Rs3 DRIVEN

[RSJACK]

Hi all.
Had an invite to my local Audi group drive day in midhurst today ! thought we would go and test drive the A1 for her and the RS5 for me.
to our surprise when we arrived there was a Brand New Rs3 sat in the car park ! Well we saw the white one at goodwood last week and that looked the part this was in black and looked just as good.
we went in and saw the dealers who we know from Southampton audi and asked is the Rs3 hear to drive they responded with "yes" it had just arrived Thursday so we are using this instead of the S3 bit annoyed as all slots were taken so we saw one of the top men and said look we have ordered one and would like a drive "ok" he said you can have last of the day when we finish,
great this was fine with us as we had drives for 3 & 3.30. we finally went out in the A1 around the set course duel carriageway twisty back roads fast "A" roads great for an all round test, A1 was good but then came the Rs5 of we go car felt real big but quite light on the steering went like s*** of a shovel but seemed heavy ! not quite what i expected just didn’t feel as fast as i thought it would or as sporty,
quite hard ride but not bone breaking!? then came the Rs3 (extras cruise ele seats black sty pack tint windows may have been more) from the second you turn the key
you realise this is going to be good the engine rumbles into life great sound even better when sport button pushed Audi rep in the back of we go, pull out of the golf course and floor it like i had just nicked it wow what a noise and the pull is something else, before we know it past 60mph, this is a quick car feels much better than the Rs5 don’t know why! better steering, better suspension,
felt real tight turned in with no issues when where you pointed it, seemed to pull with much more go and when we got down the tight lanes the noise of the engine
and turbo just put a smile from ear to ear covered ground with no issues soaked up all the humps and bumps with ease and these were small farm lanes which even
felt bad in the A1 but the Rs3 just soaked them up and pulled the tarmac from under us acceleration in all gears blistering, flicking up and down with the paddles those
little blurbs from the exhaust when changing down, and when we got to a good long "A" road with only 2/3 cars in front whoosh past them all with ease touched
120mph without trying (better slow down Audi bloke in back) when we got back the first words from Audi rep to his boss were "very impressive car" as it was his first ride as well,

i thought my S3 was good but this blew it away!!! Great Piece of Kit cant wait for mine to arrive and i will be back to dealers Monday to book another test drive BRING IT ON.

[ved]

Thanks for this..... but it is terribly difficult to read without proper punctuation.

[ntrcptr]

... That"s right!! .. Audi owners demand perfection..

[tailpipe]

Nice review. Thanks for posting it. Can you tell me how you found the ride? Was it too firm and unforgiving? Did it feel as though the suspension had too little travel?

[doodlebug]

I didn't find the ride hard, little different to my R32. The dealer commented that it was less harsh than the S3.

[Alaric]

I'd be interested to know if either of you who've driven the car have any idea at all what Autocar was on about? Usually it's possible to see what motoring journos are referring to even if it seems exaggerated, pedantic or irrelevant to everyday life, but the recent Autocar reviews (ride so bad you should cancel your order now, crap handling on UK roads, poor steering, rubbish cabin, go buy a 1M instead, etc., etc) and your experiences seem almost completely contradictory.

[ved]

Nice review. Thanks for posting it. Can you tell me how you found the ride? Was it too firm and unforgiving? Did it feel as though the suspension had too little travel?

When do you get your RS 3 mate?

[Erik]

Thanks for this..... but it is terribly difficult to read without proper punctuation.

I took the liberty of editing, hopefully a bit easier to read now.

Thanks!

[doodlebug]

I'd be interested to know if either of you who've driven the car have any idea at all what Autocar was on about? Usually it's possible to see what motoring journos are referring to even if it seems exaggerated, pedantic or irrelevant to everyday life, but the recent Autocar reviews (ride so bad you should cancel your order now, crap handling on UK roads, poor steering, rubbish cabin, go buy a 1M instead, etc., etc) and your experiences seem almost completely contradictory.

Frankly, I've no idea what they were on about. Yes, it's no Bentley, but then I would expect that. I wasn't thrown about either in town or out on the open road. The ride was perfectly acceptable to me and my wife who took the car for a spin after I was done.

The cabin is a bit dated, but there's a few options that make it a more interesting place. But, it's still very well put together, I like the dash and the white LED display. Gearbox is the DSG that many of us know and love.

The 1M is a three door coupe that looks as though it's been squashed in a vice. I need five doors as there's a child to ferry about.

[Alaric]

Frankly, I've no idea what they were on about.

Thanks for that. Your experience seems much more in line with that of the vast majority who’ve reviewed the car than Autocar’s does. I think it’s very clear that, at least from the Matt Saunders drive onwards, Autocar was falling over itself to find fault with the RS3 and downplay, or just fail to mention, any merits. I couldn’t help wondering if there was any ground to their criticism at all and, from what you’re saying, the answer seems to be either "no" or "very little". It’s still hard to see why they’d want to risk their own credibility by peddling distortions though.

[doodlebug]

It seems, yet again, this is another car which polarises opinion. The UK press have given it a pretty fair hearing generally, this one was a bit extreme though.

The full review in Autocar is very different. Strange.

[tailpipe]

When do you get your RS 3 mate?

I was told it would be the end of July 2011. But I've not yet had confirmation from my dealer. Indeed, I've had no communication from my dealer for other 8 weeks, despite two emails. I'll post as soon as i get news.

@Alaric

Don't be surprised by the Autocar article. Once again they've compromised their journalistic principles for the sake advertising revenue. This time from BMW rather than Ferrari. i found this Autocar RS3 review pathetic and unprofessional. To criticise the RS3 so unreservedly when so many other magazines have praised, indeed to go so far as to advise potential customers not to buy it, is ridiculous. The RS3 unquestionably delivers stunning performance, great practicality and superb quality. Is it worth £40K maybe not, but price alone cannot be used to dismiss its many virtues. Overall, I find it hard to believe that this review is unrelated to the fact that Autocar recently took delivery of a 1-Series M provided free by BMW UK.

I take comfort from the fact that the review that appeared in the magazine, as opposed to the online version, was toned down. I imagine that Audi threatened to pull all VW, Skoda, SEAT, Bentley, Porsche and Lamborghini advertising and test vehicles from Autocar after such heavy handed criticism. The fact remains that the RS3 is what it is: a hot hatch, not a sports car. Of course, its FWD platform will compromise its handling dynamics. That said Qisha and his friends have done much to fettle this car. What it can do is astounding. If it is boring, it is because its limits are very hard to reach certainly on public roads.

In the final analysis, the RS3 smokes the 1-Series M on a dry road. On a wet one, the 1-series M won't see which way it went.

[Joker]

If it is boring, it is because its limits are very hard to reach certainly on public roads.

In the final analysis, the RS3 smokes the 1-Series M on a dry road. On a wet one, the 1-series M won't see which way it went.

We are all fooling ourselves if we believe the RS3 has either the most involving, talkative or adjustable of chassis, in this the 1M has it comfortably beaten and I'm not so sure that the 1M won't still be the quicker in the bone dry but what it has is a chassis which makes it easy to approach the limits and won't show up any nasties if that limit is breached unlike the 1M and this statement is as true in the dry as it will be in the wet too. Another thing the RS3 isn't boring, the engine and sheer acceleration sees to that but if you still feel it this isn't enough then you are looking at not only the wrong car and drivetrain setup altogether because no AWD car this side of a GTR will ever please you.

Not sure the timing of the 1M's arrival had anything to do with the dire review from that prick of a journalist, he was the wrong man for the job of reviewing something like the RS3. Take his comments with a pinch of salt and just move on.