RE: Battle for the B-road: WRX STI vs S3 saloon

[Spooge]

Dave Hedgehog said:

who would pay £600 a month for a badge when you can get golf for £300?

i to await with interest real world mpg figures

Missed out on the Golf R lease deals - still very well optioned and got it for less than I could get a Golf R at the time.

It'll do about 32-34 on the motorway, drops down happily to 24-20 if you go for a blast. Worst I ever had it was 11.

[cocopop]

GravelMachineGun said:

Indeed but back then Subaru were still a great company! Times have changed and the current Audis are way better and sadly Subaru is not at their level.

I'll let an Impreza owner come back to that one

[anonymous-user]

cocopop said:

GravelMachineGun said:

Indeed but back then Subaru were still a great company! Times have changed and the current Audis are way better and sadly Subaru is not at their level.

I'll let an Impreza owner come back to that one

I am a previous Impreza owner

[WokkaWokka]

There is no doubt the S3 is a very competent car. I've done nearly 25K in mine since about this time last year.

Real world MPG is about 30 and thats with approx 100 miles a day motorway.

When you want to blast down a B road its very competent as I said but its bit point and squirt as you'd imagine. I think I'd like a Cayman GTS or something similar.

Although I was given an RS4 as a courtesy car and that thing was absolutely epic, what an engine! Its just the 25 to the gallon that I cant really handle what with my heavy mileage. Took it to the tip though to get rid of some stuff and it was very good at that too!

[Harji]

I know someone who owns an S3, all they talk about is the interior, says it all really.

[PorkInsider]

Mr Whippy said:

It's getting worse though.

15 years ago the S4 (equivalent looking sorta thing), had TorSen diffs, longitudinal mounted engine with 6 glorious cylinders signing away.

Today we get transverse engine, bland 4 pot engine that is no doubt feeling gutless until the turbo gets going, and an awd control system that is less about putting down the power you send it, and more about limiting the power you want to send it.


It 'looks' nice, I'll give it that... and if I didn't care a bit about oily bits and going for a blast in one at the weekend, I'd have one no doubt.


Dave

Why are you comparing a 15 year old S4 with the S3?

[hondafreek]

That Audi is so dull. It will sell by the bucket load.

[LordGrover]

Subaru has the looks only a mother could love, but I'd still choose it.
Mainly influenced by my Audi loathing gene.

[Spooge]

Mr Whippy said:

It's getting worse though.

15 years ago the S4 (equivalent looking sorta thing), had TorSen diffs, longitudinal mounted engine with 6 glorious cylinders signing away.

Today we get transverse engine, bland 4 pot engine that is no doubt feeling gutless until the turbo gets going, and an awd control system that is less about putting down the power you send it, and more about limiting the power you want to send it.


It 'looks' nice, I'll give it that... and if I didn't care a bit about oily bits and going for a blast in one at the weekend, I'd have one no doubt.


Dave

Just curious, have you actually driven it?

[articulatedj]

I thought the STI was old and worn out. I wasn't impressed with the 2014. And then I drove the 2015 on a whim.

It is absolutely the driver's car of the modern vehicles. It feels old school in all the right ways - wonderful steering feel, great visibility, stiff fixed dampers, rev-happy turbo, and a boxer burble that puts the other fours to shame. It has all the mechanical life that was missing from the other cars I drove, including the new Mustang 5.0 and the Golf R, which felt far more refined but also far more numb.

To those who say nay, drive one. The steering response is exceptional (a huge improvement over the 2014), and the car blazes across broken pavement like nobody's business. I figure it will be the last chance to get a saloon like this new. And the interior isn't really any worse than the last C Class.

I am planning on getting a 2016. I figure that if I need more power at some point, there are loads of options with this motor. For the cost difference in the article, you could easily have a 400 hp STI.

Edited by articulatedj on Tuesday 7th April 16:05

[Oz83]

Mr Whippy said:

It's getting worse though.

15 years ago the S4 (equivalent looking sorta thing), had TorSen diffs, longitudinal mounted engine with 6 glorious cylinders signing away.

Today we get transverse engine, bland 4 pot engine that is no doubt feeling gutless until the turbo gets going, and an awd control system that is less about putting down the power you send it, and more about limiting the power you want to send it.


Dave

...and the current S4 also has Torsen diffs, and a longitudinally mounted 6 cylinder engine.

[Mr Whippy]

PorkInsider said:

Why are you comparing a 15 year old S4 with the S3?

Looks the same kinda thing, just 15 years later.


Engine is smaller = crapper off boost.

Engine has less cylinders, so now it sounds more like every other shopping car around.

AWD system is more about limiting your request, rather than making your request hit the floor as best it can.


What characteristic appeal they used to have, despite being all-rounders, is slowly disappearing to leave them devoid of anything.

They really are the ultimate grey car.




Cripes, even I found my 306 GTi6 flawed because it was too normal feeling except when bouncing off the limiter on empty roads, so what an S3 feels like 99.99% of the time on the road is probably a diesel Golf.

Apart from big numbers on the invoice and speedo, what is it offering over a derv Golf?

Dave

[Mr Whippy]

Dave Hedgehog said:

Mr Whippy said:

15 years ago the S4 (equivalent looking sorta thing), had TorSen diffs, longitudinal mounted engine with 6 glorious cylinders signing away.

Today we get transverse engine, bland 4 pot engine that is no doubt feeling gutless until the turbo gets going, and an awd control system that is less about putting down the power you send it, and more about limiting the power you want to send it.


Dave

Dont be Daft, you can still buy the S4 with a charged V6 lump

and the B5 S4 was one of the dullest most boring cars to drive audi have ever made, and that takes some doing

But the S4 is more like the S6 of 15 years ago.

Remember cars get bigger each generation.

[chelme]

Can you choose not to have the spoiler on the back of the Subaru? If I had to choose between the two, I'd take it over the Audi, but would want the wing removed if possible.

Edited by chelme on Tuesday 7th April 16:13

[Dblue]

You do know you can still buy a 6 cylinder S4 from Audi as well?

This is from the class below. And gutless is not the word to describe its performance if its anything like the S3 and similarly engined Golf R hatches

[dlockhart]

the inside of the Subaru has previously failed to make me feel special, the audi looks welcoming and solid. From the photo it doesn't look like that has changed.

Compared to the German counterparts the Mitsubishi and Subaru just don't offer that feeling of specialness, even though they tend to win on other areas such as handling. Given that these cars are not track cars but rather fast everyday cars I would really only want to climb into the audi on a cold wet February morning.

[RicharDC5]

chelme said:

Can you choose not to have the spoiler on the back of the Subaru? If I had to choose between the two, I'd take it over the Audi, but would want the wing removed if possible.

Edited by chelme on Tuesday 7th April 16:13

Looking at the side profile of the car I think it would look a lot nicer without it.

[popeyewhite]

Subaru every time. Wonderful cars. Like a Golf I saw the other day, S3 looks stupid with four exhausts.

[Alucidnation]

The verdict was obvious, before I even read the article.

How predictable.

[PhantomPH]

Spooge said:

PhantomPH said:

I love my S3...but I am starting to think I should have gone for the DSG instead of the manual...

Me too! Though I did go for the DSG because I'm lazy but also the rather superficial reason that it makes the burps when it changes gear.

I have to say though the drivers seat has developed a rather annoying creak after only 2000 miles/6 months. I dunno if its due to the fact I opted for the "super sports seats" though, going to have to get looked at by Audi I feel.

I went for manual as I've had DSG for my previous two Golf GTIs and my Merc had an (awful) 7GTronic box. Fancied a change.