RE: Audi RS3 Sportback: Driven
Discussion
The A3 was facelifted 3 years ago, the changes don't feel new because they aren't.
The RS3 saloon (facelift only) has been available since 2017, I assumed the sportback was available in facelift form from that point.
I suspect Audi had too many pre-facelift flared-arched front wings in stock so kept the production running to use them up.
Same goes with the diesel only S4/S5/S6.
I currently drive an S3 saloon and was considering moving to an S5 but the diesel has really put me off.
The RS3 saloon (facelift only) has been available since 2017, I assumed the sportback was available in facelift form from that point.
I suspect Audi had too many pre-facelift flared-arched front wings in stock so kept the production running to use them up.
Same goes with the diesel only S4/S5/S6.
I currently drive an S3 saloon and was considering moving to an S5 but the diesel has really put me off.
Might be controversial but I love them and find them exciting to drive! Had one for a couple of days in December and it was a blast! That engine and the handling!
Yes if you arrive at a corner too quick it will understeer but so will any other however I think it’s how you drive them! Set the car up for the corners properly and they just grip! I go over the north York moors a lot so know them well and point to point between Pickering and Whitby every bit of it is a thrill!
So sorry but I don’t find it dull it’s lovely and simplistic! The motorised screen is perfect the buttons all fall to hand whereas all this modern twin screen layout is utter crap!
Only thing that annoys me is when the 8v first came out it was £40k and that was a perfect price but I think knocking on the door of 50k is a bit much
Yes if you arrive at a corner too quick it will understeer but so will any other however I think it’s how you drive them! Set the car up for the corners properly and they just grip! I go over the north York moors a lot so know them well and point to point between Pickering and Whitby every bit of it is a thrill!
So sorry but I don’t find it dull it’s lovely and simplistic! The motorised screen is perfect the buttons all fall to hand whereas all this modern twin screen layout is utter crap!
Only thing that annoys me is when the 8v first came out it was £40k and that was a perfect price but I think knocking on the door of 50k is a bit much
ghost83 said:
Might be controversial but I love them and find them exciting to drive! Had one for a couple of days in December and it was a blast! That engine and the handling!
Yes if you arrive at a corner too quick it will understeer but so will any other however I think it’s how you drive them! Set the car up for the corners properly and they just grip! I go over the north York moors a lot so know them well and point to point between Pickering and Whitby every bit of it is a thrill!
So sorry but I don’t find it dull it’s lovely and simplistic! The motorised screen is perfect the buttons all fall to hand whereas all this modern twin screen layout is utter crap!
Only thing that annoys me is when the 8v first came out it was £40k and that was a perfect price but I think knocking on the door of 50k is a bit much
You're going love a great many other cars if you think the RS3 is exciting then!Yes if you arrive at a corner too quick it will understeer but so will any other however I think it’s how you drive them! Set the car up for the corners properly and they just grip! I go over the north York moors a lot so know them well and point to point between Pickering and Whitby every bit of it is a thrill!
So sorry but I don’t find it dull it’s lovely and simplistic! The motorised screen is perfect the buttons all fall to hand whereas all this modern twin screen layout is utter crap!
Only thing that annoys me is when the 8v first came out it was £40k and that was a perfect price but I think knocking on the door of 50k is a bit much
SidewaysSi said:
All you talked about was extracting more power...;)
Which of course is all that matters to owners. And to those who steal them...
Not really, but adding more power generally also adds more fun. Doing the anti roll bars etc will improve steering and reduce understeer etc but that's not everyone's idea of fun. My point being that these absolutely are not boring, you just get your fun in other ways (much like a GTR). Which of course is all that matters to owners. And to those who steal them...
Having bought the last 400hp RS3 Sportback last year, I can safely tell you that it is certainly more fast than it is fun.
The M135i I had before WAS more fun but I'd much rather own and drive an RS3.
I like the car. As said in a previous post, it's actually a grown-up luxury car, with a cracking engine, in a hatch-shaped body. So it occupies a niche that other less "grown up" hatches don't IMO. Electric seats, keyless go, camera, lane/cruise assist/ excellent media interface etc - these are all "old-man" options but many RS3's have them which sorts of explains a) who the typical buyer is and b) why the bloody thing costs such a fortune.
Boy racer it **can** be (if you spec it up in Nardo Grey etc) but it's probably better suited to extremely fast old-mans luxo-hatch.
P.S. I HATE the new wheels on this "sport edition".
The M135i I had before WAS more fun but I'd much rather own and drive an RS3.
I like the car. As said in a previous post, it's actually a grown-up luxury car, with a cracking engine, in a hatch-shaped body. So it occupies a niche that other less "grown up" hatches don't IMO. Electric seats, keyless go, camera, lane/cruise assist/ excellent media interface etc - these are all "old-man" options but many RS3's have them which sorts of explains a) who the typical buyer is and b) why the bloody thing costs such a fortune.
Boy racer it **can** be (if you spec it up in Nardo Grey etc) but it's probably better suited to extremely fast old-mans luxo-hatch.
P.S. I HATE the new wheels on this "sport edition".
Frimley111R said:
You're going love a great many other cars if you think the RS3 is exciting then!
I find it’s down to the person driving it rather than the car! If you put a tool behind the wheel that is chasing the car and can’t peddle it then they will blame the car! And when it comes to driving I find point to point stuff over complex roads exciting! Tell me what new car is more exciting to drive and has a wonderful engine and can do all the RS3 can?
ghost83 said:
Frimley111R said:
You're going love a great many other cars if you think the RS3 is exciting then!
