8.5Y RS3

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Obviously all speculation atm but any idea when we might see the new facelift 8.5Y RS3 on the following:

Officially launched on Audi Media?
Order books open?
First cars delivery?

Thanks all
 
ATM we'd be lucky if it doesn't arrive with pedals instead of an engine the way Audi is flip flopping.
 
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ATM we'd be lucky if it doesn't arrive with pedals instead of an engine the way Audi is flip flopping.
Remember when a Facelift model from Audi would garner a ton of interest / orders ?

These days it's more like, oh ok you added a new light design / more interior LED's and 5k extra to the list :puke:

It already feels like the 8Y RS3 platform is past it's best, all the groups / forums about it are slow/dead.

Yet the 8V PFL / FL still has a strong following/ Interest even after all these years.

8Y is dead on its backside already......
 
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Well, it's not exactly buzzing in the 8V forum either is it?:tumble:

1713455445174
 
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Remember when a Facelift model from Audi would garner a ton of interest / orders ?

These days it's more like, oh ok you added a new light design / more interior LED's and 5k extra to the list :puke:

It already feels like the 8Y RS3 platform is past it's best, all the groups / forums about it are slow/dead.

Yet the 8V PFL / FL still has a strong following/ Interest even after all these years.

8Y is dead on its backside already......
It's not dead on its **** at all lol. Delusional
 
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It's not dead on its **** at all lol. Delusional
Have you owned an 8Y ?

Its a Fast A3 nothing more.

Interior never did it any favours, and the facelift is more than likely to be as bland with extra LED’s

Everyone is jumping out of them at the moment, high insurance is set to rise again next year.
PCP rates limits sales because who will pay £700-£1k a month for a 65-70k A3.

Tuning costs are crazy, so not many will take that up, along with the prohibitive GPF’s that everyone wants gone but again costs and running the car without them is still problematic.

Used values of them are not great, anyone who overpaid in 21/22 on a PCP etc must be getting a little concerned if they are about to come out of the deal.

Dealers are rubbish, only interested In selling one, not interested after the fact, and greedy when it was first launched, putting people into cars at 75-80k that are worth no where near that, I just hope people remember how greedy Audi dealers became in 2021/22.
 
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Have you owned an 8Y ?

Its a Fast A3 nothing more.

Interior never did it any favours, and the facelift is more than likely to be as bland with extra LED’s

Everyone is jumping out of them at the moment, high insurance is set to rise again next year.
PCP rates limits sales because who will pay £700-£1k a month for a 65-70k A3.

Tuning costs are crazy, so not many will take that up, along with the prohibitive GPF’s that everyone wants gone but again costs and running the car without them is still problematic.

Used values of them are not great, anyone who overpaid in 21/22 on a PCP etc must be getting a little concerned if they are about to come out of the deal.

Dealers are rubbish, only interested In selling one, not interested after the fact, and greedy when it was first launched, putting people into cars at 75-80k that are worth no where near that, I just hope people remember how greedy Audi dealers became in 2021/22.
RS3 / S3 has always been a fast A3, that's the whole point.

No I don't own one, yet. I own a BMW X3M comp.

The lead times are still insane, they can't make them quick enough.

Anyone who paid over the odds on the first built cars only has themselves to blame. The interior is bland yes, that will improve with the facelift given what we've seen with the new s3.

Taking financials aside they are a great, very capable car.

I think owning such a high performance vehicle and being shocked at running costs / insurance can be a bit naive. Just my 2p.
 
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The lead times are still insane, they can't make them quick enough.
There are new cars sat at dealerships that remain unsold, Crewe have a Java Green one that at one point was 67k it's now 60k and apparently they'll listen to serious offers at around 59k


There's a green saloon at Enkae with 688 miles on thats dropped 8k since Christmas

Go look at Autotrader using the Motorwatch extension in your browser, it'll show you how hard these are dropping........

Exclusive colours for sale too with no one interested in them, Nardo / Silver / Sepang etc.......

In what way have they improved the interior on the FL S3 ? by adding more LED's in the doors and illuminated cup holders and making the nugget selector into a switch, Lol.....

They need to bring coloured stitching back, bucket seats option back, extended leather option back, coloured vents option back, seat belts with colour of at least a Audisport stripe.....

An RS product needs to stand out when you are sat in one, it needs to have that wow factor, not the 'oh I may as well be sat in an A3' BMW manage it on their flagship models, as do Merc.

Audi just charge more for ultimately less, the 360 camera was a classic example, why remove it ? plenty of other cars in the VAG group have it as standard, they didn't remove it.

