Comparing an S3 to a Scoby is xxxx
Why not compare it to Megane, Focus ST and Alfa 147 etc
S3 ticks many boxes;
Comfort, luxury, speed, build quality, decent handling
Running costs are higher than others in its class....
If you hate the S3 but feel too snobby for the so called hot hatchs then stop moaning and keep it
wow, iv only had mine 2 weeks and reading this threads making me think if iv made a mistake...
the fact is, id have no other hatch in our price range and anything your considering costs alot more, as its a different level of car. if its Imprezas and Evos were talking, in my eyes its only worth a change if going for the newer shapes.
p.s please tell me i did the right thing in selling my Civic Type R lol..
wow, iv only had mine 2 weeks and reading this threads making me think if iv made a mistake...
the fact is, id have no other hatch in our price range and anything your considering costs alot more, as its a different level of car. if its Imprezas and Evos were talking, in my eyes its only worth a change if going for the newer shapes.
p.s please tell me i did the right thing in selling my Civic Type R lol..
The S3 is a luxury performance car and so i'd want to keep it sweet. If you want to do 400bhp and all that stuff, i don't think it'd belong in an S3, that S3's too nice for that. Buy an LCR if that's what you want.
...The S3 is turbo charged and if going for a 225 isn't a million miles off a standard UK Turbo 2000 Impreza. From the outside, when you've never owned one, and don't know the pit falls the S3 sounds like a good compromise....
I had mine up for sale the other week and was looking at getting a civic tyre r, but after having nice long drive in the S3 dont think that anything would beat it in confort, speed and economy for the price...
Don't fall into the trap of comparing power across cars here... on paper the S3 and Impreza may well have similar peak power but the delivery will no doubt be totally different... putting the power graph of a std S3 against an std Impreza would be telling...
I personally have not driven an Impreza so cannot comment with any authority but I have driven std, mapped and BT S3's and the difference between them is obvious... Impreza's (from what I understand) drive more like BT cars with plenty of top end power, the lowly K04 is designed for low down power delivery and runs out of breath fairly quickly... Impreza will feel much quicker on the road because of this...
People are influenced far too much by peak power figures when they should really look at how that power is delivered...
<tuffty/>
loli know where you're comming from Mike, I was going to buy an S3 after my last A3, but having driven a few, the upgrade just wasnt worthwhile!
i know where you're comming from Mike, I was going to buy an S3 after my last A3, but having driven a few, the upgrade just wasnt worthwhile!
<tuffty/>
yes.
Then to add to my woes of discontentment, one of the cambelt tensioners failed and resulted in me bending 20valves, smashing 4 pistons and cracking the head, so rebuild time - I decided at the same time to replace the turbo as it had done 50k and although not smoking or having any play though I may as well get a hybrid while the car was apart, so I did. Anyway, £3k later I got my car back and although it was slightly quicker it was nothing special (yes I know it will need stg 2 to make it better, but you understand that at present i'd spent enough).
To be honest the only down fall I found with the S3 was the weight when you chucked it into a bend, however it wasn't enough for me to change the suspension because apart from the odd crazy throw it in a bend moment I love the way it drives and rides the roads on a day to day...
It's hardly a surprise that the S3 feels slow compared to a Skyline, the 2 cars are in completely different markets,
After 2 and a half years of owning my car regardless of it getting older in today's market, it still makes me feel special everytime I drive it and feel it has a presence on the road...
The only car in my situation that I would replace it with would cost 15k+
Ps I had a play with an E46 M3 the other day from standstill and without going to silly speeds he didn't have much more than me, so to say the S3 is gutless is not entirely accurate...
In my opinion, the S3 is best in class. It is a combination of all the things I want out of a car. It's quick enough at the end of the day. It handles with poise and delicacy for a heavy car. It's great in the winter months. It's comfy inside. It looks nice, from both inside and out.
What else do you want? It's a rep mobile.
OK, it doesn't make the world spin backwards off the line in standard form. Wow..... If you want that sort of power, either buy something with that power, or bang some money into the engine, or buy an RS4.
If you bought one for immense power in the first place, it might of paid to do research.
I love mine, despite all the problems I've had with it.
Two words. Personal preference.
Mike I'll apologise now for being blunt , here goes....
You spent 3k on the engine in the first place, did it not cross your mind to have it remapped again to get the best out of it? I mean hybrid turbo (plus the FMIC you already had fitted) with no additional remap sounds backwards. Please don't shoot the messenger here, I'm only probably telling you what you already know.
We ALL know that the S3 doesn't go around a corner that well in standard form. You add to that a little more power from stage 1, new hybrid turbo with your FMIC (possibly producing slightly more boost, with a nice new tight engine) and you'll end up going faster into corners using the standard brakes (even if new) and you have a clear recipe for a poor car. My car with just a stage 1 is poorly let down by the brakes, especially on repeated slowing.
