Russ' 2018 RS3 Driving Impressions
08-31-2018, 11:40 AM
#181
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Russ, you'd be proud of me. Despite getting an APR Stage 1 93 octane tune almost a month ago, I've actually been generally following smart break in policy with the car. At around 900 miles now and have opened it up some but never gone 100% WOT or gotten anywhere near redline to date. THAT is about to change of course. Had the car since the end of June but my work trips have left the RS stranded in the garage. Hoping to get to an area in southern Ohio known as Hocking Hills sometime during the long weekend. Best place in Ohio to drive. Car magazines like Car & Driver and Road & Track even come down from Michigan to test exotics in the Hocking Hills area. Know your semi close Tail of the Dragon is world famous but understand it's usually crowded and fairly low speed overall due to the super winding nature. Hocking Hills is the closest thing to the Nurburgring that I have here! Going to let the horses out of the stable...............
It is an awesome area, but not this weekend. Too many people and way too may LEO's! 
Tail of the Dragon and the Cherohala Skyway can be very crowed, especially on holidays and weekends but I always go during the week when it's MUCH more manageable. But it still isn't as fun as it used to be years ago when the legal speed limit was much higher and it wasn't so highly patrolled since there were fewer accidents (more now, because newbie's come in, go too fast on his motorcycle, and get seriously injured or killed). Definition of IRONIC: even a policemen who drove up from Florida a few years got killed going too fast on an unfamiliar road. With 118 curves and steep drop offs in many places, not a good idea.
We definitely need to talk soon as I'm very anxious to hear about your break out experience (from the break-in period)
09-03-2018, 04:52 PM
#182
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You are a man of experience Russ; Hocking Hills AND Tail of the Dragon. Bet you ran the Tail in your Porsche. What you have written is what I have read from others. More of a parade around the Tail now. Damn motorcyclists. LOL. My dream drive has always been the Nurburgring. Driven on it 3 times now but never with a car that would make it really fun. Didn't get out for a drive this weekend at all. Yard work was the theme for the past several days. Just hit 950 miles so I am opening it up more when able. And I sort of have the same general compliant about the RS3 over the S3; a bit of lag. Even with the Stage 1 tune there is a slight hesitation. Some put it down to the DSG and anxiously await a TCU tune from APR or other firm. Have some rain coming our way from the storms in the Gulf so this coming weekend may be too damp to have some fun. Then again, what is the Quattro thingee for but grip in the damp?
09-07-2018, 05:30 AM
#183
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You are a man of experience Russ; Hocking Hills AND Tail of the Dragon. Bet you ran the Tail in your Porsche. What you have written is what I have read from others. More of a parade around the Tail now. Damn motorcyclists. LOL. My dream drive has always been the Nurburgring. Driven on it 3 times now but never with a car that would make it really fun. Didn't get out for a drive this weekend at all. Yard work was the theme for the past several days. Just hit 950 miles so I am opening it up more when able. And I sort of have the same general compliant about the RS3 over the S3; a bit of lag. Even with the Stage 1 tune there is a slight hesitation. Some put it down to the DSG and anxiously await a TCU tune from APR or other firm. Have some rain coming our way from the storms in the Gulf so this coming weekend may be too damp to have some fun. Then again, what is the Quattro thingee for but grip in the damp?
I am planning on going to ToD and Cherohala Skyway toward the end of September as my second cataract surgery is next week so I will need time for it to heal properly (which has gone great for the first eye BTW and I now have 20/20 vision in the left so anxious for the same result in the right eye). I like to take this drive before the leaves turn at the lower altitudes (but after school starts so Sept is perfect IMO) and you get too much traffic to have lots of fun during the month of October.
Although once I get my "power" run in, I will definitely be more open to an October drive.Are there any RS3 (or S3, etc) drivers who would be interested in driving the Tail of the Dragon / Cherohala Skyway sometime in the next several weeks. Feel free to PM me or we can start a separate thread if there is enough interest. Thanks.
10-06-2018, 06:12 AM
#184
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Well my wife and I finally got to take the RS3 to the Tail of the Dragon and Cherohala Skyway on Thursday and it was a gorgeous day! Traffic was also fairly light which made the day even more enjoyable as it won't be long before LOTS of folks take those roads to see the fall colors, going so slow as to make you believe they have never seen it before. Anyway, I digress slightly. Now remember, that the last time I drove these roads it was in my lowered 911 Turbo so the comparisons won't exactly be fair but they are my observations never the less.
PROs:
1) First and foremost, the brakes. They are absolutely awesome just like the Porsche. There was never any fade (which says a lot after 318 curves in 11 miles) and I had to refine my technique (kind of a rolling action, similar to heel and toe) so I didn't apply too much pressure initially.
