eth

I don't know if this counts as buyer's remorse, but I wish that my RS3 had a manual transmission. I took a leap of faith ordering this car without being able to take a test drive. I really liked the Mk 7 Golf R that it was to replace - it was probably the best overall car that I've ever owned. I haven't finished the break-in miles yet, so I haven't had a chance to really rail on the thing. However, the DSG just doesn't offer the sense of control, engagement, and connectivity that the R's manual did. The R was just engaging all the time - I could heel & toe it up to stopped traffic, and I could always dip into the boost in any gear and not have to wait for it to downshift (or switch modes to make the car do with I wanted to). I'm sure that the DSG is faster and more efficient in every way, but it's still no manual. Does that ruin the car for me? Probably not - the jury is still out on that one, but I have to drive it more to make a call.

Rguy

The DSG really get's aggressive and "fun" in RS/Sport mode...Stays in gear a LONG time, always in boost....fast shifts....totally different car vs auto/drive modes.

AdamSheikh

Agreed - I really enjoy the shift logic and programming of this DQ500. Very much a split personality depending on what mode you're in and how you're driving it. Once you get used to it and start to understand its logic, it's very rewarding. I do wish it had less creep and allowed for more slip at low speeds like in the 8V, but overall it's a non-issue.

sterkrazzy

It's my first car that wasn't manual in 15 years. Can't say I miss manual at all. Then again, all my manuals were VWs and I don't see VW manuals in that great of a light, they kinda suck.

Stanza

No regerts, not even one letter.

Cheers!

mark_b_good

Manual is fun in terms of driving involvement, but for sure it is not better.
First ... you'll never get close to 3 sec 0-100 km/h with manual. The dual clutch is what makes it possible.
Second ... having to have one hand off the steering wheel to shift gears, on a lively drive, isn't the safest thing on the planet.

musantemike

and if you have a few drinks your lady cant drive you home!!!!

jkliao648

Overall, I'm satisfied with my RS3 (got it Dec. 2022) as I always love small cars, even a 3 series is slightly too big for me. But a few annoyance here and there:

Most of the time I drive my car in comfort mode, which is really good for Michigan crap roads. But I don't know if it's the comfort mode or the gearbox in general, at lower RPM, the car would disconnect the gearbox, which means under gentle braking, around 20-25 mph, the gearbox would disconnect and I have to release the brake at that exact point or the car would have an unintended jerk because of the sudden change of the load on the drivetrain. Similarly, when you don't slow down to a full stop and start to go, sometimes the gearbox would disconnect and reconnect very abruptly when you press the gas pedal, leading to this sudden jerk as if someone is not good at driving a manual car. I've had this a few times in my previous mk7 gti, but nowhere near as often in the RS3, not to mention the braking jerk. I haven't tried auto mode for an extended amount of time because I don't like the steering feel in that mode, feels like it's getting heavier for the sake of getting heavier, the road feedback isn't really improved or anything.

And then there's the buggy dashboard. With the new RS products, audi have this new RS runway design. Looks novel at first glance, and then it's very stupid after that. Whenever it is switched into RS mode (performance/individual), this would be the default. While there is an option to turn it off, so that when you are in RS mode, you still have your choice of the dial design, but I would get mismatch from what mode I'm in. Namely when I'm in RS performance, the car would say it's in a regular mode, even though the hud has the performance rev counter and oil temp display, same for every other mode. Which means you would get into this confusion mismatch that whatever says on the dashboard is NOT the mode you are in. There has been a few OTA updates since I encountered this, but I haven't bother to explore this bug more recently.

And finally there's the buggy gearbox issue. It's more on me being unlucky, but I would get this gearbox malfunction warning when I'm under heavy braking while using the horn, for example, when I get cut off by someone. Other than flashing up the warning, the car seems to be driving fine, even though I haven't driven any RS3 other than mine. I have had the dealership checked, they took a fluid sample from the gearbox and didn't really find anything from that. Will have them check the car again later when I'm due for my second service.
Oh, the audi pre-sense is annoying too, hope I can shut it off permanently.

musantemike

I hear you on the buggy MMI. Anyone know how to get ride of the SOS phone malfunction? Mine has been on for a week.

AdamSheikh

No real MMI or VC bugs on my 2024 (delivered Dec 2023). I did get the SOS malfunction once while on a road trip, but I chalked it up to spotty cell service in the area I was driving through. The message went away and never popped back up when I turned the car off and back on for a fuel stop. Wonder if there's a later version of the software that needs to be installed on earlier cars?