Harry’s Garage review of the FL RS3.
- Thread starter HM3P
- Start date
I cant disagree with most of his comments tbh, even his conclusion that the M2 is a more involving drive but if you need praticality then the RS3 is probably the better choice, but then he 'likes' the 4WD system and I'm sure some of the things he did with the RS3 on wet greasy roads woudnt have gone quite to plan in an M2?
A front badge is easily sorted and the car needs it, why Audi deleted it (and have now refitted it) is a mystery. new cars only say 'RS' not RS3 ?
Harry got the tyre sizes wrong but I'll forgive him for that
new cars are coming through with P Zero 'R' as he says, my verdict is out on them at the moment as most of my 4 weeks driving has been wet and we are still 'running in',
I had P Zero on my R8 but that was a 'summer car' these seem to have the same traits as in very precise turn in and whether its the car or the tyres the 'new' car has less roll than my previous 8Y on Bridgestones which I thought had good steering feel. (I swapped my R8 on to PS4's and really didn’t gell with them, that precise turn in disappeared)
The rear 'diffuser' I could live without and is a PITA to clean
I agree that new Audi RS's are not standing out as much, I think the RS3 still has some presence though, my neighbours friend has a pretty basic 2025 A3, another of her friends stopped next to it in her 2025 S3, the S3 just blended in and didnt look special at all
A front badge is easily sorted and the car needs it, why Audi deleted it (and have now refitted it) is a mystery. new cars only say 'RS' not RS3 ?
Harry got the tyre sizes wrong but I'll forgive him for that
new cars are coming through with P Zero 'R' as he says, my verdict is out on them at the moment as most of my 4 weeks driving has been wet and we are still 'running in',I had P Zero on my R8 but that was a 'summer car' these seem to have the same traits as in very precise turn in and whether its the car or the tyres the 'new' car has less roll than my previous 8Y on Bridgestones which I thought had good steering feel. (I swapped my R8 on to PS4's and really didn’t gell with them, that precise turn in disappeared)
The rear 'diffuser' I could live without and is a PITA to clean
I agree that new Audi RS's are not standing out as much, I think the RS3 still has some presence though, my neighbours friend has a pretty basic 2025 A3, another of her friends stopped next to it in her 2025 S3, the S3 just blended in and didnt look special at all
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I think the outgoing RS6 and RS7, the E-Tron GT RS and the current RS3 do stand out and actually look way cooler than the older ones. Before them BMW and AMG were ahead, but since the C8 RS6 came out Audi has ruled the looks department. This may change in near future, as I don't quite see the "RS potential" in the newer models, even though I think the exterior design is still pretty decent (can't say the same about the interiors). But on the other hand, BMW and Merc designs have sunken worse than Audi's.
Years back I happened to drive the 8V RS3 and the previous gen M2 on consecutive days and the M2 felt quite much more convincing in almost every way. I haven't driven the current M2 but design wise it's a horror show and now that I got way better feeling about the 8Y RS3, I wouldn't even bother to compare them anymore. The M2 puts me totally off the moment I see one.
Years back I happened to drive the 8V RS3 and the previous gen M2 on consecutive days and the M2 felt quite much more convincing in almost every way. I haven't driven the current M2 but design wise it's a horror show and now that I got way better feeling about the 8Y RS3, I wouldn't even bother to compare them anymore. The M2 puts me totally off the moment I see one.
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That did annoy me with my RS3 8Y - the hole with the need for a cable to charge your phone.
Has that still not been rectified to a closed compartment with wireless charging ?
Seats look nice though
Has that still not been rectified to a closed compartment with wireless charging ?
Seats look nice though
In the FL, the tray for the phone isn't even recessed, it's just a piece of plastic that angles away from the gloss black "gear stick" panel
The charging compartment is cooled in my current car which I thought was a bit OTT but sounds sensible then.
Does it actually work? My iPhone gets very hot so fast that I'm sceptical if any cooled compartment is actually cold enough to prevent the phone from heating up. The uncooled charging pad is just useless and I'm afraid the cooled one isn't much better.
I agree that new Audi RS's are not standing out as much, I think the RS3 still has some presence though, my neighbours friend has a pretty basic 2025 A3, another of her friends stopped next to it in her 2025 S3, the S3 just blended in and didnt look special at all
The thing is fast Audis used to always be sleepers, that is why some people bought them. I liked my E36 M3 for the same reason. That is also why the boys in blue like the S3 (and so do those running 'product' up and down the country). They slip under the radar don't attract attention but have enough grunt to get a move on if needed.
