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ScottyKemp said:
Love to see a Intrgra compete against a chipped S3, then !
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You may be in for a shock too...
Sure the ITR is cheap looking...it wasn't designed to look good, it was designed to be a drivers car...which to be quite frank, is something VAG just haven't ever made...period.
Sure there were some great VAG cars....but none even playing the same game as an ITR.
Anyone who looks at the times for an ITR and makes their decisions are frankly, a muppet. They obviously have no appreciation of chassis dynamics and the thrill of driving a properly engineered and set up car.
The ITR isn't a fast car. It was never sold as a 'fast car'...it was sold as a homologation special for touring car racing...and anyone who has done a few track miles in one will tell you...there's nothing to beat it this side of £40K for it's new selling price.
As for the S3 being quicker...I'll give you my view as someone whos owned both:
The S3 is quicker on bad roads, wet days, with the missus in the passenger seat...any time where sitting yer **** in the sublime comfort of an Audi interior matters...because the S3 is a road car primarily.
Put them both on a track...different story. The S3 is an ill handling, overweight, numb steering, crap braking pile of the preverbial...the ITR is sublime.
I used to lap quicker than S3s, Impreza turbos, Lotus Elises, WRX STIs and the like...both wet and dry...so there goes the theory about the ITR being crap in the wet.
You can't get grip in the ITR above 6000 RPM in the first 3 gears in the wet, for standing starts...but who cares?
When it corners like it does...not me!
If you happen to meet someone who knows how to drive his ITR properly, and you are on a smooth road...you may well get a fright...and get handed your **** on a silver platter!
Sorry boys...but there is nothing you can do to an A3 / S3 to make them stick with a well driven ITR...that's from experience.
Even with 270BHP+ / 305+ lb-ft of torque and a well set up S3...I'm still slower than I was in my mildly tweaked ITR, on my favourate roads...safer in the Audi...but ultimately not as fast. Oh, and it feels good in the ITR...it just doesn't in the Audi...it's just such a chore to drive the S3 on the limit.