Thought long and hard about it a number of times over the past 4 years and it remains an itch. A big one. I am a massive Porsche fan.
The new cars are great but I also love the older ones, just a shame they are such crazy prices these days. I keep kicking myself I didnt purchase one in the early 00’s
I have to say the new 911.2 with the 3 litre turbo charged engine sounds way better than I thought it should or would. The 911.2 GTS steers really well and has plenty of low down poke with the new engine so a great drive point to point. Older cars with the N/A 3.8 engine do sound better but really have to be revved a lot harder to reach the torque. So the newer cars are much quicker in the real world and far more driveable on our roads in my opinion. They are however getting quite large, both in width and length!! The 997 shape is probably as large as a 911 should have got. The 984 911 vs the new 911.2 is tiny by comparison.
Having been used to turbo cars for quite a few years now it would be a big change if moving back to a N/A motor. Ie GT4 Cayman. A mixed blessing some would say. So the GTS 911.2 would be top of my list..... Practicle-ish ....more on this at the end.
On the car front over the last year or so I have attended some Cars and Coffee type events which started near me. These have been hosted at a very nice place ( some beautiful cars attended there across the year from all walks of life - everything a VW camper to a Bugatti Veyron) and its got me thinking long and hard about cars and what I want from mine. Also at what price point do you get best bang for buck. Its a wide open topic for sure !!
Positives for the RS3 in my eyes are :
I love the RS3, its a great modern car
The engine is superb. A real character of the car with a lovely sound and a good low down torque figure which is easily useable. So drivability is great and even better for those with a stage 1 tune like you.
I love driving through tunnels or down a high street with the valves open. It turns me into a big kid with a massive smile just about every time! You can also be discrete if you so wish by turning the valves off in Comfort mode.
Engine revs out to the red line and doesnt feel like it runs out of steam. Many Turbo cars cant do this.
Its practical - Very usable boot and 4-5 proper seats in a smallish footprint. (Which for me is a current must, seats not footprint )
You Can park it anyway ( even though I dont !). Similar to a Golf its accepted in every situation from a car meet , high end hotel to Tescos!
I enjoy the comfort and ability to change to dynamic mode at the flick of a button - mood dependent- Steering/ throttle response and suspension changes.
I love the 4WD ability and all weather grip. Blooming important for the 6 months of the year where we have grey, miserable wet days!
You will wave goodbye to every rear wheel drive car!
Stock cars drive really well. Stage 1 RS3’s and beyond are another league in performance. The RS3 will humble many a sports car in a straight line even at stock levels. As noted above it will also humble on the twisties on a greasy wet winters day. All year round performance for sure.
The RS3 makes the power it should , ie Audi are good with the numbers on this car ( at the rolling road event last year none of the older RS4's were anywhere close to 400+bhp. Most were 315-365bhp!!) Other manufactures also dont make power as they should, and especially true as cars get older and leggy.
I love the tech ( things like adaptive cruise, lane assist, google maps , LED lights etc and on FL cars Virtual cockpit and Apple play ). Sit in an old car and it really is pure analogue in every sense of the phrase. ( This is good and bad )
I love the stereo ( B&O is superb)
I love the DSG gear box, and ability to drive in manual when mood suits. As much as I love a manual, the new double clutch boxes really are super quick.
I love the pano roof - sun on the head
I love the quality interior - its a nice place to sit, especially on a longer run.
For its performance - Its cheap to run and maintain even by Audi standards
Mods are pretty cheap - all things considered should you want to go down that route.
It surprises so many people how quick it is and that I love that. I love the fact that its almost a sleeper performance wise. Its quicker than say a 997 911 C4S in stock form let alone a Stage 1 car like yours!
Negatives:
It does not tick the sports car itch. Its a quick hatch back, aka Hyper hatch but its no Sports car.
Suspension / damping could be better for certain roads/ situations- this is improved with better aftermarket springs etc.
Its so quick and capable that to really enjoy a spirited drive you are pushing silly speeds on most public roads. This however is the same for so many modern performance cars
The seats although comfortable are not supportive enough on a truly spirited drive.
It does not have the wow factor. Its a nice looking car, but not the wow factor. Which in some ways is a positive as only those in the ‘know’ tell it apart from a standard A3. Especially in a subtle colour combo. Hence why you can park it in most places.
And thats about it
The problem is for my next car I'm not sure I want a slower car nor an older car... aka old Porsche 911, BMW Z3M ( crazy money for 80/90's's cars as much as they pull on the heart strings for me ) also with older cars come the inevitable problems, rust, maintenance and ofcourse increasing service costs. Let alone reliability and of course modern safety etc.
Thought long and hard about the new TT RS but to many people its still got that hairdressers image. ( a wrong one I think but its still has a certain stigma). Love the 911's and Caymans but would be a 5-10 year old car for the money I could spend. Not sure about M3'/4's and not sure either about the C63AmG's although they do have a lovely engine.
Dont know if I want a proper sports car/ weekend toy or just a modern sleeper which can humble them all!
A friends little Lotus Elise is a superb steer on a country road, but no good on a run, or from a practical perspective. It does however cover ground extremely quickly on a back road and does have a certain wow factor. It looks like a proper little sports car. Even my daughter said so!
Before I changed from my S3 to the RS3 I thought about various cars like:
Porsche 997 C4s - love these - decent phase 2 cars (2008-2010) are £45-£55k - prob too much money for what they really are. Slower and less torque than my old S3 let alone new RS3 though. 2+2 seating a bonus.
Porsche Cayman S/R - love these, but once again looking at £40k+ for a used Facelift car (2012 onwards). Better steer than a 911 but only 2 seats and the snob factor of it not being a 911.
Porsche Cayman GT4 - Commanding £75k+ for used examples ! Great cars. Two people I know that both came out of the GT4 and a Cayman GTS into 911.2 GT3 / GT3 RS both said the Cayman was 80-90% of their new 911’s at half or less of the cost !
So after that long post... I guess Im saying you should go for what you want and can afford and the car that suits your current needs!!!
For the time being I am lucky that a close family member has just bought a 911 Targa GTS ( waited over 9 months for it to arrive in March ) so in some small way I have been able scratch the itch this summer with a few outings and its been great fun.
Just going to leave this here.... yum yum
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Jungle
,I fail to see how you would be dissapointed with either Porker!
