michael-s3

Look into the tire air pressure. Are the fronts pumped up to 44'ish psi? I've seen posts about the dealers delivering them with very high pressure, and that you get a better ride with 36 on the back and 39 on the front.

blam89

thanks guys i will look into the tire pressure this weekend and have scheduled an appointment with the dealer for tuesday.

arU4ic

+1 to MichaelS3, my dealer delivered with 50 psi - went down to 42, which is much, much better (obviously).

hmunster2

I took mine to dealer and they found nothing wrong, they drove 2 other S3 for comparison-I Love the engine and tranny, but basically that is it-I am coming from a FWD MKI TT with spring and shock mods-the S3 has many things wrong, that for me far-outweigh and negate the beauty of the engine/trany:
it without a doubt has the worst steering of any sport type vehicle that I have ever owned-no road feedback and extremely heavy (even in comfort set ) at higher speeds. The suspension is terrible also, very jittery and not planted, also has way too much roll in corners and in spite of everything that the reviews say, the car is far from neutral when driven aggressively-it PLOWS in corners, way too much understeer for a car like this-last gripe is the seats are not comfortable for me, and the leather is way inferior to that of my 15 yo TT.
I am sorry for slamming the car, it could've been way better-too many things wrong for a sport sedan-I am really bummed-I don't want to go and spend more money on after-market suspension mods- and that still won't fix the crappy steering and uncomfortable seats. Again, please don't take this the wrong way, I am sure that most of you love your S3. but it could have been so much more (and for the price, should've been).
Appreciate feedback.

Daytonatruckin

I would suggest selling or trading it. You may also want join a gym.

Squalo

Did you test drive the car before buying it?

michael-s3

No kidding? Its no secret that the car has a FWD bias and its electric power steering doesn't have the same feel as the hydraulic systems from 15 years ago.

For my money, seems like its a nice mix of performance, luxury, practicality, efficiency, and affordability. Sure there are more performant, more luxurious, more practical, etc vehicles out there, but I didn't find one with a more appealing mix of those ingredients.

bfkidd

I had a 225 TT Quattro and I would say the S3 is a more refined version of the same car. The TT would plow if pushed too hard and overall felt less planted and more squirrelly when compared to the S3.

One question I have for everyone is, where are you driving these cars that you are encountering understeer, body roll and plowing? I have a very difficult time inducing any ill behavior on public streets without seriously braking the law.

Is everyone really going 80+ on 45mph roads? Because from driving my car, it seems for a marked 35mph curve you would have to be going at those speeds to induce any of the above mentioned issues.

blam89

So I went out to buy a tire pressure gauge this weekend and my tires are all within 38-39.5psi, so I guess that eliminates the tire pressure theory.

I will be taking her into the dealer today/tmrw for a check-up. My car is:
1) definitely pulling to the left
2) front seems to wiggle about a lot at speed (like a previous member posted before, the best description would be it feels like its being blown about by the wind)
3) the automatic downshifting when braking is very different when in auto vs manual. In auto when the car downshifts into 2nd and 1st there is a noticeable forward lurch giving braking a very non-linear feel (not sure how to properly describe this). BUT, this seems to dissapear when I'm in manual.. very strange. Does anyone know why this is? My best guess would be the downshift programming for auto is different from manual, but i don't see why they should be different. I was driving in D for both auto and manual, haven't tested this in S yet.
4) jerky acceleration: releasing then reapplying the gas at low speeds results in a very jerky initial acceleration, like the gears have abruptly been caught.

This is my first sports car so I'm not sure if the above are normal or not, but I also found that the jerky accleration and non-linear braking are making it hard to drive smoothly. The unstable front end and pull to the left also mean the car requires more effort to drive on highways that I feel a $45k car should..

Curious to hear other people's thoughts. I hope mine isn't a lemon.