Ess_Three
Registered User
- Joined
- Feb 19, 2001
- Messages
- 5,383
- Reaction score
- 20
- Points
- 38
- Location
- Aberdeenshire
- Website
- www.audi-sport.net
Well, I've done 1500-2000 miles on my newly developed suspension set up on my S3, so I thought it time for an update.
One word sums it up: Sublime.
The ride around town is perfect...better than before...out on the road is just goes where you point it. No fuss.
I had a little bad news on Tuesday regarding my employment situation (more to the point, soon to be lack of employment...anyway, I digress!) and I had to collect the folks from the airport.
So, the airport is about 17 miles away, through 2 villages and one city...you can do it in 25 minutes driving quickly, and about 20 in a real hurry in a capable car.
My record is just over 20 minutes sticking to all town / village speed limits...
Well, it was a nice night...a tad misty, but dry warm roads and about 7pm meant quiet roads.
I took it easy for the first 5 miles or so to warm it up...then got into the 'zone'. Since I was not thinking about much other that my lack of job...the run turned into 'one of those drives' where something was going to pay for my then current bad mood. And the car was close to hand.
I pulled up at Aberdeen Airport in a few seconds under 17 minutes.
I took over 3 minutes off my pervious 'best' time without ever trying...this car really handles!!
Basically, there is no understeer. And I mean none. You can still provike the ESP on if you really push to the limit - I had it on 3 or 4 times but I hardly ever switch it off or feel the need to switch it off.
There was no oversteer.
It just went...pick a line, turn in, power on...no fuss.
The feedback was great...I was even getting feedback from the chassis!! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif
I really cannot express quite how well this thing handles now...I'm absolutely amazed.
I have been particularly vocal around how crappy it is to drive as standard..and I'll stand by that. It's verging on awful.
But now..fantastic.
The best thing I could ever say about a car's handling is that if it's 'that' good, you never think about it. You get into the 'zone' where you drive using the feedback through the pedals and steering wheel without looking at the instruments....the handling becomes 'transparent' as far as the driver is concerned - you only need to concentrate on finding the next braking point, hitting the next apex and pointing the car down the road.
I can safely say, this was the first run the S3 has had on a road I really know well, a road consisting of cross country 'B' roads, nasty off camber turns, bad road surfaces and a few long sweeping 'A' road sections...plus a fair bit of stop / start junction stuff.
I am one very happy man car wise...but as usual, I think there is more to come!!
Even trusty steed No2 is undergoing a re-vamp as we speak...more power required as perviously it had the handling to outrun the S3 on the twisties (and that's something from a Mk3 GTI) but now the S3 has the handling to match the power.
Advantage S3.
But not for much longer I feel....
Anyway...
Anyone looking for a neutral, brilliantly handling package could do a lot worse than emulate my set up.
I'll have to go off and come up with my next round of tweeks to stay one step ahead now! So unfair!
Glen.
One word sums it up: Sublime.
The ride around town is perfect...better than before...out on the road is just goes where you point it. No fuss.
I had a little bad news on Tuesday regarding my employment situation (more to the point, soon to be lack of employment...anyway, I digress!) and I had to collect the folks from the airport.
So, the airport is about 17 miles away, through 2 villages and one city...you can do it in 25 minutes driving quickly, and about 20 in a real hurry in a capable car.
My record is just over 20 minutes sticking to all town / village speed limits...
Well, it was a nice night...a tad misty, but dry warm roads and about 7pm meant quiet roads.
I took it easy for the first 5 miles or so to warm it up...then got into the 'zone'. Since I was not thinking about much other that my lack of job...the run turned into 'one of those drives' where something was going to pay for my then current bad mood. And the car was close to hand.
I pulled up at Aberdeen Airport in a few seconds under 17 minutes.
I took over 3 minutes off my pervious 'best' time without ever trying...this car really handles!!
Basically, there is no understeer. And I mean none. You can still provike the ESP on if you really push to the limit - I had it on 3 or 4 times but I hardly ever switch it off or feel the need to switch it off.
There was no oversteer.
It just went...pick a line, turn in, power on...no fuss.
The feedback was great...I was even getting feedback from the chassis!! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif
I really cannot express quite how well this thing handles now...I'm absolutely amazed.
I have been particularly vocal around how crappy it is to drive as standard..and I'll stand by that. It's verging on awful.
But now..fantastic.
The best thing I could ever say about a car's handling is that if it's 'that' good, you never think about it. You get into the 'zone' where you drive using the feedback through the pedals and steering wheel without looking at the instruments....the handling becomes 'transparent' as far as the driver is concerned - you only need to concentrate on finding the next braking point, hitting the next apex and pointing the car down the road.
I can safely say, this was the first run the S3 has had on a road I really know well, a road consisting of cross country 'B' roads, nasty off camber turns, bad road surfaces and a few long sweeping 'A' road sections...plus a fair bit of stop / start junction stuff.
I am one very happy man car wise...but as usual, I think there is more to come!!
Even trusty steed No2 is undergoing a re-vamp as we speak...more power required as perviously it had the handling to outrun the S3 on the twisties (and that's something from a Mk3 GTI) but now the S3 has the handling to match the power.
Advantage S3.
But not for much longer I feel....
Anyway...
Anyone looking for a neutral, brilliantly handling package could do a lot worse than emulate my set up.
I'll have to go off and come up with my next round of tweeks to stay one step ahead now! So unfair!
Glen.
