RS3 Test Drive

[BimmerFan]

As a guy who has had 2, Porsche Caymans with the 2.5L, 4-cylinder--untuned in both cases, I was fine with the 'small displacement' formula.

With all due respect (I've owned 5 of them) the Porsche 911/Cayman/Boxster is in a different category than the Audi. Any Audi, really.

That was by far the biggest flaw to me. Wonder if the Porsche PDK has the same issue.

I had a PDK in my Panamanamanera, and it was great when you did what it expected you to. It was the unusual conditions in which it became befuddled and dangerous. All my other Porsches were correctly equipped with 3 pedals.

I still have a B7 RS4…Audi’s pinnacle sedan with AWD and manual and V8…they have definitely lost their way in past decade.

I had a S5 of that gen with the V8 and manual. It's one of those "I wish I had kept it" cars, but the clutch annoyed me. And my local dealer sucks, which does not help in the ownership experience (no fault of the car itself).

The PDK, and many DCT because of their nature and design, will "pre-select" the next gear for you. So you're in third (for example) and cruising, it will preselect fourth and so when it shifts, it is nearly instantaneous. The issue that I had, me, personally, was that I may be cruising in 3rd, the tranny is waiting to upshift to 4th, and I nail the throttle to pass someone... the transmission is in the wrong pre-selected gear!!! So it has to change from 4th to 2nd, and then do the clutch/shifting thing, which for some reason could take ages to accomplish. It drove me nutty.

The Audis of late drink from the same German chassis tuning faucet that BMW does, and (to me) it is too harsh and lacks compliance in the search for laser-like handling. Neither of which have that either. We are all spoiled now with the Magnaride, which in my mind (having owned Mercedes, BMW, Audi and Porsche) is not equaled by any manufacturer. Audi cars have the quattro which is pretty good, but because of how they are designed and tuned, unless it has the "sport differential" that the RS3 almost certainly had, they push and plow through turns like an old Buick. And you can only get that diff, usually as an option, on their "S" cars. Not sure if it's even available on the SUVs, since I don't do SUVs.

 

[savethemanual]

Love the Sportback version. I think it’s available in Mexico and Canada but not here. Shame.

Dunno about Mexico but Canada doesn’t even get the rs3.

 

[emdough]

Dunno about Mexico but Canada doesn’t even get the rs3.

You’re right about Canada. Maybe I misunderstood the dealer rep and how one could import one from there.

 

[strohw]

I think the RS3 is the more charismatic street car. The drive train is more than fine for what most people are willing to do on the street and the engine is great. The 2023 update really got the car to where it needed to be.

If it was the hatch, I would have gotten that instead. As an automatic sedan, it has a lot of competitors near it's price point and the manual wins out. But I'd give up the manual for a hatchback or RS4 wagon.

 

[Matt27]

I think the RS3 is the more charismatic street car. The drive train is more than fine for what most people are willing to do on the street and the engine is great. The 2023 update really got the car to where it needed to be.

If it was the hatch, I would have gotten that instead. As an automatic sedan, it has a lot of competitors near it's price point and the manual wins out. But I'd give up the manual for a hatchback or RS4 wagon.

If there's an M3 touring or RS4 wagon brought to the U.S., I'm buying one immediately.

 

[MookdocOE]

All HEIL THE ALPHA CHASSIS's WITH MAGNERIDE 4.0! Nuff said.....

 

[jsbwjm]

I still have a B7 RS4…Audi’s pinnacle sedan with AWD and manual and V8…they have definitely lost their way in past decade.

I sold my B7 RS4 to make room for the 4BW 6MT.

Driving that V8 on the highway at 4-8K RPM was heavenly. It sounded incredible with the Milltek exhaust.

That said, everything I had an issue with that car was resolved in the 4BW:

No low end torque, more effort to drive when hitting multiple city traffic lights.
Stiff ride, kidney busters with the KW coil overs.
Always louder inside the car with the custom exhaust, valves didn’t really temper enough.
Noisier gears
Exceptionally long time to warm up that motor.
Less modifying options for increasing power with reliability.
15 year old tech.
Maintenance costs.

Crazy that the sticker prices in 2007/08 for that car are just about equal with 4BW prices right now.

All that said, I’ll always love that car, but I’ll also never regret swapping it for the 4BW