Anyone running a S3 Sportback?
Discussion
How did you get on Adrian?
The S4 you missed out on, was it black and for sale in the south west? (I initially enquired about that vehicle, but it had a few too many owners in just 3 and a bit years for me to progress it once I had the budget)
I'm glad it had, I'm loving this sportback at the moment.
A Revo remap has delivered me 325bhp, it is fantastic in this size of car, genuinely surprised. As are my friends who've been out in it.
A great all rounder for sure.
The S4 you missed out on, was it black and for sale in the south west? (I initially enquired about that vehicle, but it had a few too many owners in just 3 and a bit years for me to progress it once I had the budget)
I'm glad it had, I'm loving this sportback at the moment.
A Revo remap has delivered me 325bhp, it is fantastic in this size of car, genuinely surprised. As are my friends who've been out in it.
A great all rounder for sure.
I had a 2010 S3 Sportback S-Tronic for nearly 2 years. See my detailed "Garage" review and blog entries for the low-down.
I only really had one regret: that it was the wrong colour for me (Brilliant Red). Otherwise, it was the perfect package for a family with young kids, living in the city centre but with need for a car that could cover ground well.
I sold it when I opted-in to a company car scheme. Although the car that replaced it (Volvo V60 D5) is lovely, my wife won't drive it and so we ended-up buying a second car. I'm in the process of reversing out of this set-up, because we just don't need 2 cars.
I loved the S3's package, so I've just gone and bought a... Golf R32! It's close in concept to the S3 Sportback - and the differences between them are each other's strong and weak points. I.e. the R32 is slightly more anonymous / less prestigious; has more soul / is less efficient; has snappy throttle response / misses the big turbo experience.
The crucial difference with the R32 is that this time I'm not making the mistake of buying something that depreciates so heavily. My S3 lost £10k in 18 months (when it was, I admit, nearly new); whereas I'd be suprised if my £12.5k R32 ever loses that in value.
I only really had one regret: that it was the wrong colour for me (Brilliant Red). Otherwise, it was the perfect package for a family with young kids, living in the city centre but with need for a car that could cover ground well.
I sold it when I opted-in to a company car scheme. Although the car that replaced it (Volvo V60 D5) is lovely, my wife won't drive it and so we ended-up buying a second car. I'm in the process of reversing out of this set-up, because we just don't need 2 cars.
I loved the S3's package, so I've just gone and bought a... Golf R32! It's close in concept to the S3 Sportback - and the differences between them are each other's strong and weak points. I.e. the R32 is slightly more anonymous / less prestigious; has more soul / is less efficient; has snappy throttle response / misses the big turbo experience.
The crucial difference with the R32 is that this time I'm not making the mistake of buying something that depreciates so heavily. My S3 lost £10k in 18 months (when it was, I admit, nearly new); whereas I'd be suprised if my £12.5k R32 ever loses that in value.
Edited by Basil Hume on Monday 10th February 20:46
MattS3 said:
How did you get on Adrian?
The S4 you missed out on, was it black and for sale in the south west? (I initially enquired about that vehicle, but it had a few too many owners in just 3 and a bit years for me to progress it once I had the budget)
I'm glad it had, I'm loving this sportback at the moment.
A Revo remap has delivered me 325bhp, it is fantastic in this size of car, genuinely surprised. As are my friends who've been out in it.
A great all rounder for sure.
HiyaThe S4 you missed out on, was it black and for sale in the south west? (I initially enquired about that vehicle, but it had a few too many owners in just 3 and a bit years for me to progress it once I had the budget)
I'm glad it had, I'm loving this sportback at the moment.
A Revo remap has delivered me 325bhp, it is fantastic in this size of car, genuinely surprised. As are my friends who've been out in it.
A great all rounder for sure.
Bit of a mixed bag to be honest - enjoyed the S3 drive very much. Car is a nice spec (nav, parking sensors, AMI, park assist) and colour looks right on it (sprint blue). Goes like stink but gear change a little awkward but would be fine with practice. Revs quite high in 6th - about 3250 @ 80mph which seemed a bit high for cruising - maybe the s-tronic is different? Standard seats aren't the most supportive under the thighs - reminded me of our LCR which was the same, but you got used to it and can get comfy with a bit of fiddling. Too used to 10 way electric Recaros in my car! It felt very much like a grown up version of our old 2005 LCR with bags of traction.
