After 2000kms in the Trophy, thought I would give an update. It is a drivers car, and brings quite a few smiles when you start the motor, and the exhaust crackles and pops. Find a series of corners and the difference between the Trophy and the S3 become very clear. Where as the S3 would lean on its outside wheel when pushed the Trophy turns in and encourages you go harder, all the while accompanied by the pops and crackles from the exhaust. I don’t miss the S3’s rebound on some country roads that made me think about to be bounced into the trees.
The Trophy does have less power than my old S3 (stage 1) and you can notice the difference off the line, the Trophy is a second slower to 100km/h and maximum torque, starts at 2300rpm, so you need to get revs up and then you can tell it has 300bhp. It does have some torque steer and when the road is wet you need to be careful accelerating off the line, as the wheels spin easily. None of that ever was ever an issue in S3. the ability of the S3 to go fast in the wet, was always impressive At highway speeds the Trophy feels more firmly planted on the road than the S3, although it has a bit more wind noise.
The black interior with the Alcantara seating, faux carbon fibre trims, led trim highlights, 8.75” centre touch screen and digital dash, makes the interior look special. The S3 is still slightly better quality , but is also $15k more expensive.
In terms of tech the Android auto works fine, the Bose sound system sounds good, most of the controls for AC and the audio does require you scrolls through menus on the touch screen. not as intuitive as the knobs in the S3, but you quickly get the hang of it. Also my S3 was a MY15, so I know the latest S3 has a the full TFT screen and so on.
I always thought that S3 should have looked more than just an S-line with 4 exhausts, at least with the Trophy, you don’t think its a GT Megane, with nice wheels.
The Trophy suspension is stiff and I can understand some may consider it too stiff, but as I will doing track days, I wanted the mechanical front LSD and the 300bhp motor. I believe the 2021 RS Megane, will all have the 300hp motor, so you can have the less stiff Sport chassis, rather than the Cup chassis.
The S3 was fast, looked good , effortless performance, efficient, but never engaging. The Trophy looks like a hot hatch, its engaging to drive and the start up crackle from the exhaust, lets all the neighbour know you are leaving and is something I won’t tire off.