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This week I have a Golf R provided as a courtesy car by Audi while my car was having work “done”
I used to have a PFL Golf R and I loved it - it was fast great handling and looked good. I felt like the interior was very good and it was an awesome car. I then changed for an S3. I think that going from an R to S3 actually effected my opinion of the RS3 as a result. I knew the RS3 was better but only now after having gone from the RS3 to R and back again in the same week can I say I really appreciate it.
Interior and Exterior Design
The FL Golf R looks better than the PFL - The lights and front end are more aggressive. It is an improvement. The rear has something strange going on with the diffuser which has more detail on it (but unlike the front where the detail looks better) I feel that it draws away from the quad exhausts impact.
Interior - the R has the new digital dashboard - it is more limited than the Audi VC with the customisation available. The Center space lets you show one small piece of information (such as consumption) but nothing else. You can’t have your consumption in the middle of the speedo - or change what’s in the middle individually. You have to pick one set of settings and leave them.
I also don’t like how the VW VC looks like it’s kinda just stuck in the middle; its very boxy. The plastic surround is the same design as the rest of the dash but its hard and looks back compared to the different design hard plastic on the VC surrounds.
The interior just doesn’t feel as high quality; although I love the new larger touch screen enterainment. Whilst it got covered in finger prints I really feel that touchscreens are huge improvements over the rotary style MMI we have on our cars. Audi obviously agree with the A6, A7 and A8 going all touchscreens and I am sure that the next version of the A3 and all other models will change as well.
Performance and Noise
I used to think my R (and by extension my S3) sounded good. I knew it wasn’t like the RS3 but I remember more noise than I experienced this week. It was really disappointing. The R barely made any noise except the fake sound actuator noise. The steering felt sharp but I didn’t feel like it was chucklable or as fun as the RS3. The RS3 felt much more lively.
And then the noise - I think we get complacent with how loud the car is - and start to think its quiet. But it isn’t.... The R made next to no noise as far as I could tell. Except for throttle blips. And it feel so SLOW compared to the RS3. I know its 100hp less but I was shocked at the difference.
One thing I did notice (and I don’t know if its just my car or everyone has this) - when driving the RS3 slowly in between other cars (or on narrow roads) that are quiet is the RS3 engine sounds kind of like an old banger - the noise is sorta hard to describe - but its not a nice sound until you rev the engine out. The R made no obvious noise at all.
I am curious about this RS3 engine noise - it sounds like when its idling if you open the engine - you can hear the belt spinning around and it sounds like that at slow speeds when moving.
Overall I was suprised at the difference between the cars - and the way the RS3 feels so much more special. I know it should. I know its much more expensive. But we get used to our cars and having the RS3 opened my eyes. I would be interested to see how it compares to faster cars.
I used to have a PFL Golf R and I loved it - it was fast great handling and looked good. I felt like the interior was very good and it was an awesome car. I then changed for an S3. I think that going from an R to S3 actually effected my opinion of the RS3 as a result. I knew the RS3 was better but only now after having gone from the RS3 to R and back again in the same week can I say I really appreciate it.
Interior and Exterior Design
The FL Golf R looks better than the PFL - The lights and front end are more aggressive. It is an improvement. The rear has something strange going on with the diffuser which has more detail on it (but unlike the front where the detail looks better) I feel that it draws away from the quad exhausts impact.
Interior - the R has the new digital dashboard - it is more limited than the Audi VC with the customisation available. The Center space lets you show one small piece of information (such as consumption) but nothing else. You can’t have your consumption in the middle of the speedo - or change what’s in the middle individually. You have to pick one set of settings and leave them.
I also don’t like how the VW VC looks like it’s kinda just stuck in the middle; its very boxy. The plastic surround is the same design as the rest of the dash but its hard and looks back compared to the different design hard plastic on the VC surrounds.
The interior just doesn’t feel as high quality; although I love the new larger touch screen enterainment. Whilst it got covered in finger prints I really feel that touchscreens are huge improvements over the rotary style MMI we have on our cars. Audi obviously agree with the A6, A7 and A8 going all touchscreens and I am sure that the next version of the A3 and all other models will change as well.
Performance and Noise
I used to think my R (and by extension my S3) sounded good. I knew it wasn’t like the RS3 but I remember more noise than I experienced this week. It was really disappointing. The R barely made any noise except the fake sound actuator noise. The steering felt sharp but I didn’t feel like it was chucklable or as fun as the RS3. The RS3 felt much more lively.
And then the noise - I think we get complacent with how loud the car is - and start to think its quiet. But it isn’t.... The R made next to no noise as far as I could tell. Except for throttle blips. And it feel so SLOW compared to the RS3. I know its 100hp less but I was shocked at the difference.
One thing I did notice (and I don’t know if its just my car or everyone has this) - when driving the RS3 slowly in between other cars (or on narrow roads) that are quiet is the RS3 engine sounds kind of like an old banger - the noise is sorta hard to describe - but its not a nice sound until you rev the engine out. The R made no obvious noise at all.
I am curious about this RS3 engine noise - it sounds like when its idling if you open the engine - you can hear the belt spinning around and it sounds like that at slow speeds when moving.
Overall I was suprised at the difference between the cars - and the way the RS3 feels so much more special. I know it should. I know its much more expensive. But we get used to our cars and having the RS3 opened my eyes. I would be interested to see how it compares to faster cars.