The Scirocco was a lovely thing to drive on Sunday, although the acres of black plastic in the back were a let down. In many ways I preferred how it drove (it was an R) as the gearchange was better, ride was incredible on 19s with 3 mode suspension and was better than our C5 A6 on 17s! Unfortunately it made my son car sick for the first time ever, which I think was down to how enclosed the back of the car is so he ended up looking out the side window....he threw up after we'd left the garage lol. That's definitely ruled it out for us but in different circumstances I'd have it in a heartbeat!
The S4 does sound like the same one - had a new engine at 30k miles and it was tech pack low, not high as advertised. Keeping in touch with the new owner via another forum I visit
He picked it up last week and I'm still jealous as the spec was good and it was fairly priced for a private sale.The overall feeling from the weekend is that the S3 is the right size for what we need for commuting and occasional long runs whilst being more economical than either of the cars we have now. The nagging doubt is whether an S4 would deliver some of the Scirocco like ride with the adaptive damping and be a bit more engaging in the longer term. I'm going to test drive an S4 next weekend and will then either jump at the S3 we've seen if we decide it's the right balance of what we want, or start focusing on the S4s only. There's not many coming onto the market with good spec - many have standard seats, no nav and no Audi Drive Assist.
Basil Hume said:
I had a 2010 S3 Sportback S-Tronic for nearly 2 years. See my detailed "Garage" review and blog entries for the low-down.
I only really had one regret: that it was the wrong colour for me (Brilliant Red). Otherwise, it was the perfect package for a family with young kids, living in the city centre but with need for a car that could cover ground well.
I sold it when I opted-in to a company car scheme. Although the car that replaced it (Volvo V60 D5) is lovely, my wife won't drive it and so we ended-up buying a second car. I'm in the process of reversing out of this set-up, because we just don't need 2 cars.
I loved the S3's package, so I've just gone and bought a... Golf R32! It's close in concept to the S3 Sportback - and the differences between them are each other's strong and weak points. I.e. the R32 is slightly more anonymous / less prestigious; has more soul / is less efficient; has snappy throttle response / misses the big turbo experience.
The crucial difference with the R32 is that this time I'm not making the mistake of buying something that depreciates so heavily. My S3 lost £10k in 18 months (when it was, I admit, nearly new); whereas I'd be suprised if my £12.5k R32 ever loses that in value.
I understand the problem! Our other car is an old S8 so something that does more than 16mpg average on super would be a bonus....my wife will drive my S8 but I worry what state it will come back in after a day in her work car park!I only really had one regret: that it was the wrong colour for me (Brilliant Red). Otherwise, it was the perfect package for a family with young kids, living in the city centre but with need for a car that could cover ground well.
I sold it when I opted-in to a company car scheme. Although the car that replaced it (Volvo V60 D5) is lovely, my wife won't drive it and so we ended-up buying a second car. I'm in the process of reversing out of this set-up, because we just don't need 2 cars.
I loved the S3's package, so I've just gone and bought a... Golf R32! It's close in concept to the S3 Sportback - and the differences between them are each other's strong and weak points. I.e. the R32 is slightly more anonymous / less prestigious; has more soul / is less efficient; has snappy throttle response / misses the big turbo experience.
The crucial difference with the R32 is that this time I'm not making the mistake of buying something that depreciates so heavily. My S3 lost £10k in 18 months (when it was, I admit, nearly new); whereas I'd be suprised if my £12.5k R32 ever loses that in value.
Edited by Basil Hume on Monday 10th February 20:46
I moan about what we've lost on our A6 (4yrs old and £14k when bought) but it's really cost us £10k over 6 years which compared to new stuff is bugger all really. I suspect it's replacement will cost us a similar amount while we own it but we'll try and sell before it drops to £10k I think this time.
The S3 is 4 years old and has lost getting on for half its new cost - the S4 I'm considering was £45k with options so that's even worse in terms of early depreciation!
My Sportback was Revo re-mapped last week.
I got it on the rollers Saturday just to sense check the extra power I "felt it had" over my B6 V8 S4.
I know rollers are never a true, true representation, but they give an idea, and I had previously had my S4 on the very same rollers, so a good comparison none the less.
The result was 325 bhp and 280 lbs ft of torque.
It means I have 223 bhp per ton in the S3. The S4 was 200bhp per ton
And torque is 193 lbs ft per ton. The S4 was 171 lbs ft per ton.
I thought it felt much quicker, and was really putting it down to the turbo delivery and the DSG box making rapid shifts.