Heated front screen, Audi = No / Skoda = yes no problem, Heated steering wheel Audi = nope / just about every other VAG brand = Yes

Have you seen the Official pictures on the configurator for the S3, it looks like it's on stilts and those big multispoke wheels do nothing for it at all and the front doesn't scream S3, it could be any standard A3 in the range, lol.
 
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Remember when a Facelift model from Audi would garner a ton of interest / orders ?

These days it's more like, oh ok you added a new light design / more interior LED's and 5k extra to the list :puke:

It already feels like the 8Y RS3 platform is past it's best, all the groups / forums about it are slow/dead.

Yet the 8V PFL / FL still has a strong following/ Interest even after all these years.

8Y is dead on its backside already......
just wait till the ecu will be unlocked, imho the public will take this into another level of attention instantly

personally I can't wait to know if there are any updates to engine, will there be any increase to horsepower and torque…
 
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just wait till the ecu will be unlocked, imho the public will take this into another level of attention instantly

personally I can't wait to know if there are any updates to engine, will there be any increase to horsepower and torque…
Maybe, but as things stand the ECU unlock isn’t cheap, and you can bet Audi will tighten security up even further.
Who’s going to pay 4-7k for one of the various stages,currently on offer.
Not many judging by reactions to the companies offering these already.
 
take a cue from the facelift S3, 23hp, a modified grille/rearbumper? and the rear diff to match the golf R not much change, don't expect a step change for the RS3, the stock RS3s are already putting out 10% over quoted figures and probably won't be seen until 2025, then how long to actually receive one? a year plus? They may tweak it slightly to ensure it sits slightly above the A45s and the M2, the only real competitors
 
I've been away from Audi for a good while now, having previously owned a couple of S3s. Like @HereWeGo I currently run a X3M, but looking to get back into a smaller, fast, capable car. I'm waiting patiently to see if the facelift provides some option tweaks. A small bump in power would be good, but ~400bhp is plenty for daily driving. I certainly don't use all the current 500+bhp I have at my disposal, but it is a large car.

I would love to see seat/bucket options like the Euro Performance edition car or the other RS cars, possibly some new wheel options. Holding off test drives on some other cars, but keen on quattro/4 wheel drive. An A45S is not on the shortlist, can't abide the MB interiors.

Not sure OP's question was answered, so do we have any sight of possible release dates or any news? S3 facelift is out and 8.5 spy shots are floating about as well. Surely can't be long?
 
Auditography on Instagram said reveal next couple of weeks.
 
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My dealer told me last weekend he expects the facelift to come in November. Says he saw it on a factory tour last year.
 
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My dealer told me last weekend he expects the facelift to come in November. Says he saw it on a factory tour last year.
Ties in with what that guy on Instagram said. Reveal next couple of weeks with deliveries in November. Delivery in 5 months, Aye right!

Personally I would never buy a Facelift again. I went from a 2008 S3 to a 2011 S3 purely for the LED DRL's. Worst thing I ever done. It was like they took the time to make everything cheaper and more plasticky. Hated it.
 
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Personally I would never buy a Facelift again. I went from a 2008 S3 to a 2011 S3 purely for the LED DRL's. Worst thing I ever done. It was like they took the time to make everything cheaper and more plasticky. Hated it.

I would agree with you on most cars, never liked any facelift, however for me the exception that proved the rule is the 8V, I preferred the FL styling and it was improved over the PFL in just about every way.
 
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I would agree with you on most cars, never liked any facelift, however for me the exception that proved the rule is the 8V, I preferred the FL styling and it was improved over the PFL in just about every way.
PFL 8V Sound was epic though!
 
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If the S3 FL can get revised interior with a nod in places to better materials (bar the gear selector), the the hope is that this will get carried over to the RS.

Secretly hoping the 300 Performance models were a trial for what could become the RS FL, with ceramics still as an option. RS4, 5 and 6 went further with their competition models, possibly more as run out models, but I live in hope.
 
If the S3 FL can get revised interior with a nod in places to better materials (bar the gear selector), the the hope is that this will get carried over to the RS.

Secretly hoping the 300 Performance models were a trial for what could become the RS FL, with ceramics still as an option. RS4, 5 and 6 went further with their competition models, possibly more as run out models, but I live in hope.
There’ll be no chance the facelift will get those performance buckets they don’t even offer them on the 109k + RS6 performance models here, so I’d imagine no no no.
 
Audi U.K. have lost the plot.

The most expensive rs3 ever has a s3 interior.

The seats and cheap plastics stopped me buying one.

M2 with buckets is £100k interior in a £65k car, Audi have a £30k interior in their £65k hatch.

