WickedSmaht

Are there folks here who have autocrossed their S3? How did it do? How often did it tend to push in the tight corners?

mroberte

I autocrossed (solo2 events) my A3 and must say the biggest fault are the tires. They just simply suck. The car will understeer also because of it. But I had upgraded my suspension to Bilstein Coilovers and they made a world of difference. The season is pretty much over in my area but looking forward to next with better rubber.

in the video, when you hear kinda of the rumbling noise, that the tires basically not doing any favors and understeering alot. Regardless you will have a ton of fun and I was very impressed with the car.

Kevin70

How did it compare to other AWD cars?
I'd think putting most drive to the front would tend to add oversteer.

An adjustable center dif would be nice.

daves4

Ive tracked my A3 several times now (sports suspension + HR sports springs). After the first week of ownership, I put on Pilot Super Sport tires (18"). They are amazing, and I'd buy them again in a second. At $175/tire, I found them a great value as well.

mroberte, have you tried the Sonoma Raceway with the coilovers? Love the idea of your setup, just don't like the idea of the installed price (~$2800+~$500 install from a shop).

mroberte

I have not been up to Sonoma yet, but am planning too hopefully before (and if) CA gets wet. The installation was actually pretty easy and I should of really done it myself from the get go since I'm so meticulous about my vehicles and really don't trust many to touch my car. But next purchase will most likely be larger rims, so have to see if I want rims or upgrade the current rubber (I've been eyeing TTRS brake upgrade too). Do you go up often?

mroberte

I had a FWD car prior. The A3's understeer compared to my acura is night and day. The Acura had TONS of understeer, as expected. However, even though Audi claims 50% power to the rear with the haldex system, I'm not confident it's smart enough to put that figure to the rear in hard cornering. It will def do that in straight line acceleration tho.

The pre-sense system works and works incredibly well as when I did very hard braking with turning, the seat beats clamped down with a vengeance!

daves4

I'm an East coast person, so no on Sonoma. But I have done Pocono, Watkins Glen, and Palmer Motorsports this year so far. Plan on New Jersey Motorsport at the end of October.

I just had the S3 calipers put on with redstuff pads and slotted rotors because the stopping power wasn't too great at Watkins. Not brake fade, just not enough stopping force. I probably should have done the TTRS but hind sight is 20/20, and its not work I'm even close to capable of doing myself. So far though, the stopping is *much much* better with the new setup, and excited to track next.

With only the sport suspension and H&R sport springs, I also saw the limits of that setup (although not too bad). At Watkins, there was an S3 with the APR Stage I/Bilstein coilovers and like an idiot, I didnt even ask him for a ride to feel the difference. I only had to give him the point-by once :-)