i absolutely abused and thrashed the demo i was offered, as i tend to drive hard and unsympathetically anyway.
i caned the gearbox, instigated understeer, dis-armed the TC and generally tried to break it.
i very much doubt the car would consider this amount of abuse normal and it's doubtful i'd treat my own car to such extremes, but my current Daily Driver [a Honda Mugen M20] has been thouroughly distressed, thrashed and abused and hasn't even used a drop of oil, nor missed a beat over the last few years.
there's little doubt in my mind that the Audi S3 will not be capable of this amount of abuse, but it's what I'm used to delivering to obtain any "real" performance [as the Mugen is 240bhp @ 9250rpm and very little torque, thereby needs a thrashing].
also we're extremely lucky to live in the mountains, so have some wonderful opportunities to drive to the absolute legal limit in all weather conditions.
regarding the demonstrator, as I said, i was wholeheartedly unsympathetic to it mechanically. I'd definitely not buy something I'd demo'ed.
i'll be extremely disapointed if the S3 doesn't deliver the same level of reliability as my Honda and I hope the dealer will accept all of my "special" requirements as and when. Honda looked after me particularly well, as do Porsche........