tjacoby

+1

My Audi rep expects a 2 year run with the next RS3 in 6 years, at the tail-end of the next A3 model. Daily drivers are not investments, and collector cars are rarely profitable when all costs are included.

tjacoby

After three weeks and 1,200km's the RS3 has exceeded my expectations.

I also prefer the balance & suspension of the RS3 over my 2015 S3. I can shift weight rewards in the corner with the accelerator much more confidently in the RS3 than the S3. The S3 felt more binary with Haldex shifting power around with ESC normally engaged.

I prefer the manual sport seats in the RS vs the electric seats in the S, but it's a personal opinion. My elderly parents also prefer the RS seats, but my adult son does not. Even my very frail father prefers the RS3 sport suspension, saying it's "smoother" than the S3 Mag 'Comfort' mode (his back pain was a challenge in the S3). I wasn't a big fan of the Mag Suspension in the S3. The RS has auto-dimming side-view mirrors, where my S didn't. the auto-folding side-view mirrors are also slick. The RS a/c vents lost the direct/diffused feature the S3 had. The pre-sense braking in the RS3 is a little weird, and I've found the RS3 transmission can jerk in 'S' mode at low-speeds while accelerating and then immediately easing off the gas.

The addition of the R to my S3 has cost me at least a 3 weeks overseas trip and maybe a kitchen, you're doing well! My wife did say "no new cars", but that was after I had my deposit down. I think.

I've been spending most of my time in 'S', and the fuel economy isn't great. maybe 2/3 or 1/2 of the S3. I'm guessing that's the 'nut' chuckling behind the steering wheel.

My dealer let me take an R8+ out for a spin, and while that engine is bonkers, I'm more than pleased with the RS3. Neither have a lot of steering feel, the RS3 definitely has a little bit, where I hadn't felt anything out of the R8. The R8+ engine did feel weaker than the 20% hp difference to my neighbour's Aventador SV, but that's a whole different discussion.

The trunk in the S3/RS3 is fairly small, smaller than my wife's Civic. Likely because of the Quattro h/w raising the trunk floor. It's big enough for my needs.

The sport exhaust, when engaged, sounds good and is loud enough (I open the windows for extra volume). The the startup cackle is most excellent. With the Sport Exhaust 'closed' the exhaust can drone a bit, and is quiet enough for passing law-enforcement or neighbours.

I consider the S3 to be 'sporty' and the RS3 to be the Real Sports sedan. I'd probably of happily kept the S3 if I faced an uplift on the RS3.

Timmay

I'd be interested in hearing anyone that might have or had a '17 facelift S3 with the improved Quattro. Of course it should also be noted the RS3 seats are essentially the same as the S3 S Sport seats. Virtual Cockpit and Pre-sense also became available. I also tend to think the Resonator Delete option on the S3 would please most people's ears. Interesting that it's not an option on the RS3.

russbert

I didn't realize the RS3 has auto-dimming side mirrors so that's a nice surprise. Now, can you explain a couple of things for the "un-washed" (AKA those of us NOT coming from a S3). What is the direct / diffused feature on the S3 that the RS3 a/c vents don't have? And second, can you elaborate on how the pre-sense braking in the RS3 is a little weird?

RE: the RS3 DSG transmission "jerking in S mode" I would assume that since you are accelerating in S mode (automatic) that the DSG has pre-selected the NEXT HIGHER gear but then when you immediately ease off of the gas, it is probably trying to quickly get ready for an expected DOWNSHIFT instead. Thoughts / comments from others?

Your fuel economy comment left me ROTFLMAO; very funny and will probably be true for me as well when I finally get it. :-D

Now I'm anxious to hear the Sports Exhaust in a longer term environment as well so thanks for the description.

tjacoby

I have the same guess with the DSG jerk, I'm marking it up to 'user training'. the auto-dimming is quicker and darker than in my S3 - there's no way to identify law-enforcement behind at night any more (good thing I always behave myself...). the 2015 S3 had a pull-lever in the centre of the circular air vents to soften/diffuse the airflow.

I had the car do what seemed to be an emergency stop twice on me on Thursday - once when trying to manoeuver around a car at an intersection at very low speeds, and again when parallel parking behind a police car at very low speeds (but with cars passing at high speeds). It's the first time it's happened to me, and guessing it's normal behaviour. Neither time did I feel like I was about to hit anything. I didn't have that feature in the S3.

I do find the RS3 jumps to D7 pretty quick. my 19yo son laughs at me with the Sport Exhaust - in 'S' the car matches revs on the downshifts giving an appreciated exhaust blip. I find it funny that it doesn't match revs going from S2 to S1 (to first gear), but does when going from M2 to M1 (manual shifting). I'm curious if this is different behaviour for different regions/markets.

russbert

Thanks for the additional explanations; they helped quite a bit. However, I'm still quite curious about the "emergency braking". It would seem that the common factor is that the car is 30 - 45 degrees off axis to the vehicle in front of you and with higher speed traffic present. Is that an accurate assessment? I'm wondering if the sensors / brackets are aligned properly and if not, is this causing the sensors to misinterpret the data it's seeing or if this indeed will be normal behavior which I'm not too keen about. It will be interesting to hear from others about whether or not they are experiencing this as well. Thanks again for the heads up.

tjacoby

correct for the parallel parking scenario, and maybe for the intersection situation. There's a lot of radar sensors on these cars, maybe 6 or 8 zones light up when parking, and are accurate then.

mattvandyk

On the auto-dimming mirrors, how do you turn that function on/off? The only thing I see is the dial in the driver's door which seems to turn dimming on/off, but it doesn't seem to turn AUTO-dimming on/off.

On the pull lever to adjust the air flow, can you throw up a picture of what that feature looked like (the lever, not the air flow)?

On the pre-sense, note that you can adjust the sensitivity of it in the settings. That might be worth doing if it's already intervened twice on you in non-intervention situations.

Thanks!!

russbert

I'd like to see picture of the lever as well. My wife remembers being able to turn the outer rings on the vents in the RS3 to lessen the airflow. Is this NOT true for the S3 then?

Glad to hear that these settings can be adjusted; thanks for the heads up Matt.

SquirrelA4Quattro

7 hours and probably 30 signatures later…

Believe it or not, it was my WIFE who convinced me that the "S3" on the car's badging just didn't look right without an "R" as the leading character (OK, that and the fact that it's impossible to test the capabilities of the RS3 on Marin Audi's short test loop hills because no matter whether or not there's another car in in sight in front of you when you begin the short uphill twisty bit, you'll be on the brakes before you know it because it eats pavement so fast you'll find that traffic SO quickly).

I think i did reasonably well: $1100 over invoice and an additional $1000 value added to my trade in above their initial gambit.

Who'd 'a thunk the initial exposure to this car would require watching several hours of video!