My 8V was de-badged from the factory. The previous owner who bought it new was coming from exactly the same place as me as it is one of the boxes I would have ticked.
Not many sleepers about these days in the petrol world, if you want a quick car that looks nothing you buy one of the fridges and pay for the voltage upgrade.
Back in 2017 the 'sleeper' look of the S3 was the reason I bought a Golf R, the 'R' just had enough subtle difference to it's Golf stable mates that it was recognisable in a Golf line up whereas the S3 just blended in with the S-Lines and TDI's much like the two cars outside my neighbours.
My original comment was 'wrong' I was thinking more about the S3 parked next door and the double take to ascertain what it actually was, I guess I dont like the way that Audi feel the need to put the car in full soft and safety mode on every start up, but that is probably more down to the way it has to be these days
One thing that annoys me in Audi reviews is when the reviewer criticizes how he must go through the menus to shut off the nannies, even though there are functional buttons for that. And also when they don't get that you can toggle the drive modes pushing the button instead of just pushing it once and then using the screen. It's not the car's fault if you're unable to learn the basics....
I noticed this too. I think in the Harry's Garage video from the original post for example, he does his squirt up the hill and it's sitting in Drive Dynamic mode, not Sport Dynamic. At another point he's using the paddles in the same mode. I'm always surprised because surely it can't be that different across the different models?
Not that different across Audi/VAG but can be quite different in other makes. To be fair to him he drives everything across the board but not much mainstream/Vag stuff and he doesn't have a VAG car either as a daily or in his garage (Countach and 930 don't count
)Don't know if the 8Y is different but it has always annoyed me that the drive select button on the 8V first press does nothing but bring up the menu on MMI then it cycles through the 3 modes. Then at some random point in time it defaults back to needing a double press to change the mode.
It just gets irritating to first do a double press and sometimes it is better to single press and click the menu especially if you are flicking between modes a lot
I think there are too many modes tbh, Motorcycles are similar but much more in depth with maybe 4 settings for each, like Throttle/Traction control/anti wheelie/engine braking/suspension (rear firm/front firm/brake support/acceleration support) ABS etc.....just too much.
With my Motorcycles I tend to work through them one at a time end end up with what I want/like and leave it there' luckily the bike retains my selection for the next ignition on whether this will become part of a 'Euro 6, part b section c' type of crap were everything needs to be in 'Nanny mode' at start up we'll have to wait and see.
My RS3 defualts to the previously selected softer mode at every ignition 'on' to be honest thats ok with me as wifey drives it as well, I have the two individual selectable modes set for 'fun' and a little bit more 'fun' and leave it at that.
The Lane control-speed bongs-stop start are all looked after by the ASR unit, IMHO Lane assist is dangerous, Speed bongs are quite often wrong (2 roads by me, presumably the sat nav says it's a 20 when it's a 30, another junction (cross roads) the camera reads the 20mph on the other side and turning left or right it's a 40mph and the speed bongs bong until they pick a small 40 sign up and then read the first one as a 30 for some odd reason.....................
With my Motorcycles I tend to work through them one at a time end end up with what I want/like and leave it there' luckily the bike retains my selection for the next ignition on
whether this will become part of a 'Euro 6, part b section c' type of crap were everything needs to be in 'Nanny mode' at start up we'll have to wait and see.My RS3 defualts to the previously selected softer mode at every ignition 'on' to be honest thats ok with me as wifey drives it as well, I have the two individual selectable modes set for 'fun' and a little bit more 'fun' and leave it at that.
The Lane control-speed bongs-stop start are all looked after by the ASR unit, IMHO Lane assist is dangerous, Speed bongs are quite often wrong (2 roads by me, presumably the sat nav says it's a 20 when it's a 30, another junction (cross roads) the camera reads the 20mph on the other side and turning left or right it's a 40mph and the speed bongs bong until they pick a small 40 sign up and then read the first one as a 30 for some odd reason.....................
I guess the flip side of that is, if you just want to bring up the menu, you don’t really want the drive mode to change just by doing so.Not that different across Audi/VAG but can be quite different in other makes. To be fair to him he drives everything across the board but not much mainstream/Vag stuff and he doesn't have a VAG car either as a daily or in his garage (Countach and 930 don't count
Don't know if the 8Y is different but it has always annoyed me that the drive select button on the 8V first press does nothing but bring up the menu on MMI then it cycles through the 3 modes. Then at some random point in time it defaults back to needing a double press to change the mode.
It just gets irritating to first do a double press and sometimes it is better to single press and click the menu especially if you are flicking between modes a lot