2) The sound remains awesome, especially in the higher rev range which the ToD pretty much requires. I'm sure that's why I didn't sneak up on any of the many photographers that camp out on the ToD.
Surprises:
1) The DSG and the paddles. They were almost worthless on the ToD because of so many constant, hard turns. In order to be efficient in upshifts and down, I had to use the shifter on the console because otherwise you may not find the paddles in time.
2) Even in the Dynamic mode, the ride was better / smoother than I expected and firms up things "nicely" (I will revisit this under cons).
Believe but Can't Prove Yet:
1) The Pirelli tires didn't exactly inspire a great deal of confidence even on the Cherohala with its long sweeping turns verus the constant, abrupt turns on the Dragon. I will definitely will be switching to Michelin tires when its time.
Cons's (or I wish they were better):
1) UNDERSTEER is very pronounced when pushing the car repeatedly in 8/10+ situations. I took it to 9/10's once and it made both of so uncomfortable we didn't push it that far again (that road can quickly cost you everything). None of the Porsche's (Boxster S, C4S, Turbo) ever produced that much uncertainty and we pushed them MUCH harder, and more often. So that's a first world issue but one that will always remain with the engine mounted the way it is. It made me wonder how much a rear sway bar would have helped (or not). Comments?
2) Because of this issue, I never felt like my lines were as precise has they have previously have been. We've driven this road many times over the last 15 years and yet I was constantly fighting the car to maintain the line I wanted, and NOT what it seem to want. I definitely didn't take the car as fast as I have before and I couldn't keep up at all with the drivers who frequent the Tail often.
Overall we had a great time and a wonderful day; just not as fun as we used to in the P-cars. It didn't help that as my wife and I were having this very conversation that a newer 911 went zipping by in the opposite direction. LOL So not a completely fair comparison but a valid one against very tough competition. But I still love my RS3 for everything that it does give me but a track car it will never really be.
Anyway, I digress slightly. Now remember, that the last time I drove these roads it was in my lowered 911 Turbo so the comparisons won't exactly be fair but they are my observations never the less.PROs:
1) First and foremost, the brakes. They are absolutely awesome just like the Porsche. There was never any fade (which says a lot after 318 curves in 11 miles) and I had to refine my technique (kind of a rolling action, similar to heel and toe) so I didn't apply too much pressure initially.
2) The sound remains awesome, especially in the higher rev range which the ToD pretty much requires. I'm sure that's why I didn't sneak up on any of the many photographers that camp out on the ToD.
Surprises:
1) The DSG and the paddles. They were almost worthless on the ToD because of so many constant, hard turns. In order to be efficient in upshifts and down, I had to use the shifter on the console because otherwise you may not find the paddles in time.
2) Even in the Dynamic mode, the ride was better / smoother than I expected and firms up things "nicely" (I will revisit this under cons).
Believe but Can't Prove Yet:
1) The Pirelli tires didn't exactly inspire a great deal of confidence even on the Cherohala with its long sweeping turns verus the constant, abrupt turns on the Dragon. I will definitely will be switching to Michelin tires when its time.
Cons's (or I wish they were better):
1) UNDERSTEER is very pronounced when pushing the car repeatedly in 8/10+ situations. I took it to 9/10's once and it made both of so uncomfortable we didn't push it that far again (that road can quickly cost you everything). None of the Porsche's (Boxster S, C4S, Turbo) ever produced that much uncertainty and we pushed them MUCH harder, and more often. So that's a first world issue but one that will always remain with the engine mounted the way it is. It made me wonder how much a rear sway bar would have helped (or not). Comments?
2) Because of this issue, I never felt like my lines were as precise has they have previously have been. We've driven this road many times over the last 15 years and yet I was constantly fighting the car to maintain the line I wanted, and NOT what it seem to want. I definitely didn't take the car as fast as I have before and I couldn't keep up at all with the drivers who frequent the Tail often.
Overall we had a great time and a wonderful day; just not as fun as we used to in the P-cars. It didn't help that as my wife and I were having this very conversation that a newer 911 went zipping by in the opposite direction. LOL
So not a completely fair comparison but a valid one against very tough competition. But I still love my RS3 for everything that it does give me but a track car it will never really be.
10-07-2018, 05:25 AM
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Well my wife and I finally got to take the RS3 to the Tail of the Dragon and Cherohala Skyway on Thursday and it was a gorgeous day! Traffic was also fairly light which made the day even more enjoyable as it won't be long before LOTS of folks take those roads to see the fall colors, going so slow as to make you believe they have never seen it before. Anyway, I digress slightly. Now remember, that the last time I drove these roads it was in my lowered 911 Turbo so the comparisons won't exactly be fair but they are my observations never the less.
PROs:
1) First and foremost, the brakes. They are absolutely awesome just like the Porsche. There was never any fade (which says a lot after 318 curves in 11 miles) and I had to refine my technique (kind of a rolling action, similar to heel and toe) so I didn't apply too much pressure initially.
