Does Anyone Like their S3?

It's certainly interesting to read how the S3 behaves when driven hard on UK B-roads. Our local roads are certainly different and while the S3 can occasionally exhibit some of the traits you describe V8, they are not as obvious (or even noticed) as in your situation.

as for the S3 on our local track, yes I immediately wished for some wider rims, with more offset and some decent tyres, but I was still pretty impressed with its performance.
 
I haven't had mine on the track and at the moment I have no intention to do so... that might change, but I have done loads of track days in the past with both cars and bikes and now I find them more 'tense and stressful, then enjoyable. Also age may have something to do with it.;)

Anyway, as the car is fully run in now, I have come across some of the traits that have been mentioned, maybe not to the degree that others have though...

in my humble opinion, it feels like a lack of balance between spring rates and rebound damping - i.e. I think that there is slightly too little rebound. However, it is really difficult to say with any certainty without having the ability to 'dial it out'.

I have not driven a car with Magride hard, so I would interested to know if that solved this problem in Dynamic.
 
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oh, I should add to this that I love my car. Its pretty much what I was looking for...

something I think looks great, something I can have some fun in - but also a car I can see clients in and not have them look down on it OR think I am charging them too much!

I also have come to really like the way it sounds - I was concerned on that point after test driving the M135i, but the S3 makes some fantastic noises too...
 
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Yes, it is compression/rebound characteristics on the dampers that are wrong/unusual.

Today I left the road completely and it skipped and skittered around the corner ......... (I was going pretty fast though).
 
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veeeight said:
Yes, it is compression/rebound characteristics on the dampers that are wrong/unusual.

Today I left the road completely and it skipped and skittered around the corner ......... (I was going pretty fast though).
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Magnetic dampers next time? Meanwhile, time for new shocks?
 
new dampers could improve the issue or make it worse, likewise with changing the springs. A sure way to resolve it would be a decent set of adjustable coilovers AND someone to do initial setup that knows what they are doing.

However, it should be remembered that if you make the setup more focused then it will compromise other things. For instance, it could make the car's ride more firm and 'crashy' when you pop to the shops for milk, could you live with that daily?

I think that the car handles very well for what it is, a mass produced hatch/saloon.

I would really be interested to know if someone with magride sees these characteristics when pushing on...
 
As i've said before, i have mag ride and have never experienced these issues.

Although i've been told that my own personal experiences are wrong and that my car is undriveable and dangerous ;)
 
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Blimey - its STILL going???

This surely has to be one of the longest, least objective and least informative threads about the 8V A3/S3 ... and it is S3 specifc as well..... unless you know different of course!! :confused:

at least the VCDS and rattle threads are informative; the mono.pur threads are not just S3 specific!
 
Yeah, for what started out with the intention of being a positive thread about peoples enjoyment of their cars, it's gone a bit sh1t :)
 
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Psyman79 said:
As i've said before, i have mag ride and have never experienced these issues.

Although i've been told that my own personal experiences are wrong and that my car is undriveable and dangerous ;)
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This is the problem - telling people they are wrong. It's ok to ask for views but telling people they are plain wrong when it's an opinion based on what is essentially a non factual subject such as "do you like the handling of your car" that's what's wrong.
 
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Nimbus265 said:
Blimey - its STILL going???

This surely has to be one of the longest, least objective and least informative threads about the 8V A3/S3 ... and it is S3 specifc as well..... unless you know different of course!! :confused:

at least the VCDS and rattle threads are informative; the mono.pur threads are not just S3 specific!
Click to expand...

I didn't go for mono.pur as i don't think it's worth it, but more power to those who did as variety is the spice of life and all that :)
 
Psyman79 said:
Yeah, for what started out with the intention of being a positive thread about peoples enjoyment of their cars, it's gone a bit sh1t :)
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I thought I would give a quick way to really appreciate your S3, for an out of office meeting tomorrow ( too far for a taxi), I had to take this home.

$_20.JPG


diesel motor, dsg, leather interior, satnav .... took me all of 15 minutes to really miss the S3, and my wife who isn't really into cars, said it had all the charm of a Sydney taxi. :)
 
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veeeight said:
I think the Advanced Key thread ran far longer than this one .......
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...the one I participated in didn't, got locked down very quickly!

Shame, I was starting to enjoy myself ;)
 
veeeight said:
Yes, it is compression/rebound characteristics on the dampers that are wrong/unusual.

Today I left the road completely and it skipped and skittered around the corner ......... (I was going pretty fast though).
Click to expand...

Too fast perhaps?

I don' think it's subjective, the imbalance is definitely there and will be on all S3's but whether it's an issue to each owner is subjective. Personally I think if you were looking for the world best handling car for S3 money you wouldn't have bought an S3.
 
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An Ariel Atom is an awesome car to drive, but you need to drive it in a totally different way to many other cars of a similar power to weight ratio to make the most of it's performance and handling and avoid a lengthy stay in a hospital bed.
 
veeeight said:
It's "least worst" in Comfort. Auto adds the unpredictability of changing friction, Dynamic is all friction no feel, and inhibits quick counter steering actions (if you need it to do that).
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Can I ask if you know what happens to the steering in efficiency mode pls V8 ? Does it turn something off ? I have been using this a lot lately as the steering seems (to me) to be much more natural in this mode. It gives me the confidence to attack corners a little faster as I think it is more predictable. Is there a way to have efficiency steering and dynamic engine ?
Sorry to the OP and the all the bored people for continuing the thread hijack.
 
veeeight said:
Yes, it is compression/rebound characteristics on the dampers that are wrong/unusual.

Today I left the road completely and it skipped and skittered around the corner ......... (I was going pretty fast though).
Click to expand...
Been there and have the t-shirt regarding leaving the road......

Not fun
 
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^ it's comfort
 
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Tej13 said:
in my humble opinion, it feels like a lack of balance between spring rates and rebound damping - i.e. I think that there is slightly too little rebound. However, it is really difficult to say with any certainty without having the ability to 'dial it out'.

I have not driven a car with Magride hard, so I would interested to know if that solved this problem in Dynamic.
Click to expand...

I've got Mag on mine, and it's a compromise as well. either the shocks are too soft or they're tightened down - pretty much by definition as I don't think Mag can change the spring rate. some highways here I find 'auto' to be uncomfortable with the wallowing over the rolling bumps, other times it's fine. I spend most of the time in dynamic when on the highways here, I do think it's the closest to dialed in. I'd do Mag again, even though imho it's not perfect. Note that I consider 'perfect' to be a hard-core sports-car setting, and the s3 compromise works very well with the family and work colleagues as passengers.
 
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tjacoby said:
I've got Mag on mine, and it's a compromise as well. either the shocks are too soft or they're tightened down - pretty much by definition as I don't think Mag can change the spring rate. some highways here I find 'auto' to be uncomfortable with the wallowing over the rolling bumps, other times it's fine. I spend most of the time in dynamic when on the highways here, I do think it's the closest to dialed in. I'd do Mag again, even though imho it's not perfect. Note that I consider 'perfect' to be a hard-core sports-car setting, and the s3 compromise works very well with the family and work colleagues as passengers.
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Fairly consistent view with how Evo rated it. Although selective quotes from their review often taken they gave it a 4/5 review overall.
 
sunscreemer said:
An Ariel Atom is an awesome car to drive, but you need to drive it in a totally different way to many other cars of a similar power to weight ratio to make the most of it's performance and handling and avoid a lengthy stay in a hospital bed.
Click to expand...

But you cant get a fridge in the back or luggage for that holiday...............
 
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