at the moment :blink:
 
Bells said:
Black looks great when clean! But doesn't your car get covered in water marks when you just leave it to drip dry? I had that problem when washing my old black A3 and water marks are still really obvious on my ara blue S3 that I've got at the moment :blink:
Click to expand...

You need a water filter! I washed mine once without it and it started drying, the water spots on the windows were horrendous and not easy to remove either!

After that time I bought a RaceGlaze water filter, 100 times better now.
 
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martinlop said:
nope, the opposite of dark... any white, grey, yellow, where the beltline, trim details, crease lines are more defined and noticeable.
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Well l have got to disagree For example Drayton Grey,Floret Silver.... Colours that really define light and shadow on feature lines/belt lines lighter colours don't
CNgYORFUAAAuBoQ
2014 11 14 15 00 19 1b4236da66701434a7d392a80e420522d37b71a3
 
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Tom.H said:
You need a water filter! I washed mine once without it and it started drying, the water spots on the windows were horrendous and not easy to remove either!

After that time I bought a RaceGlaze water filter, 100 times better now.
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Thanks, I've just had a quick look at the website, did you just go with the 7l one for £99? Might have to invest in one
 
Now ...'some say ' that the colour is the essence of the car and when deciding on the spec the first thing to decide on is the colour and build from there upto budget...seems little point in spending good money on a car that you don't admire the look of....however you have chosen black which is a fairly safe colour looks wise (IMO)...I've had many a black car and loved them all..said I would never buy another black car but did...purely due to the maintenance aspect of it but the efforts are worth it....if you weren't too fussed about the paid for colours then black is a good bet....although Daytona is a beauty lol

audi-s3-saloon-2-0-300ps-quattro-s-tronic-605417823-5.jpg
 
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Bells said:
Thanks, I've just had a quick look at the website, did you just go with the 7l one for £99? Might have to invest in one
Click to expand...

Yeah I went with the 7L, tbh I'd have thought the bigger ones would be better for people washing several cars regularly rather than just the one. Good thing is they're refillable too so when it stops filtering you just replace the media inside.
 
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moonlight said:
Now ...'some say ' that the colour is the essence of the car and when deciding on the spec the first thing to decide on is the colour and build from there upto budget...seems little point in spending good money on a car that you don't admire the look of....however you have chosen black which is a fairly safe colour looks wise (IMO)...I've had many a black car and loved them all..said I would never buy another black car but did...purely due to the maintenance aspect of it but the efforts are worth it....if you weren't too fussed about the paid for colours then black is a good bet....although Daytona is a beauty lol

audi-s3-saloon-2-0-300ps-quattro-s-tronic-605417823-5.jpg
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Well mine should look exactly like that one. And it looks great, so I'm chuffed about that, black was a colour my wife wanted . I wanted Daytona grey , but I wanted the virtual cockpit , s tronic , B&O and privacy glass . My friends think I'm bonkers paying £40k for a car , but they're all looking forward to seeing it !
 
audi upgrades
well, IMO, I will never ever have another black car.
In this case, if I can choose, would get a Florett Silver with tinted glasses, and grey/titanium rims.
 
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Wxmchris said:
Well mine should look exactly like that one. And it looks great, so I'm chuffed about that, black was a colour my wife wanted . I wanted Daytona grey , but I wanted the virtual cockpit , s tronic , B&O and privacy glass . My friends think I'm bonkers paying £40k for a car , but they're all looking forward to seeing it !
Click to expand...


I had a black saloon on demo for a few days.....looked great and I was very very tempted...t'other half didn't want me to go for black...she wanted red.......I ordered red then changed it to Floret!
 
martinlop said:
well, IMO, I will never ever have another black car.
In this case, if I can choose, would get a Florett Silver with tinted glasses, and grey/titanium rims.
Click to expand...
My problem is ive had 3 silver cars in past , so as lovely as floret silver looks . My missus doesn't want another one !
 
Bells said:
Black looks great when clean! But doesn't your car get covered in water marks when you just leave it to drip dry? I had that problem when washing my old black A3 and water marks are still really obvious on my ara blue S3 that I've got at the moment :blink:
Click to expand...
Yes, but it's winter! So even if I dried it off and then drove down the road it would be filthy again, winter cleaning is just getting the thick stuff off. Maybe every 4-5th wash do it 100%.
 
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Wxmchris said:
My problem is ive had 3 silver cars in past , so as lovely as floret silver looks . My missus doesn't want another one !
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then, I would guess is not the time to change the car, but the missus! LoL!
 
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You should it ceramic coated. I got my Navarra Blue Q5 coated and it'll protect against swirls and is a doddle to clean


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
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I have a solid black A3. I valet my car every weekend without fail. The Mrs has a white Polo (I previously had a white car). I can wash and dry that in full sun and it looks immaculate. However, if it's warmer than 10C and slightly sunny, the black will dry before I can towel dry it and will be covered in watermarks which are an utter mare to remove. I sometimes drive it into the garage and dry it in there if it's too warm outside, but it's awkward as I can't open the doors fully to get into the creases and it's a bit too dark to see what I'm doing properly.

I've owned black cars before but those were metallic. Although still a pain, they were easier than solid black to wash & dry.