Mental.
 
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Had an X3M for 3 years. Sold it. Moved across to an RS3 Saloon - carbon edition in Daytona. Looks the business, handles really well and love the look of it from the rear. The interior, exhaust note and the infotainment system is f*cking awful. I’d have said at the time, preferred my 8V and without a shadow of a doubt I’ll be going back to BMW after this.
 
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Had an X3M for 3 years. Sold it. Moved across to an RS3 Saloon - carbon edition in Daytona. Looks the business, handles really well and love the look of it from the rear. The interior, exhaust note and the infotainment system is f*cking awful. I’d have said at the time, preferred my 8V and without a shadow of a doubt I’ll be going back to BMW after this.
lol you were warned.
 
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I came to the same conclusion, I wanted to like the 8Y but I couldn't get my head round it for the couple of things it is supposed to do better. The more I drive it the less I like this and the other 'fake' rear diffs. I find them difficult to predict and don't give me any confidence, especially coming from proper RWD cars.

For all its downsides I can predict exactly how the Haldex will behave and I am so glad I did not part with the 8V. If I want the RWD feeling I have cars with nothing but a rear mechanical LSD.

If I did not have the 8V it would be BMW for me too, B3 touring for me but I would have to consolidate a couple of cars into one and it is getting hard to find a good PFL Pre OPF one of those too.
 
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lol you were warned.

lol true. I mean, I do really like it, but it has more flaws that the 8V had. I know everyone moaned about the Audi steer, but I never really noticed it as unless your driving on track or on the roads dangerously, don’t think it was that evident of under steer.

I’ve had spacers installed and the short plate, so looks good. Think once I fit a tuning box and valve controller system I’ll be moderately happy. Nothing else that really floated my boat that was frugal ish and had the performance. Was fed up of the 18mpg so long term average so far of 27 feels great
 
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lol true. I mean, I do really like it, but it has more flaws that the 8V had. I know everyone moaned about the Audi steer, but I never really noticed it as unless your driving on track or on the roads dangerously, don’t think it was that evident of under steer.

I’ve had spacers installed and the short plate, so looks good. Think once I fit a tuning box and valve controller system I’ll be moderately happy. Nothing else that really floated my boat that was frugal ish and had the performance. Was fed up of the 18mpg so long term average so far of 27 feels great
Funnily enough my Burger JB4 and ASR valve controller are still for sale in the classifieds
 
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Had an X3M for 3 years. Sold it. Moved across to an RS3 Saloon - carbon edition in Daytona. Looks the business, handles really well and love the look of it from the rear. The interior, exhaust note and the infotainment system is f*cking awful. I’d have said at the time, preferred my 8V and without a shadow of a doubt I’ll be going back to BMW after this.

I thought the sound was the one area that beat M2/3/4/X3M?
 
not without an ASR or some other valve control device to hold the flaps open all the time..

even better by coupling that with a (Milltek from experience) race exhaust, AND the valve controller..... now we're talking..
 
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This forum is really unusual.

On most car forums people talk up their cars and get upset if people criticise.

This place is responsible for all the unsold RS3’s on AT
 
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I thought the sound was the one area that beat M2/3/4/X3M?

Well I had the flaps permanently open on the X3M and sounded great. Fair few people said sounded great even at slow speeds. Think il be buying a valve controller in the next week or so…see if it improves the noise.
 
This forum is really unusual.

On most car forums people talk up their cars and get upset if people criticise.

This place is responsible for all the unsold RS3’s on AT
I think high insurance rates / high PCP % rates take care of that lol
 
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I think high insurance rates / high PCP % rates take care of that lol

Its the same with everything else that’s similar.

Im struggling to even find a m3 with the spec I want.

They go quick unless in an awful colour.
 
Its the same with everything else that’s similar.

Im struggling to even find a m3 with the spec I want.

They go quick unless in an awful colour.
It’s not worth the price tag that people are selling at though.
 
It’s not worth the price tag that people are selling at though.

That is inflation.

Money isn’t worth what it was.

That is what happens when you keep printing more of it.

All my savings in £’s will be transferred to BRICS currency.

The west has had its day.
 
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It seems they listened to the criticism of the S3 (it was a joke compared to the golf r) and addressed it.

Maybe they will do the same with the RS3?

It really needs the Audi sport bucket option and a major interior refresh to sell imo.
 
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That is inflation.

Money isn’t worth what it was.

That is what happens when you keep printing more of it.

All my savings in £’s will be transferred to BRICS currency.

The west has had its day.
The 8Y wasn’t worth 60-80k when it came out in 2021 it’s worth even less now.