AJM3

Had been thinking about replacing our 2010 S4 for a few months, then got a repair estimate for $4K that put me over the edge. Swung by my local dealer in early May to see if they had any RS3s coming in and luckily they were able to scoop one that was already on a boat headed for a dealer in PA. I picked it up the week before last and have put 700 miles on it since (almost broken in!). The spec: Nardo, black optic, dynamic, RS design, carbon, assistance, and tech packages. Initial thoughts:

• If I had ordered the car, I wouldn't have chosen the RS design package based on pictures. But I'm very happy with it in person; more subtle than I was expecting.
• The transmission's Sport mode is the best I've used in terms of holding gears, downshifting at the appropriate moment, and generally anticipating what you want. But the exhaust is LOUD around town. I find myself wishing there was an in-between mode that had the same shifting behavior as Sport, but without the exhaust flaps open. I think manual shifting is the only way to get "sporty but quieter" unless I'm missing a setting.
• The steering is outstanding. Not a ton of feel but ultra-precise and direct. Can place wheels on a dime.
• I use CarPlay pretty much whenever I'm in the car, but unfortunately you can't cast Waze onto the cockpit screen, and can't display the in-car maps if Waze is running. So you have to choose between the big beautiful Google Earth map in the cockpit, or Waze on the popup screen. Kind of a miss.
• The B&O hi-fi is excellent. Exceeds expectations for a car this size.
• The roads here (Boston area) are garbage, but Comfort suspension mode handles them pretty well. You never forget you're in a sporty car, but it stays civilized. And when you get to decent pavement, Dynamic mode is super locked down and confidence-inspiring.
• The engine note is awesome, especially above 3500rpm. Just a totally unique, almost exotic sound. Favorite engine since my E90 M3.
• Nardo is a very cool color, and has gotten a lot of comments already. It's kind of a chameleon. You can see in the pix taken a few seconds apart how much lighter it appears in direct sunlight.

Anyway, had been lurking here for awhile when I was considering the purchase and thought I'd share some new owner observations for those in the same boat.

BusStopF1

Congrats on a fantastic looking car (selfishly have a very similar spec)! Indeed, over the past few weeks, I’ve received so many positive comments on the car - and most notably the color - that it’s really started to annoy my boyfriend (who would prefer the attention be on him lol).

Funny enough your comments about the E90 M3 were exactly my thoughts when I first test drove an RS3. Ours was an E93, which meant top down, it was a car that I always loved driving fast or slow just to hear the engine. It’s also one of the last cars I’ve driven that sounded loud and sporty in a natural way. The F80/2s are “sporty” and “loud” in a very different way in my opinion. And the RS3 reminds me a lot of the E93 in that regard. It’s obviously a very different sound, but I love having a car that’s fun to drive and listen to no matter what speed I’m going.

Re: engine sound with Sport shifting, I think you’re right that the only way you’re going to get that is with manual mode. I was using Comfort mode quite a bit on a road trip recently and it did seem like the flaps would open if I put the transmission in Sport. The Drive Select though can be a little weird how the settings lead to perhaps counter intuitive results. I wonder if some combo of Auto/Comfort for Engine or Engine Sound might be the sweet spot...probably not, but I haven’t played around with that to know if that may get what you’re looking for.

tigerhonaker

Congratulations on your new Nardo Gray RS3 it looks great in the pictures you posted.


Terry

AJM3

Thanks Terry!

XMetal00

Regarding an in-between mode that had the same shifting behavior as Sport, but without the exhaust flaps open, have you tried the Individual Mode? You can try setting everything to Dynamic, except Engine Sound, which you can try "Comfort" to quiet things down.

steve111b

When in individual comfort engine sound, I found it was slightly louder than plain comfort. After 3500rpm the flaps have to open to allow the engine to work properly. So your best bet may be to select auto which gives slightly better shifting (not near dynamic though), keep the revs below 3500rpm and knock the shifter into the S mode (says S2 instead of D2 in the display) when you need some extra grunt. I would say avoid manual mode for a while until you learn what the car needs.

AJM3

Thanks! I thought it was going to be a stealth car but it gets way more attention thanI would have thought.

I played around some more with the settings and confirmed that toggling into manual from Comfort mode is the only way.

AJM3

I played around with settings and had the same observation. Thanks for the reply!

BusStopF1

Totally. No joke, I’d say of the ~30 or so people I’ve showed the car to, probably 20 have made a complimentary comment on the color. I’ve never had a car get a reaction like that.