After a long time matching an older performance car with our base Golf and ageing campervan, I decided I wanted a brand new primary car to meet a variety of changing needs. These include work across the UK, longer trips with mid-teen kids, crumbly parents at a distance etc. This meant returning to the format that the S3 has mastered during both its model history and previous times with me: something I can jump in and just go in all weathers, drive and park anywhere, at any time, be entertaining, looks smart and be special enough. This Vorsprung spec is the top line model of the current, supposedly-better-than-Golf-R, S3 range. Great first impressions: totally nails the brief without fuss. Gives very little if anything away to the previous-gen RS3s I had before, especially in mixed A to B driving.