2) The sound remains awesome, especially in the higher rev range which the ToD pretty much requires. I'm sure that's why I didn't sneak up on any of the many photographers that camp out on the ToD.
Surprises:
1) The DSG and the paddles. They were almost worthless on the ToD because of so many constant, hard turns. In order to be efficient in upshifts and down, I had to use the shifter on the console because otherwise you may not find the paddles in time.
2) Even in the Dynamic mode, the ride was better / smoother than I expected and firms up things "nicely" (I will revisit this under cons).
Believe but Can't Prove Yet:
1) The Pirelli tires didn't exactly inspire a great deal of confidence even on the Cherohala with its long sweeping turns verus the constant, abrupt turns on the Dragon. I will definitely will be switching to Michelin tires when its time.
Cons's (or I wish they were better):
1) UNDERSTEER is very pronounced when pushing the car repeatedly in 8/10+ situations. I took it to 9/10's once and it made both of so uncomfortable we didn't push it that far again (that road can quickly cost you everything). None of the Porsche's (Boxster S, C4S, Turbo) ever produced that much uncertainty and we pushed them MUCH harder, and more often. So that's a first world issue but one that will always remain with the engine mounted the way it is. It made me wonder how much a rear sway bar would have helped (or not). Comments?
2) Because of this issue, I never felt like my lines were as precise has they have previously have been. We've driven this road many times over the last 15 years and yet I was constantly fighting the car to maintain the line I wanted, and NOT what it seem to want. I definitely didn't take the car as fast as I have before and I couldn't keep up at all with the drivers who frequent the Tail often.
Overall we had a great time and a wonderful day; just not as fun as we used to in the P-cars. It didn't help that as my wife and I were having this very conversation that a newer 911 went zipping by in the opposite direction. LOL So not a completely fair comparison but a valid one against very tough competition. But I still love my RS3 for everything that it does give me but a track car it will never really be.
Anyway, I digress slightly. Now remember, that the last time I drove these roads it was in my lowered 911 Turbo so the comparisons won't exactly be fair but they are my observations never the less.PROs:
1) First and foremost, the brakes. They are absolutely awesome just like the Porsche. There was never any fade (which says a lot after 318 curves in 11 miles) and I had to refine my technique (kind of a rolling action, similar to heel and toe) so I didn't apply too much pressure initially.
2) The sound remains awesome, especially in the higher rev range which the ToD pretty much requires. I'm sure that's why I didn't sneak up on any of the many photographers that camp out on the ToD.
Surprises:
1) The DSG and the paddles. They were almost worthless on the ToD because of so many constant, hard turns. In order to be efficient in upshifts and down, I had to use the shifter on the console because otherwise you may not find the paddles in time.
2) Even in the Dynamic mode, the ride was better / smoother than I expected and firms up things "nicely" (I will revisit this under cons).
Believe but Can't Prove Yet:
1) The Pirelli tires didn't exactly inspire a great deal of confidence even on the Cherohala with its long sweeping turns verus the constant, abrupt turns on the Dragon. I will definitely will be switching to Michelin tires when its time.
Cons's (or I wish they were better):
1) UNDERSTEER is very pronounced when pushing the car repeatedly in 8/10+ situations. I took it to 9/10's once and it made both of so uncomfortable we didn't push it that far again (that road can quickly cost you everything). None of the Porsche's (Boxster S, C4S, Turbo) ever produced that much uncertainty and we pushed them MUCH harder, and more often. So that's a first world issue but one that will always remain with the engine mounted the way it is. It made me wonder how much a rear sway bar would have helped (or not). Comments?
2) Because of this issue, I never felt like my lines were as precise has they have previously have been. We've driven this road many times over the last 15 years and yet I was constantly fighting the car to maintain the line I wanted, and NOT what it seem to want. I definitely didn't take the car as fast as I have before and I couldn't keep up at all with the drivers who frequent the Tail often.
Overall we had a great time and a wonderful day; just not as fun as we used to in the P-cars. It didn't help that as my wife and I were having this very conversation that a newer 911 went zipping by in the opposite direction. LOL
So not a completely fair comparison but a valid one against very tough competition. But I still love my RS3 for everything that it does give me but a track car it will never really be.Russ,
I found the paddles on the RS3 to be too small and added paddle extenders - much better now. Leyo Motorsports makes a nice set and other options are available;e. I bought a set locally from a friend for about $50.
10-12-2018, 02:59 PM
#186
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Winter tires
You mentioned you use studded tires, can you use them for that long. We can have -30 with 3 feet of snow one week and no snow and +15 for a week with the chinook and no snow for another month. Can you use studded tires when it’s dry for that long?? Will studded tires damage a dry driveway or garage floor??
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