Exactly Paul.
And tbh, the reviews on the RS5 actually appeal to me.
"Masses of mechanical grip"
"Consider this car as a cheaper Bently Conti GT, continent crushing ability"
I don't know what people expect from fast Audi's.
It's been said over and over again, if you want driver involvement, masses of feel and the ability to power slide from corner to corner choosing an Audi is the wrong move!
Look at any 4WD Audi and take a good look where the engine is... be it an RS4, S3, TT-RS, RS6 or 3.0TDI. The majority of the engine will be in front of the front axle... just becuase it has an S or RS badge in it will not suddenly change the laws of physics.
And don't confuse this little rant as me becoing a 'hater' for all things sporty Audi, far from it, I think given the engineering constraints they are working in, they do a fantastic job at making these cars do what they do. I loved my S3's and I've seriously fallen for the TT - it has exeeded my expectiations in pretty much every way.
I personally buy an S or RS Audi for the all round package.
Quick
Safe
Fun when you want it to be
Tuneable
Premium
Practical (even the TT is practicle for my needs - no kids to worry about)
In my humble opinion, the RS3 would tick all of the above boxes, even at £40k.
It will monster an S3, even a Stage 2+ S3 and lets not forget, for another £800 on a remap you'll have a hot hatch that will blow an RS4, RS5, RS6, M3, C63AMG..... in to the weeds.
Sounds like
amazing value to me