First thoughts having driven the new Audi S3
Posted: Thu Nov 16, 2006 9:50 pm
My local dealer gave me a call to say he could get hold of one from another branch in the group and so I arranged to go down and test drive it this morning.
The roads were streaming wet but there was little traffic when I arrived to see the Phantom Black Audi S3 sitting outside the showroom.
The car had standard alloys, seats, wheel but had the following options Sat Nav, Park Assist, Bose, Split Load, various lighting packs.
My first impression is that Phanton Black doesn't really do the car justice it makes it look a little dull, on opening the door the car appears low slung and the cabin is rock solid (although I'm not wild about the dash material).
The standard seats were very comfortable (although I'd have liked electric rather than manual adjustment) and it all wraps nicely around you.
The clutch is light, the gearstift is a delight and at the first opportunity I had I buried the throttle into the floor to see what the performance was like.
The power is superb, there is no noticable lag (it certainly feels better than my old 225bhp S3) and with the much improved gears the car feels so much better. Add in the cornering with little body roll, great grip, light but communicative steering feel and I can see this car being as if not more popular than the old model.
To me Audi have taken the previous model and improved the performance, gears, body roll but left the core of a Q car which doesn't need to shout at everybody but delivers when you need it to. I'm certainly going to get one, but I'm going to get some 19"RS4 alloys put on to give it the look the performance and build quality deserves.
Forget about reading the reviews, go and get a test drive and make your own mind up.
The roads were streaming wet but there was little traffic when I arrived to see the Phantom Black Audi S3 sitting outside the showroom.
The car had standard alloys, seats, wheel but had the following options Sat Nav, Park Assist, Bose, Split Load, various lighting packs.
My first impression is that Phanton Black doesn't really do the car justice it makes it look a little dull, on opening the door the car appears low slung and the cabin is rock solid (although I'm not wild about the dash material).
The standard seats were very comfortable (although I'd have liked electric rather than manual adjustment) and it all wraps nicely around you.
The clutch is light, the gearstift is a delight and at the first opportunity I had I buried the throttle into the floor to see what the performance was like.
The power is superb, there is no noticable lag (it certainly feels better than my old 225bhp S3) and with the much improved gears the car feels so much better. Add in the cornering with little body roll, great grip, light but communicative steering feel and I can see this car being as if not more popular than the old model.
To me Audi have taken the previous model and improved the performance, gears, body roll but left the core of a Q car which doesn't need to shout at everybody but delivers when you need it to. I'm certainly going to get one, but I'm going to get some 19"RS4 alloys put on to give it the look the performance and build quality deserves.
Forget about reading the reviews, go and get a test drive and make your own mind up.