# Audi S3 review



## Leg (Jan 11, 2006)

Hot hatch. Being 36 the very name conjures up images of Astra GTE's, 205 GTi's and Mk1 Golfs. Growing up in the 80's I had to put up with crap music, men in makeup not to mention Debbie Harrington, she never would go out with me  . Anyway, I digress, hot hatches. I havenâ€™t owned one since ooh, my 205 GTi, so today I was looking forward to some good old 80's fun (no I hadnâ€™t found Debbie's phone number, pay attention!) when I picked up a spanking new Sprint Blue Audi S3.

First impressions were that the car is very understated. Not to my liking, maybe I'm compensating for something but I seem to need a coupe to get that feel good factor. Donâ€™t get me wrong, its a good looking car but no one can deny that your average Joe wouldnâ€™t know it was anything special and for some people, most notably S3 owners, thats most likely a good thing.

Having said that Spring Blue really suits this car. It's a nice bright blue that makes the car look special even though the styling might not. Adequate but straightforward alloy wheels finish the competent but not in your face look.

But step inside and things really start to come alive. Classic Audi minimalist interior design kicks in and we get 4 round vents just like the original TT (much better than 5 that I used to have in my A4 cabriolet in my opinion), a great steering wheel although the flat bottom caught me out a couple of times and some nice detailing on the doors and dash. This S3 had the standard seats which were comfy and looked nice but I took a look at an S3 in the showroom that had the new buckets and they just have to be a must have for anyone considering an S3.

Ok, onto the good stuff.

Start her up and nothing inspiring, usual 4 pot noise. Into 1st and off we go. Nice and easy, no problem, aaaaaand off the dealer forecourt and..... floor it.

Wow, this car really shifts! Acceleration in a go, jerk, go, jerk kind of way. The first thing I noticed, having driven a 3.2 V6 TT with various mods for the last 12 months, is the difference in the way the power is delivered. Slight turbo lag (more on that later) but after that split second, hang on tight.

When I floor my TT its smooth and sometimes I donâ€™t realise how quick Iâ€™m going. In this S3 its constantly shouting at me 'YES, WE ARE GOING 60 BUT LETS GO 80, CMON, CMON STOP BEING AN OLD FART LEG'. Donâ€™t get me wrong, if it is quicker than my TT, and it probably is slightly quicker even with my mods, its not noticeable in terms of actual speed but the way its delivered is just fantastic. With a remap the S3 would be a formidable car.

I took a colleague out at lunchtime and let him have a go, he's a BMW driver. He was grinning like a small child sat in a puddle of chocolate by the time we got back to the office. He isnâ€™t into fast cars, well he wasnâ€™t until about 1:23pm today anyway.

I set off early to go back to the dealers to get my TT and return the S3 on purpose. There are some nice country roads and 2 T Junctions on the route that I wanted to try out.

What I noticed about the handling is that its much more likely to pop the rear out than any standard Audi Iâ€™ve driven before, and Iâ€™ve driven a lot of Audis. Not in a bad way, just enough to keep the nose pointing where it should be and remind you that you are pushing the limit. With Quattro its easily controlled and puts a little smile on your face. I span the rear wheels turning right out of both T Junctions in the wet, a sign of ( I believe) the new Haldex settings (more akin to the sports haldex Im used to).

I run full Eibach suspension on my TT with a 50mm drop with 19 inch BBS CHs and Forge Tie bars with R32 ARBs so its not the softest of rides although its perfectly comfortable. Its hard to be sure but I swear the S3 was firmer. Again, not uncomfortable, just firm. In a lesser car the resultant rattles and shakes would drive you mad but the usual Audi build quality means there is none of that.

So what do I think overall? Well, its a great car, a very nice hatch with good if mild styling and excellent performance and handling. If I had one gripe it would be the turbo lag which was only a split second but for me, very noticeable after the V6. However, thatâ€™s more than likely because in a day my driving style hasnâ€™t had time to adjust and I'm not winding the engine up enough to start. Junctions were the worst for this where I would floor it and let go expecting instant power and half of a second later, we are off. Towards the end of the day I started revving it a little before I wanted to go and the issue was less pronounced.

Would I buy one? No. The styling isnâ€™t for me, nothing wrong with it but just not for me. Would I criticise anyone who did buy one? Never, its a great car and if I didnâ€™t have personal problems, probably caused by Debbie Harrington rejecting me all those years ago, that meant I needed propping up with a flash coupe, I wouldnâ€™t hesitate to get one.

