superswiss

RS models are still subject to dealer allocation and not eligible for the EU delivery discount.

zzcett

My dealer did not have any allocations, but was able to get a car for me via European Delivery. No discount, though, as others have said.

-s

superswiss

Some dealers have more pull than others. When I did EU delivery with my RS5, my dealer who is one of the 12 Magna Society Elite dealers in the US had no issues getting another EU allocation from the regional director.

zzcett

Probably true, but my dealer is not Magna and only had one 2017/2018 RS3 allocation. Luckily, I wanted to do ED anyhow, but this was the only way I could get one without waiting for the next allocation to come. I thought I read in the ED details that these cars do not count against the dealer's allocation. Worth a check for those trying to get in, although it's probably too late to pick up this year without getting non-summer tires.

-s

superswiss

They might have changed it, but last time I checked RS models and the R8 were still subject to dealer allocation. Would certainly be a welcome surprise if RS models are no longer subject to dealer allocation. The winter situation is an important point, though. You can't do ED between November 1 and Easter if the particular model comes with summer performance tires from the factory, which all RS do. Audi will refuse to deliver it and automatically ship it to the US. Winter tires are mandatory in most of Europe during that time, and you can't order an RS with winter tires.

eyedoc88

After a couple months of deliberation, a wedding, and countless hours spent scouring over every last review and opinion, my RS3 is officially getting built! I settled on Nardo grey with black optics, but honestly could have fallen in love with any combination. My wife informed me that this will be my toy for quite some time, so there’d be no regrets later.

Toughest part of the process now (besides waiting) is seeing how careless some drivers behave on the interstate- particularly in snowy conditions. With Quattro and a solid set of snow tires I’m confident the RS3 will be incredible, but I’m not aware of any safety features that prevent getting rear-ended like I was last winter.

While I’d still consider this machine a bit of a sleeper, I’m curious how much attention people have been getting in their cars. Any over-zealous passerby’s/tailgaters?

russbert

+1 ROTFLMAO!!

Personally, I'm still looking / waiting for the Audi "Fix Stupid" option; however, it doesn't seem to forthcoming anytime soon. I had someone pull right out in front of me a few days ago and it was much too close for comfort. Made me really glad the brakes are so incredibly awesome!!

Since I used to get a LOT of attention in a Guards Red 911 Turbo, I have been pleasantly surprised and pleased by how little attention I get, even in an Ara Blue RS3. I parked the RS3 by the front door of a lake front restaurant and waited and watched everyone that came in. One guy noticed the large red front calipers and one may have stop to look at the color (crystal effect is pretty noticeable on a sunny day which is was) but other than those two, everybody else walked in without a second glance. I have also noticed that the local cops do not pay any special attention to me as well which is also nice. About the "only" drawback is when I came up from behind a left lane driver in the Porsche, they would usually get out of the way fairly quickly versus say in my truck which they almost NEVER do. But the RS3 is somewhere in between those two extremes but I haven't driven it enough yet to really classify it for lack of a better term.

Congrats and have fun with your new toy.

vassili_z

there's a lot of A3s where i am so i'm confident 98% of the people on the road think it's a souped up A3 or S3. only car people would know the rs3 since it looks exactly like a lowered A3 from like 10 ft away. i still don't understand y audi didn't give us the flared fenders like bmw did for the m2. i've had a tiburon tail me and snap photos and another rs3 driver honking me. i'm sure the s3 guys know about the rs3. i've also had an old man in a C7 try to race me. lol.

Timmay

I'd be a bit wary of racing a C7, especially if it has the performance package
I would think that would make for a good and probably close race! I wonder which performs better on the track. Actually I think the C7(Z06) outperforms the RS3 at the Ring by a large margin. If I'm not mistaken the TTRS is faster than the RS3 and it's lap time is well behind the C7. Personally I would still want the RS3.

micheel@o2.pl

Hi.
I am absolutely staggered how incompetent this whole discussion was. Majority of the audience have never even driven RS3 model to provide a decent argument about reasonable S3 and RS3 comparison.

I guess or at least I hope these issues have been already reconciled among funpage users cause life and practical experience with both of these models provided final answers decent time ago.

For those of you who are not familiar with the facts about the very nature of these models its characteristics I'm happy to present it herein.

In practical experience quite surprisingly, S3 was a much better overall choice in 8V generation than RS3. This is something that does not reflect any other S/RS comparison, cause usually RS models provide more vibe to the whole experience which in S3 vs. RS3 8V model was eventually and totally not the case.

The most prominent problem of RS3 was a massive low-medium range turbo lag, provided with an unavoidable inertia of the engine and the feeling of disconnection between a throttle and the engine, which was never even the slightest case in a joyful vital S3.

If anyone was exposed to the possibility of direct simultaneous comparison of S3/RS3 model got this the moment he/she switched the car and instantly knew the significance of this difference. Taking also into account the fact that the car was more expensive, weighed more, had only a slight high speed advantage, was truly and conclusively a worse option.

Om glad that through years it already became a common knowledge. There's no need to argue about it, rather a strong need for a serious improvements in an 8Y RS3 generation.

Cheers.