To get the best out of the S3 you really do need to sort the suspension out properly. You say you had bilsteins, if you are using standard springs and ARB's then your bound to dislike the handling, it's not set up properly. I can only speak for myself here, but it makes sense to me to get a car that isn't great on the corners sorted in that area, then concentrate with braking and finally remapping/engine. You already have a FMIC and hybrid but what that gives is an unstable car, too much speed and not enough control to use it, mine is the opposite, it handles like nobody's business, in fact it's too sensitive and at high three figure speeds it seems twitchy, will be revising the geometry I think.
Hope you keep your car and get it sorted. Sounds like you have the makings of a really nice car.
G
Cant comment on this subject as never owned an 8L S3 I will one day. But if I wasn't happy with an car after 3weeks I wouldn't of kept it. Good luck with the sale
These S3's are perfect example on how a well looked after S3 should look like. Beautiful
In my opinion, the S3 is best in class.
Sell the car mate,you have made your mind up already that its not quick without having the work done so just sell it.I'm sure my car could be better (i will be getting it remapped) and i will get some adjustable rear bars made, but will it dramatically alter my opinion of the S3? I doubt it.
Don't fall into the trap of comparing power across cars here... on paper the S3 and Impreza may well have similar peak power but the delivery will no doubt be totally different... putting the power graph of a std S3 against an std Impreza would be telling...
I personally have not driven an Impreza so cannot comment with any authority but I have driven std, mapped and BT S3's and the difference between them is obvious... Impreza's (from what I understand) drive more like BT cars with plenty of top end power, the lowly K04 is designed for low down power delivery and runs out of breath fairly quickly... Impreza will feel much quicker on the road because of this...
People are influenced far too much by peak power figures when they should really look at how that power is delivered...
<tuffty/>
I can't quote all the replies I want to reply to so I will reply to this one.
......
Mike. Fair enough, you seem to have your mind set. Sell it as Voorhees has already said.
FYI the E46 M3 is booked (BMW) giving 343Hp. E36 was 321Hp, you'll never actually get those figures and the majority of them are around 310/315Hp aparently mine was not 321Hp dispite BMW's claims even with a new spanking VANOS. Not a HUGE difference between a slightly modified S3 now is it!!
G
it's still very quick for what it is and in remapped form very quick! Not many other hatches are sub 6 seconds to 60 if you go down remapped route!
Other wise face up that this is a great car for what it is - a luxury hot hatch!
Its a very big difference - 4wd losses are approx 25%, rwd approx 15% so its further removed with that also.
Listen, my comments have all been on how far removed I feel from the driving experiance, not what cars it can beat. The handling is BAD, anyone whos driven anything that remotely handles will confirm this, but yes it is also comfy! It gives no feedback, the driver is removed from the experiance and its not an immediate feeling of losing grip or feeling the surface and I believe this is down to the steering.
Am I ****** off that the mods haven't made my car quick or even feel quick? yes I am! as already stated i've done quite a bit to get to 250/260 brake which is about a 10% increase in power - Having had experiance of other turbo'd cars, I feel that its a very poor result of what is ineffect a good £2k of performance goodies - afterall I could build a 2.0L N/A engine to that power from scratch for that money or infact buy a supercharger kit for the 306 and have 325 brake without any other mods - I hope this explains how I feel.
People on here obviously aren't getting my point, in that my question was why do I hate my S3 so much and my reason for asking, is that it should tick every box and perhaps thats what the problem is, in that it does all the basics, but doesn't do any of them particually well, maybe if it were a std car i'd not expect as much from it as I do.
Mike,
I do understand where you are coming from. Can I suggest you have a rolling road session, determine your actual HP and see if it's down at all on power. With a hybrid, FMIC and a remap i'd expect to see 275Hp?
It would be a fairly quick car with that amount. But that does again depend on what the benchmark is.
G
Am I ****** off that the mods haven't made my car quick or even feel quick? yes I am! as already stated i've done quite a bit to get to 250/260 brake which is about a 10% increase in power - Having had experiance of other turbo'd cars, I feel that its a very poor result of what is ineffect a good £2k of performance goodies - afterall I could build a 2.0L N/A engine to that power from scratch for that money or infact buy a supercharger kit for the 306 and have 325 brake without any other mods - I hope this explains how I feel.
Mike,
I do understand where you are coming from. Can I suggest you have a rolling road session, determine your actual HP and see if it's down at all on power. With a hybrid, FMIC and a remap i'd expect to see 275Hp?
It would be a fairly quick car with that amount. But that does again depend on what the benchmark is.
G
~You bought the wrong bits if they did'nt realise the gains possible, and you did'nt finish the mods if you did'nt map it afterwards, and now (as ever) moan..
lol
sell it and leave..
simples