Now if they put all that in a TT, maybe, just maybe, Ill get past what I donâ€™t like about the new TT and order one. Hmm and a remap, and a blue flame, and aâ€¦..well, we all know where this train of thought leads eh.

Cheers

Leg


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## TT Law (Sep 6, 2003)

A very good balanced review.

I agree with all your points but for me I have the best of both worlds with Mk1 TT and the S3. So I can pose when required and do the stealthy thing as well.

Shame you didn't get to drive the TT2 and give a comparison. I know which one is more fun 8)

Steve


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## Leg (Jan 11, 2006)

TT Law said:


> A very good balanced review.
> 
> I agree with all your points but for me I have the best of both worlds with Mk1 TT and the S3. So I can pose when required and do the stealthy thing as well.
> 
> ...


He only had 3.2s which ove already driven (mk1 obviously and mk2). TBH though without quattro and the same or more power I cant see how the 2.0T mk2 could compare but as I havent driven one, I cant comment.

One things for sure, if they do a TTS with the S3 quattro and power and its re mappable to another 50 bhp and then whatever I can get out of it with a zorst and filter change, I might order one.


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## Wondermikie (Apr 14, 2006)

Leg said:


> One things for sure, if they do a TTS with the S3 quattro and power and its re mappable to another 50 bhp and then whatever I can get out of it with a zorst and filter change, I might order one.


If they do put this engine in the TT there will be more than a few orders methinks. I would rather that than the 3.6 as long it comes with S-tronic, but I think the 3.6 is more likely.

Nice review BTW


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## stephengreen (May 6, 2002)

An excellent post [smiley=dude.gif] 
Well written
Well worth reading 
Well worth saying well done. [smiley=cheers.gif]


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## damo (May 7, 2002)

Great read, thanks for sharing.


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## Widget (May 7, 2002)

At what stage did it turn from Black to Blue?

:wink:


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## damo (May 7, 2002)

Widget said:


> At what stage did it turn from Black to Blue?
> 
> :wink:


Spring blue at that!


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## Leg (Jan 11, 2006)

Widget said:


> At what stage did it turn from Black to Blue?
> 
> :wink:


As I walked past it and the Service Manager said 'Its this blue one' and I said 'You have a black one' and he said 'I dont have any one, Im just using a blue one now and I was using a black one before, none of them are mine'. Which in retrospect, is bloody obvious.


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## digimeisTTer (Apr 27, 2004)

I told you, you were balanced :wink:

Nice write up 

They obviously gave tehdarkstar a 1.6 :lol: :wink:


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## Carlos (May 6, 2002)

Nice review, I enjoyed reading that.

Mind if I link to it on the thinkcar blog?


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## Leg (Jan 11, 2006)

Carlos said:


> Nice review, I enjoyed reading that.
> 
> Mind if I link to it on the thinkcar blog?


Not at all. I'm going to try and do more, just a question of getting hold of the cars.


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## NaughTTy (Jul 9, 2003)

Very good review Rich 8)

Got any pictures....

....of Debbie Harrington? :twisted:


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## jam225 (Jun 24, 2003)

Nice review Leg 8)

As you say, if Audi put that powerplant in a MK2 with quattro I think they'll have a big order book on their hands


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## Leg (Jan 11, 2006)

NaughTTy said:


> Very good review Rich 8)
> 
> Got any pictures....
> 
> ....of Debbie Harrington? :twisted:


She's probably fat and haggard now, its 20 years ago, but im not bitter, honest!


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## AidenL (Nov 29, 2006)

The only Debbie I remember from the 80s was Debbie Gibson :twisted:


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## tehdarkstar (Jul 24, 2006)

digimeisTTer said:


> I told you, you were balanced :wink:
> 
> Nice write up
> 
> They obviously gave tehdarkstar a 1.6 :lol: :wink:


I have to say it was fast, but probably was an A3 of some sort with a body kit...  Well, it's got a new owner now, so I'll never get a chance to try it again...


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## digimeisTTer (Apr 27, 2004)

The only Debbie i remember was Debbie Harry and the only Harrington i remember was those awful jackets we used to wear along with the DM's


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## jampott (Sep 6, 2003)

tehdarkstar said:


> digimeisTTer said:
> 
> 
> > I told you, you were balanced :wink:
> ...


I've always wondered... is your nickname a typo?


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