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Dave

Ooo, not good - I thought the 2.0T FSI was supposed to be this ultra torquey engine... maybe the weight of the S3/haldex system kills power lower down. Very sad to hear!

CAR magazine also said very much the same thing - lovely interior - a bit disappointing other than the front end in terms of looks, very droney on motorways, and not worth 7k more than a gti for the little gain in power and grip! A pity as I was really looking forward to this car!

Its a shame such a great car - when is the launch!

I think we should wait for more reviews.... both the articles posted above are written by the same guy.... so effectivley its only one opinion that I have read so far.....

I'm not really sure how such a great engine could turn so bad......

Didn't notice the author, good spot

Dave

Here's the one from CAR by a different author if anyone's interested.

Click me!!

I agree it's one to test drive yourself but the initial reports are disappointing to say the least.

I think the S3 is a lazy effort. The reviews seems to be all bad so far and from my POV the looks are somewhat dissapointing. Check this thread for pics of the new S3 against my own A3...

http://www.tyresmoke.net/ubbthreads/sho ... e/0#923810

I doubt many 8P owners are considering upgrading given the lazy design. TT 3.2 S-line here I come...

markwm wrote:I think the S3 is a lazy effort. The reviews seems to be all bad so far and from my POV the looks are somewhat dissapointing. Check this thread for pics of the new S3 against my own A3...

http://www.tyresmoke.net/ubbthreads/sho ... e/0#923810

I doubt many 8P owners are considering upgrading given the lazy design. TT 3.2 S-line here I come...

Good post, lost track of which was which half way down

Dave

Having spent the last 2 months with an original S3 (facelift 210), I couldn't help noticing Andrew Frankel's reasons for not liking the new S3 sound seem to be characteristics of the old one too - harsh engine, crash and bang ride. Only difference is the lag - never had a problem with mine unlike with any TDIs I have driven.
As for fitting the 3.2, I thought initially all S cars had to have a turbo but then I remembered B6 S4, the first normally aspirated S.
Having spent many miles driving V6 Golfs and Bora, there is definitely a benefit to not having a big and heavy V6 lump up front in such a small car. These cars always wash out into understeer but my S3 just corners like it's on rails, it's in a different league and while suspension is more like that on an R32 (low and firm) I bet it'll stay more neutral for longer due to better balance, even on narrower tyres. Also the turbo engine is rough and ready but it's fun, I'll never tire of that whoosh and fizzing while winding up the V6 to it's heady peaks can get a bit of a drag. Refinement is OK when cruising and that's when it counts, drove from 'ring to Dunkirk in 3hrs 15 mins and wasn't battered at the end of it.
The RS3 will probably have a blown V6 but when has an RS been that great a track car anyway?

How can the author complain about the lag of new S3??? I thought that the fact of it being a 2.0L engine instead of a 1.8L when compared to the old version would make it have less lag.... and I´ve never heard any TT225Q or S3 owner complaining about lag before... I think I missed something !!!

I think it's tuned a lot higher which may account for more lag.

I read in autocar or some mag today that the lag was down to the larger turbo.

Apparently you can really hear it spool up, and its quite loud, quite a raw beast. I mean - that sorta appeals to me, but then someone buying it new rather than an evo wouldnt I guess.

The review was not complaining about the engine that much. Overall they were quite happy with the car.

I am dissappointed though that it is laggy. I thought the 2.0 would be quick. They mentioned lower compression ratio, different head, different pistons, different con-rods - so it is quite a different beast to the GTI motor.

I guess similar to the 1.8T 180 vs. 210

I don´t think it´s laggy and I believe that we should wait for more reviews of the car. BTW, I was reading the fourtitude article and I found that the new S3 delivers 350 Nm of torque from 2500 rpm and this pulling power is constant up to 5000 rpm.


How can someone say that its laggy. Again, I think I missed something!!!

A better write up in autoexpress Here