Reality is, it is a fair bit more powerful.
I'm very pleased.
I got it on the rollers Saturday just to sense check the extra power I "felt it had" over my B6 V8 S4.
I know rollers are never a true, true representation, but they give an idea, and I had previously had my S4 on the very same rollers, so a good comparison none the less.
The result was 325 bhp and 280 lbs ft of torque.
It means I have 223 bhp per ton in the S3. The S4 was 200bhp per ton
And torque is 193 lbs ft per ton. The S4 was 171 lbs ft per ton.
I thought it felt much quicker, and was really putting it down to the turbo delivery and the DSG box making rapid shifts.
Reality is, it is a fair bit more powerful.
I'm very pleased.
MattS3 said:
My Sportback was Revo re-mapped last week.
I got it on the rollers Saturday just to sense check the extra power I "felt it had" over my B6 V8 S4.
I know rollers are never a true, true representation, but they give an idea, and I had previously had my S4 on the very same rollers, so a good comparison none the less.
The result was 325 bhp and 280 lbs ft of torque.
It means I have 223 bhp per ton in the S3. The S4 was 200bhp per ton
And torque is 193 lbs ft per ton. The S4 was 171 lbs ft per ton.
I thought it felt much quicker, and was really putting it down to the turbo delivery and the DSG box making rapid shifts.
Reality is, it is a fair bit more powerful.
I'm very pleased.
Congrats on the purchaseI got it on the rollers Saturday just to sense check the extra power I "felt it had" over my B6 V8 S4.
I know rollers are never a true, true representation, but they give an idea, and I had previously had my S4 on the very same rollers, so a good comparison none the less.
The result was 325 bhp and 280 lbs ft of torque.
It means I have 223 bhp per ton in the S3. The S4 was 200bhp per ton
And torque is 193 lbs ft per ton. The S4 was 171 lbs ft per ton.
I thought it felt much quicker, and was really putting it down to the turbo delivery and the DSG box making rapid shifts.
Reality is, it is a fair bit more powerful.
I'm very pleased.
You go me thinking about Revoing ours
What Revo package have you gone for?
rich83 said:
Torque sounds a bit low on that map. Most revo stage 1s will pull just over 300lbfts
I was expecting nearer 300 but it doesn't seem unusual for a DSG on the rollers to record a little lower apparently. Truth be told, I'd be happy the torque is a little lower as it means less grunt going through the DSG potentially.
Well my wife has decided she wants the Sportback, although personally I preferred the S4 Avant S-tronic for not a whole lot more money.
Problem is we looked at it again on Sunday and it requires a fair bit of paint. When we test drove it it was throwing it down so car looked fine, but on a dry day we were able to assess the paint properly. The dealer is offering to paint the roof, nearside rear 3/4 panel and rear bumper before sale. They will touch in a scab the size of a 5p on the leading edge of the bonnet. Can't help feeling that's a lot of new paint on a 2010 car with 40k miles at top dollar from an Audi dealer, especially when we'll have to put a sizeable deposit down before they'll authorise the work and it's not refundable if it's been applied by Stevie Wonder or someone who likes to apply paint like they're painting a house!
Not yet had 'the chat' with SWMBO.....
Problem is we looked at it again on Sunday and it requires a fair bit of paint. When we test drove it it was throwing it down so car looked fine, but on a dry day we were able to assess the paint properly. The dealer is offering to paint the roof, nearside rear 3/4 panel and rear bumper before sale. They will touch in a scab the size of a 5p on the leading edge of the bonnet. Can't help feeling that's a lot of new paint on a 2010 car with 40k miles at top dollar from an Audi dealer, especially when we'll have to put a sizeable deposit down before they'll authorise the work and it's not refundable if it's been applied by Stevie Wonder or someone who likes to apply paint like they're painting a house!
Not yet had 'the chat' with SWMBO.....
Cheers Matt - that's what we've decided to do after discussing this evening. Just too much of a stretch to be spending £19k on a car that's in need of that much work. There were a number of X shaped marks on the roof like someone had used a scrubbing brush to remove bird lime to the point they'd gone through the lacquer! They'd also managed to back the car into something and take the paint off the read edge of the nearside rear 3/4 panel. If they'd rectified the paint before sticking it on the forecourt they'd have probably sold it as we wouldn't have necessarily noticed but once you find 1 thing you're not happy with you tend to go to town.....
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