Friday 12th April 2002
225bhp S3
More power and bigger norks for S3
Discussion
quote:
not much (if any) more go than my Civic TR and £7500 more....mmmm Nice of Audi to assist Honda's marketing efforts!!!
I know which car I'd rather have, given a free choice. And when it comes to go, the Audi's got a lot more torque, which means less manic revving required for progress.
And then of course there are things like build quality, NVH, etc.
>> Edited by MEMSDesign on Friday 12th April 09:39
I had a flat out race with a 225Hp TT last night, and just had the edge. Followed it for some distance with tandem overtaking but we then reached duel carriageway and I got past him. It wasn't that easy but I just had the edge & he wasnt giving anything away.
I was in .... Accord TR
Of course all was within the leagl speed limits !
Long live the VTEC
I was in .... Accord TR
Of course all was within the leagl speed limits !
Long live the VTEC
Don't be fooled by the Image of Audi's being bulletproof and having excellent build quality.
My S3 has had more interior rattles and squeaks than many cheaper cars. Had a fair bit go wrong too and I'm not the only one, I know quite a few S3 owners with similar problems to me.
It's a comfortable car, a decent amount of torque once the turbo spools up and it's got huge amounts of grip. But it's boring, boring, boring to drive, about as much feedback as a convention of deaf-mutes (apologies to all our deaf-mute PH-ers
) and 225 bhp (210 in mine) is not sufficient to haul the weight of the body around at much different a pace than the Civic (although an £800 chip liberates around another 35-40bhp).
I chose it because it's a company car, and at the time there was a limited choice of cars and I didn't want to be yet another company Beemer driver. However they've since widened the choice of manufacturers and I am about to take delivery of a company Honda S2000. I wouldn't have another S3 (unless it was made in Blackpool), and if it had been my £26,000 I wouldn't have had this one. Theres nothing particularly wrong with the S3, but they're not much cop if you like to really drive your cars.
My S3 has had more interior rattles and squeaks than many cheaper cars. Had a fair bit go wrong too and I'm not the only one, I know quite a few S3 owners with similar problems to me.
It's a comfortable car, a decent amount of torque once the turbo spools up and it's got huge amounts of grip. But it's boring, boring, boring to drive, about as much feedback as a convention of deaf-mutes (apologies to all our deaf-mute PH-ers
) and 225 bhp (210 in mine) is not sufficient to haul the weight of the body around at much different a pace than the Civic (although an £800 chip liberates around another 35-40bhp). I chose it because it's a company car, and at the time there was a limited choice of cars and I didn't want to be yet another company Beemer driver. However they've since widened the choice of manufacturers and I am about to take delivery of a company Honda S2000. I wouldn't have another S3 (unless it was made in Blackpool), and if it had been my £26,000 I wouldn't have had this one. Theres nothing particularly wrong with the S3, but they're not much cop if you like to really drive your cars.
It shares the engine but in their wisdom, Audi detuned the engine slightly so that it wouldn't compete with their 'flagship' TT.
The ECU is the only part of the engine which is changed from the TT, many S3 owners get the chip reprogrammed since the engine seems to be quite over-engineered, 260bhp S3's are not uncommon (about 60% of the S3 owners i know have chipped cars).
The ECU is the only part of the engine which is changed from the TT, many S3 owners get the chip reprogrammed since the engine seems to be quite over-engineered, 260bhp S3's are not uncommon (about 60% of the S3 owners i know have chipped cars).
quote:
quote:
15 more bhp.. ...has 225bhp
My mate with one of these told me it had 225bhp already as it shares the engine with the 225 Audi TT.. has he got it wrong then ???
Cheers,
Matt.
Its physically the same lump but there are differences in the setup. I think the 225 variant of the 1.8T has the standard larger exhaust, plenums etc to make the power up.
Matt.
or sack him perhaps)
that was horrendous and you should be ashamed of yourself 
lol...
i’m in love!!! just look to this vantages:
- it’s a turbo
- it’s heavy – wich makes it much more comfortable
- it has build quality – cause beside this one, there are no cars with build quality
- it’s easy to drive – cause it understeers at low velocity, which make us make a secure driving and avoid accidents
- it has no feedbacks – which makes us sweat less
- it has a mountain of electronic controllers – cause a human couldn’t control it
- and it’s beeeeeaaaauuuuutiful!!! – it looks like a box with lamps
what more do i need?
a Lotus, maybe…
i’m in love!!! just look to this vantages:
- it’s a turbo
- it’s heavy – wich makes it much more comfortable
- it has build quality – cause beside this one, there are no cars with build quality
- it’s easy to drive – cause it understeers at low velocity, which make us make a secure driving and avoid accidents
- it has no feedbacks – which makes us sweat less
- it has a mountain of electronic controllers – cause a human couldn’t control it
- and it’s beeeeeaaaauuuuutiful!!! – it looks like a box with lamps
what more do i need?
a Lotus, maybe…
quote:
Don't be fooled by the Image of Audi's being bulletproof and having excellent build quality.
My S3 has had more interior rattles and squeaks than many cheaper cars. Had a fair bit go wrong too and I'm not the only one, I know quite a few S3 owners with similar problems to me.
It's a comfortable car, a decent amount of torque once the turbo spools up and it's got huge amounts of grip. But it's boring, boring, boring to drive, about as much feedback as a convention of deaf-mutes (apologies to all our deaf-mute PH-ers
I chose it because it's a company car, and at the time there was a limited choice of cars and I didn't want to be yet another company Beemer driver. However they've since widened the choice of manufacturers and I am about to take delivery of a company Honda S2000. I wouldn't have another S3 (unless it was made in Blackpool), and if it had been my £26,000 I wouldn't have had this one. Theres nothing particularly wrong with the S3, but they're not much cop if you like to really drive your cars.
So, if one wants a well-performing car in the range of the S3 that has decent feedback and is not boring, what would you go for? Please don't tell me a 325ti. (Although I suspect you will 'cos what else is there with the build quality and something you would actually feel OK to buy with your hard-earned cash?) Where I come from, Subarus are too expensive, so that rules them out also.
quote:
So, if one wants a well-performing car in the range of the S3 that has decent feedback and is not boring, what would you go for? Please don't tell me a 325ti. (Although I suspect you will 'cos what else is there with the build quality and something you would actually feel OK to buy with your hard-earned cash?) Where I come from, Subarus are too expensive, so that rules them out also.
Well, it depends on what you want - I'm assuming you're looking for something entertaining to drive, 4 seats with luggage space....
Erm... well if you can live with the Beemer, then it is a good car but I can understand the reluctance.
The MG ZS is fun to drive for a FWD car, but image is not the same and the interior is a let down. Haven't been in a ZT but hear similarly good things - both are cheaper than S3, BMW etc. Accord Type R - again, fun to drive but you either love or hate vtec engines, personally I am happy with vtec, but if you're used to a torquey motor they can be difficult to live with.
If it's 4wd perfomance, what about the Evo VII (probably too expensive again right?). Wait and see what the Focus RS is like? The more I think about it, the harder it is to come up with something for similar money (new) with driver appeal, 4 seats and build quality apart from a BMW.
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