Discussion
This morning I picked up my new car: a 2012 Audi RS3
My R32 was getting a bit annoying on the commute. Comfortable but noisy and the performance was lacking really. I also wanted an auto/DSG for traffic jams.
Basically a car to do it all, in the same vein as the R32, but with a bit more punch.
I was looking into a few different cars but discounted them for various reasons.
1M: too hardcore for what I wanted, longer I left it the more I’d be paying, and I’d be racking up too many miles to call it an investment. And it’s a manual only, but I was willing to sacrifice for the right car.
E92 M3: servicing/warranty costs, plus you really have to wring out the engine to get the best of it. I wanted low down punch as well so a turbo engine looked like a must.
Golf R: horrible synthesised noise, very commonplace (see the 4000+ reply finance deal thread in the VW forum), questionable build quality.
Jaguar XKR: too big.
The RS3 is also reasonably rare (until the new one comes out anyway) and comes with that stonking 2.5l 5cyl engine.
Good points:
It’s fast
It’s comfortable
Gearbox is a peach
Sounds great
Doesn’t cost £500 to tax
Bad points:
Lots of buffeting when the window is open. Finding if I just want a bit of noise I have to open the rear windows
Quite heavy
Speed sensitive steering is a bit odd
Hoping it'll be with me for a few years but we'll see what happens.
My R32 was getting a bit annoying on the commute. Comfortable but noisy and the performance was lacking really. I also wanted an auto/DSG for traffic jams.
Basically a car to do it all, in the same vein as the R32, but with a bit more punch.
I was looking into a few different cars but discounted them for various reasons.
1M: too hardcore for what I wanted, longer I left it the more I’d be paying, and I’d be racking up too many miles to call it an investment. And it’s a manual only, but I was willing to sacrifice for the right car.
E92 M3: servicing/warranty costs, plus you really have to wring out the engine to get the best of it. I wanted low down punch as well so a turbo engine looked like a must.
Golf R: horrible synthesised noise, very commonplace (see the 4000+ reply finance deal thread in the VW forum), questionable build quality.
Jaguar XKR: too big.
The RS3 is also reasonably rare (until the new one comes out anyway) and comes with that stonking 2.5l 5cyl engine.
Good points:
It’s fast
It’s comfortable
Gearbox is a peach
Sounds great
Doesn’t cost £500 to tax
Bad points:
Lots of buffeting when the window is open. Finding if I just want a bit of noise I have to open the rear windows
Quite heavy
Speed sensitive steering is a bit odd
Hoping it'll be with me for a few years but we'll see what happens.
Edited by zeduffman on Saturday 1st November 13:41
Edited by zeduffman on Saturday 1st November 21:03
Looks very nice in black/silver. While not the car for me, as an everyday, fast, small(ish), practical A-B allweather car this is great. Surely someone will come along soon to mention the M125i...
Edit: A much better choice than a Golf R/equivilant. These seem to hold their values so much better too due to the rarity.
Edit: A much better choice than a Golf R/equivilant. These seem to hold their values so much better too due to the rarity.
Edited by 3ananaPie on Saturday 1st November 14:08
Dr G said:
How long will you be able to resist fettling it? 
At the moment it seems plenty quick enough and I've seen horror stories of botched maps (need to remove the ECU, can't just plug in a laptop). Standard exhaust is quite nice after my LOUD R32 but we'll see. It'll stay standard while it's under warranty anyway.
So purposeful looking, much prefer the asthetics to the M135i/M235i.
Bet it sounds superbolly22n said:
Is it? I'm yet to see one!
How muted is the rs3 as standard?
I see at least a couple of Rs a day. There are a lot of R-lines around as well.How muted is the rs3 as standard?
It's loud enough. There's a sport button which makes the exhaust louder. A lot of the sound comes in through the cabin as well. It's unmistakably a 5cyl and sounds brilliant. And it isn't generated by a gadget in the dashboard.
Love these, and the TTRS
Seen ones with 400hp ripping the props off using launch control, and as you said, Audi are aware to check the ECUs for mapping
Have a lot of brake problems with these, if they comtiuously squeek they now allow us to replace the calipers along with the disks and pads
Other thing we see a lot of on these is stolen head units
But ignore all that, and drive it with S on all the time!
Seen ones with 400hp ripping the props off using launch control, and as you said, Audi are aware to check the ECUs for mapping
Have a lot of brake problems with these, if they comtiuously squeek they now allow us to replace the calipers along with the disks and pads
Other thing we see a lot of on these is stolen head units
But ignore all that, and drive it with S on all the time!
Faxo said:
Love these, and the TTRS
Seen ones with 400hp ripping the props off using launch control, and as you said, Audi are aware to check the ECUs for mapping
Have a lot of brake problems with these, if they comtiuously squeek they now allow us to replace the calipers along with the disks and pads
Other thing we see a lot of on these is stolen head units
But ignore all that, and drive it with S on all the time!
I asked about the brake recall. They said as it was a main dealer the brakes will have been done. Is this true or do they only replace ones that have problems?Seen ones with 400hp ripping the props off using launch control, and as you said, Audi are aware to check the ECUs for mapping
Have a lot of brake problems with these, if they comtiuously squeek they now allow us to replace the calipers along with the disks and pads
Other thing we see a lot of on these is stolen head units
But ignore all that, and drive it with S on all the time!
tbh I'm a bit concerned about how attractive it will be to thieves. This is a low crime area but you never know. Will be looking at trackers this week.
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