Also, this is the only car I've owned (regardless of colour) which you only need to look at, to damage the paint. Under my garage lights it shows horrendous swirls and lines all over the car. And I'm meticulous with my cleaning, using the two bucket method etc etc. Never had this problem with previous black cars.

Although it looks great, I'm never buying black again. For me it will be a dark grey metallic, white or silver in the future.

PS some say white is difficult to keep clean. I disagree because I wash my car every week, regardless whether it's dirty or not. So it's not 'keeping it clean' which is an issue for me, it's making it actually look clean right after it's been washed which is the problem. And with black and a hint of sunshine, that's nigh on impossible.


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Muttley75 said:
I have a solid black A3. I valet my car every weekend without fail. The Mrs has a white Polo (I previously had a white car). I can wash and dry that in full sun and it looks immaculate. However, if it's warmer than 10C and slightly sunny, the black will dry before I can towel dry it and will be covered in watermarks which are an utter mare to remove. I sometimes drive it into the garage and dry it in there if it's too warm outside, but it's awkward as I can't open the doors fully to get into the creases and it's a bit too dark to see what I'm doing properly.

I've owned black cars before but those were metallic. Although still a pain, they were easier than solid black to wash & dry.

Also, this is the only car I've owned (regardless of colour) which you only need to look at, to damage the paint. Under my garage lights it shows horrendous swirls and lines all over the car. And I'm meticulous with my cleaning, using the two bucket method etc etc. Never had this problem with previous black cars.

Although it looks great, I'm never buying black again. For me it will be a dark grey metallic, white or silver in the future.

PS some say white is difficult to keep clean. I disagree because I wash my car every week, regardless whether it's dirty or not. So it's not 'keeping it clean' which is an issue for me, it's making it actually look clean right after it's been washed which is the problem. And with black and a hint of sunshine, that's nigh on impossible.


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Click to expand...
I have to agree...only had one black car before which was a solid black on a VW. My thoughts on it are exactly what you mentioned.
 
Only had 2 black cars in my life, an Mx5 & recently a Vauxhall Mokka. Lovely colour, horrible to keep clean. Personally i would never get black again. I hate knowing that it looks dirty and not at its best. My A3 is Monsoon grey and its superb at masking any dirty. I left her with the gf for 3 months and told her not to clean it, came back and it was like new even though she drove it every day. For low maintenance then get a grey based colour. If you want your car to stand out on the 5 or so days of summer the UK gets per year then get black.

Where there no other colours to go with that weren't optional extras? Also, have you checked the resale value of a black S3 saloon? I wonder if its worse than other colours due to people knowing how hard it is to keep pristine.
 
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I went with Navarra mainly for a change as all my previous five A3s have been black or grey. Black is awesome but so difficult to keep clean and shows up dirt a lot but, if you put in the effort, it'll reward.

I've well and truly bust the £40k threshold so lovely £450 a year tax for me :(
 
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Vertigo1 said:
I went with Navarra mainly for a change as all my previous five A3s have been black or grey. Black is awesome but so difficult to keep clean and shows up dirt a lot but, if you put in the effort, it'll reward.

I've well and truly bust the £40k threshold so lovely £450 a year tax for me :(
Click to expand...

I've got Navarra Blue on my Q5. Ceramic coated and it's looks awesome.
94d0294fd88e383fd9366bd0c512138e.jpg



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Off the back of this thread, I ordered a 7L RaceGlaze filter on Thursday. Arrived Yesterday which was impressive considering I opted for the cheapest postage option. Anyway, used it this morning and OMFG it's immense! Washed the car to my usual OCD standards inside 15 minutes. It usually takes me 90-120 minutes when it's sunny. Where has this been all my life!? It's worth every penny if anyone is even remotely considering one.

It remains to be seen how many washes I get out of it before the resin needs changing but if it lasts a year then I'll be happy with that. I expect I'll revert to drying with microfiber towels in winter as it isn't going to dry on its own - particularly once I've put it away in the garage. Utterly brilliant product.

I had used those Flash car cleaning guns about ten years ago and they were pretty good but this takes it to a whole new level. The Flash cartridges from memory only lasted two or three washes and cost over a tenner for refills. This will be much more viable.


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Muttley75 said:
Off the back of this thread, I ordered a 7L RaceGlaze filter on Thursday. Arrived Yesterday which was impressive considering I opted for the cheapest postage option. Anyway, used it this morning and OMFG it's immense! Washed the car to my usual OCD standards inside 15 minutes. It usually takes me 90-120 minutes when it's sunny. Where has this been all my life!? It's worth every penny if anyone is even remotely considering one.

It remains to be seen how many washes I get out of it before the resin needs changing but if it lasts a year then I'll be happy with that. I expect I'll revert to drying with microfiber towels in winter as it isn't going to dry on its own - particularly once I've put it away in the garage. Utterly brilliant product.

I had used those Flash car cleaning guns about ten years ago and they were pretty good but this takes it to a whole new level. The Flash cartridges from memory only lasted two or three washes and cost over a tenner for refills. This will be much more viable.


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Click to expand...

Have you got a link to it?

It's basically a water filter right so the water won't leave marks on the paint when it's dried.


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