The two RS5's I owned looked like this;
and the RS3 looks like this;
I will and get some better quality photo's up when the weathers a bit better and the cars not covered in muck.
Anyway I thought I would share my thoughs on a few different areas on the cars.
Styling
I think the RS5 is probably the more visually striking car of the two, depending on the colour I guess. You can tell the difference on the RS3 when you park up next to a standard S3. The front wings bulge out much more and it has a more aggressive stance. Also you get some nice little touches such as with the aluminium styling pack you nice inserts in the door handles and the rear roof spoiler.
Engine & Gearbox
The winner on this without doubt is the RS3. The only thing the RS5 has is a great V8 growl but everything else the RS3 does better. An example of this has to be the way the gearbox and engine work much better together. In the RS5 if you had it in individual/dynamic mode and not in manual it wouldn't change up until at least 4000rpm so the only way to use the setting would be to put it into manual mode. Then when you want to overtake you would either have to drop it down via the paddles or flick back to auto mode which was a bit of a pain. Also the only way to have the exhaust open was again to have it in individual/dynamic mode unless you wanted to fiddle around under the boot as some have done I think. Also if you were just in normal auto mode in D and you wanted to overtake you would have to press the accelerator and then wait for around a second or so for the gearbox to spring to life and you were off. The difference with the RS3 is that you put your foot down and your off, it doesn't seem to have that delay. Also you have the drive in D and still have the sports button on so the exhaust is making a lovely noise. Even better put it in sports mode on the gearbox and the changes up still work for day to day use. It will change to 6th even below 2000rpm so you can drive around if you wish without everybody thinking whats that idiot doing. In terms of speed I would say the RS3 is slightly quicker off a roundabout but over a very long straight and at very high speed the RS5 would catch up eventually. Fuel economy wise I used to average around 22mpg in the RS5 where as the RS3 is doing around 28mpg on the same sort of runs and is getting better as the engine loosens up.
Handling
The RS5 was great and I never felt the supposed understeer that it had. The only thing I had against it was when you were pushing on you felt the weight of the car. However, it never came unstuck and I was never brave enough to find the limits on public roads. Now for the RS3, no adjustable suspension, no adjustable steering and no sports diff. Do I miss them, no. The RS3 set up is firm but no crashy, its steers better than the RS5 (anybody thinking of getting an RS5 don't bother with the dynamic steering option) and it corners just as well. The only thing is the RS3's steering is heavier at low speed (for parking etc) but thats about it. I think an RS5 will probably handle better on a track but as I never go on tracks that won't matter to me.
Interior
This point goes to the RS5. As nice as the RS3 is the seating position is a little too high if I was being honest and the interior of the RS5 is a nicer place to be. I think this was the best part of the RS5. Add in the fact that the technology is way ahead in the RS5 with the Sat Nav, voice control etc it gains the point. However one thing it loses out to the RS3 is space. There was no way anybody could sit behind me in the RS5 but there is more than enough room in the RS3. I like having five doors again as its much more convenient and the boot although smaller is more useful.
Costs
Well if you include the fuel savings, that fact the RS3 is £200 a year less to insure, £200 a year less to tax, service costs I think will be cheaper and it will cost me £100 less per tyre that all adds up. The biggest thing I've notice though is the depreciation on the RS5. It seems to drop alot in the first year so if your thinking of buying one I'd wait for a year old one and save a fortune (note for potential RS4 avant buyers as well). I didn't change to the RS3 to save money though but when I see year old cars selling at near the original list price I think at the present time anyway they are a good investment (as much as a car can ever be a good investment!!!).
Conclusion
Do I miss my RS5? Yes, I little bit, mainly for the interior. However, I think the RS3 is more fun to drive, the exhaust note and the engine are epic and I haven't even opened her up properly yet. It a better day to day car to use. In the perfect world I would have a RS3 to run as the daily drive and a low mileage two or three year old RS5 in the garage for the weekend runs which I would keep for a long time to hopefully stem the depreciation.
Most importantly though, my site name is now back to being correct
I will try to post up some more pictures when the weathers better and I develop some talent for taking a decent picture
