Captain Rossness

After some begging and pleading, I was able to drive a Golf R, then an S3 and the Golf R again all back-to-back. I was able to0 answer some of my questions.

The VW Golf R: The seats are very supportive, without being too stiff. They fit my frame (think football linebacker) pretty well. I had to telescope the steering wheel all the way out to get my knees to fit under the steering column. I drove a base R. The Nav system sucked and wasn't intuitive to use. The cabin was dark, but at least the windshield was large. Somehow, It still felt like a golf/GTI, which is a bad thing for me. It handled marginally better than the audi, but didn't feel as tossable. It drives similarly to the S3, but still feels like the a golf.

The Audi: The seats were less supportive but still comfy. I'm curious to sit in the optional sport seats, but wasn't able to. The car feels a little more alive than the VW. I pitched the car hard and fast into a corner, like I would my Mini, and boy did the tires squeal Acceleration is the same as the R. The view out was also a bit better. The windshield is smaller but more light filters into the cabin because of the large sunroof and extra windows. The car felt like it was softer sprung than the R, but not wobbly like some cars can be.

Out of the two cars, I actually think the hooligan in me prefers the Audi, even if its a tick slower. After I drove both cars, I drove my Mini and got to thinking. My car is probably slower and less capable, but its loads of fun to drive aggressively. [Yes, the suspension blows]. I think both the VAG cars were faster, but somehow, they didn't feel as fun to me. Driving dynamics are soooo hard to measure. I'm not sure what direction I'm going to go in. Sheesh!

arU4ic

I had considered a maxed-out mini (perfect for the city was my thinking), drove my friend's tuned '14 cooper and it felt very similar when I was tossing it around to the S3, I went back to the Mini and noticed that I was doing almost 15 MPH slower in the turns when the tired complained... everything felt the same speed, but the S3 was going so much faster when I looked at the speedo. Very dis-orienting, I can see your conundrum, but at higher speeds the mini, no matter how you tweak the suspension and motor, won't come close to a stock S3 IMO. The R felt like a stiffer GTI to my... meh.

Captain Rossness

The Audi has a info screen that slides into the dash. I hate Audi MMI with a passion. Is it possible to replace the audi nav unit with a kenwood, or pioneer system? I would think that the unique LCD screen that slides int to the dash would make it hard and most units are double or single din.

I want a sunroof in any car I get, The VW dealer (good salesperson, btw) says "The Sunroof will not affect the warranty itself but can void coverage of a repair that is linked back to the instal". What am I to make of this? I'm confident of the aftermarket sunroof instal. I just don't want a lame duck dealer blaming a malfunction on my sunroof.

T1no33

I have to agree on the dealership "mark up" they put on the R's. Just ridiculous. Both great cars and I don't think you can go wrong either way. I considered a Golf before I purchased my A3 heavily. The deciding factor was A3 just seemed like a more "grown up" car. It has a more refined interior IMO and sleek elegant lines on the exterior. I'm 44 so I wanted that from this purchase. Fun to drive but can still pull up to a valet without feeling like I was in a boy racer car.

scutchins

Car and Driver just came out with this year's Lightning Laps, and the S3 is actually faster than the Golf R, 3:11.3 vs 3:12.3, around VIR's full course.

They noted that the S3's time is faster than the 2007 RS4, and that most of the time was made under braking.

They also said that racers would gladly pay the extra money for the S3 to gain the 1-second lap advantage.

sevenpsych

If you could... which should be a pain either way even if you can, you will lose significant functionality from losing the MMI, if its even an option. I haven't seen it done and there's no fitment guidance to be had.

Re the sunroof, if they install it and your dome lights stop working or you get water leakage that causes electrical issues or pillars filling, you probably are going to see them blame it on your sunroof install.

Aftermarket sunroof is one of those things...

T1no33

[QUOTE=Captain Rossness;24724689]The Audi has a info screen that slides into the dash. I hate Audi MMI with a passion. Is it possible to replace the audi nav unit with a kenwood, or pioneer system? I would think that the unique LCD screen that slides int to the dash would make it hard and most units are double or single din.

The first thing I went to do was swap out the Audi MMI because I'm wasn't really happy with it. I checked with several places and all said "DO NOT CHANGE THAT OUT." It handles so much of the car's electronic functions that it will just cause tons of issues. So instead I went with the Kicker IQ 5 channel amp that has it's own EQ processor. I can tweak my sound all I want and I did a phone screen mirroring MOD that works for NAV.

IMO, I would never put in an after market Sunroof on any car. Opens up the door for way to many issues.

DennisMitchell

In regard to the pop-up LCD screen, there is a 3rd party unit that replaces the OEM screen. It passes through the Audi/MMI functions and provides you with an Android head unit. A few people have added the unit to both non-Nav and Nav systems. It will allow you to add backup camera if you don't have it standard.

audi 8v touchscreen | eBay

https://www.audiworld.com/forums/aud...ir-a3-2875746/

OneOfOne

they are correct since a second is literally 10 tenths which is huge. in a race car. for the average driver on the street a second is meaningless since youre driving not racing. only idiots endanger others by driving at the limit on public roads.

scutchins

I'm not sure what your post is trying to imply, but I hope it's not that I was in some way, shape or form stating that racing on public roads is acceptable. My point was that posts about how the Golf R is faster around a track seem to be incorrect, at least according to Road and Track.

FYI I'm a former licensed motorcycle roadracer, and plan on tracking the S3.