I find it’s down to the person driving it rather than the car! If you put a tool behind the wheel that is chasing the car and can’t peddle it then they will blame the car! And when it comes to driving I find point to point stuff over complex roads exciting! Tell me what new car is more exciting to drive and has a wonderful engine and can do all the RS3 can?
t Audi? Really? SidewaysSi said:
Are you genuinely saying many on here can't "peddle" a small st Audi? Really?
Some will be able to and some won’t but I bet those that are slagging it off haven’t been in one or haven’t driven one or it’s simply out of reach, so they say it’s dull or boring! Same old same old I’m afraid they read a article and take it as gospel! My personal opinion is that I like it! I like the dashboard I like the motorised screen I like the engine I like the looks I like how quick it is I like how planted it feels and I like that when you get it by the scruff of the neck and take it on some really good roads it shines!t Audi? Really? It’s not a lightweight track car it can go 5 up with awd which helps in going quickly and winter conditions and it will happily do a tip run! You can’t rly fit kids in a ttrs I know I’ve tried you can’t rly fit much in the m2 neither again I’ve tried. Yes I’d rather have a 7-8yr old R8 v10 for the 50k but again you can’t fit kids in that! As an all rounder it’s spot on BUT AGAIN it comes down to price
However for me the sticking point is price I don’t think any Audi A3 or bmw 2 series is worth anything close to 50k
It’s all down to personal taste though isn’t it
Edited by ghost83 on Tuesday 21st May 11:33
I'll tell you what's definitely duller than this 400bhp Audi - the rush for everybody to get in there first and demonstrate their DRIVING PROWESS by totally dismissing it as boring (despite most probably having never driven it). Me pistonheads man, me drive difficult fast car that crash more easy, me real man.
The world is heading to battery power and you have a 400bhp petrol hatchback here that sounds incredible - get over yourselves
The world is heading to battery power and you have a 400bhp petrol hatchback here that sounds incredible - get over yourselves
Frimley111R said:
Tiggsy said:
SidewaysSi said:
Why bother reviewing these cars as you can cut and paste from the dawn of time?! Fast, dull and has zero appeal for anyone who enjoys driving.
For me, a truly hateful POS.
Test drove one before picking an A45 - the Audi was like driving an Xbox game. Clearly very quick, and easy to go quick.....but man was it boring. Zero sense of anything remotely emotional. In contrast the Merc was nuts (it was also a one trick pony that I got bored of in a week....but it was certainly more exciting than the RS3 - which I wanted to love)For me, a truly hateful POS.
TX.
Composite Guru said:
SidewaysSi said:
Vocht said:
These certainly are not boring when being pushed hard, it's just that their limits are so high that they rarely get in that zone. Although that is arguably the case for most performance cars today.
A few relatively low cost modifications such as secondary cat deletes bring these to life and make even slower speeds more fun. Then there's the obvious remapping which sees these easily achieve 440+ BHP which is definitely not boring either!
All you talked about was extracting more power...;) A few relatively low cost modifications such as secondary cat deletes bring these to life and make even slower speeds more fun. Then there's the obvious remapping which sees these easily achieve 440+ BHP which is definitely not boring either!
Which of course is all that matters to owners. And to those who steal them...
As said similar above! We’re heading towards cars that drive themselves and more autonomy yet ppl scoff at a 400bhp hatchback
I wonder what cars will be like in another 5yr that are limited to x mph that are all hybrids and probably under black box control and that control themselves
I wonder what cars will be like in another 5yr that are limited to x mph that are all hybrids and probably under black box control and that control themselves
Tiggsy said:
SidewaysSi said:
Why bother reviewing these cars as you can cut and paste from the dawn of time?! Fast, dull and has zero appeal for anyone who enjoys driving.
For me, a truly hateful POS.
Test drove one before picking an A45 - the Audi was like driving an Xbox game. Clearly very quick, and easy to go quick.....but man was it boring. Zero sense of anything remotely emotional.For me, a truly hateful POS.
Article said:
Apparently its buyers tend to acquire their cars with with low deposits and high monthly PCP payments, and will likely chop it in for another car in 12 months - which rather suits the wham-bam nature of the model. Anyone hoping for a deeper, more meaningful connection with their hot hatch will search in vain at the RS3’s steering wheel. But for anyone after the best combination of engine and packaging, there’s still no need to look further.
This was a very interesting bit of the article and seems to confirm the above. I've seen the endless PCP debates on PH but it's interesting that certain models attract different patterns of purchase, with some of them being particularly inclined to smaller up-front payments and bigger monthlies. Having owned an S3 8v, I'd say they were fun but not rewarding to drive. In fact the main problem was the engine in the S3, it felt a bit fake and too reserved for a performance car. Fast, but with the lairyness removed.
I suspect the RS3 5 pot fixes that, but I would have to have the TTRS I think. The sport hatch body would have benefitted from blown arches in the RS, as it is it's not quite special enough.
I suspect the RS3 5 pot fixes that, but I would have to have the TTRS I think. The sport hatch body would have benefitted from blown arches in the RS, as it is it's not quite special enough.
ghost83 said:
As said similar above! We’re heading towards cars that drive themselves and more autonomy yet ppl scoff at a 400bhp hatchback
I wonder what cars will be like in another 5yr that are limited to x mph that are all hybrids and probably under black box control and that control themselves
But you're not allowed in the pistonheads elite club if you haven't slagged off a fast Audi for being dull. Whether or not you've driven one is irrelevant and the more bhp it has, the more kudos you get for dismissing it.I wonder what cars will be like in another 5yr that are limited to x mph that are all hybrids and probably under black box control and that control themselves
Court_S said:
I think the saloon is a much better looking car than the sportback. They make a fab noise though and it sounds like that hasn’t been affected, something BMW failed with on the M140.
Yes the saloon is very good looking, especially with normal wheels in a sedate colour like silver, a proper RS car like the B7 RS4, not too showy yet still purposeful 
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