Well, after a break due to house purchase, the time has come to begin auditioning again for the replacement for my beloved Civic VTi. My finances are nicely settled and well sorted, so I've been looking at various options, mainly german and reasonably small. (Before anyone starts, I know I could have a 3 or a 5 series, or an A4 or A6, but having driven them, I don't want either, they are bigger than I need or want for my daily runabout.)
So far I thought I'd narrowed down my choice to either a BMW 130i or Audi A3 sportback 3.2 DSG. It all seemed a good plan, I'm not a fan of turbocharged cars generally, especially ones with lag, hesitancy or a reluctance to rev (MkV Golf GTi I'm looking at you with the last one), and the sudden rush of torque tends not to be good for my partner who has chronic neck pain that isn't going to improve, and I will admit to being sorely tempted by the DSG due to my knackered left knee from a skiing injury, so off we went (well, actually we were already in Exeter, but still), the plan being to visit Exeter Audi and Westerly's BMW on Marsh Barton. As it happened, I didn't get to the BMW garage at all, and unfortunately, Exeter Audi didn't have a 3.2 A3 to test (manual or DSG), which was a shame. They did, however, have their S3 Demonstrator to hand, so given that the price is pretty much the same (or depending on options, the S3 can work out quite a bit cheaper as it has leather etc as standard and the A3 doesn't), and after some arm-twisting by the sales rep
we took the S3 out for a spin.
Climbing into the car, the first thing both me and my partner noted was how comfortable and supportive the seats were, and how much of a nice place to be the car was. It all felt very solid, high quality and the little S3 badges dotted in various places were a very nice touch. Turning the key, the engine sprang into life with a nice throaty growl, and we moved off. I was actually very surprised how light the car was to drive, the clutch was much lighter than the one on my civic, and trundling through the traffic coming out of Marsh Barton was really easy, the car didn't mind going slowly (unlike some performance cars) and it also gave the car a chance to warm up before we got onto some roads where it could be opened up a bit more. We headed out to the A38 which gave me the chance to let the car go a little. Very first impressions are actually a little disappointing, it doesn't seem that quick low down, compared (again) to the MkV golf, but keep the foot down, or choose a lower gear, and it changed. The turbo comes in with very little noticable change, little lag, it actually felt more like an NA engine, but when worked, the car is very, very fast. We went up to Chudleigh (tackling Holden hill in the process, and having to watch speed carefully as the car wanted to go much faster up the hill that would have been legal), then through chudleigh and through a couple of back roads leading back onto the A38 at Harkham bends, giving a good opportunity for some high speed cornering. I tried (at the encouragement of the sales rep) to get the ESP lights on, but at already well into illegal speeds, the car was just sticking to the road in a most impressive way. Suitably impressed I stopped trying and came to the conclusion that in the dry, without doing something incredibly dumb, you'd be going very quickly before you troubled the car (and would potentially have a very big accident). The car felt totally neutral, balanced and very reassuring. The brakes on the car were very impressive, 17 inch discs no doubt help, but they had very good, progressive stopping power, and did truely feel like they could stand the car on it's nose if you asked them to. I was also impressed with the ride, I normally dislike cars with 18" rims, especially small ones, as normally they lead to a crashy, harsh ride, but it seems they've made an effort with the S3, the ride was smoother than my own car, without sacrificing handling or responsiveness.
We got back to the dealership and looked through the price and options list, surprisingly the car with the options I would like works out a fair couple of grand cheaper than the 3.2 Quattro I was looking at (by the time you've added leather and a few other bits and pieces), the S3 has better economy and costs the same to insure.
In conclusion, I was very impressed by the S3, and I wasn't expecting to be. I didn't think it was going to be the kind of car I was looking for, but it's risen up the list quite a bit following driving it. It's a lively car, it looks great in an understated way, which suits me just fine, and it was very quick. I'm still waiting to drive the V6, mainly because of the DSG, but I'm sorely tempted, I must admit. The S3 is one of the few cars I've driven recently that actually left me seriously consider buying one. It's not cheap (approx £28k for the spec I'm looking at), but neither are the other cars on my list, and looking at second hand A3 DSG values, I'm not going to save that much buying second hand if that's what I chose to do, as much as people say buying new cars is a bad idea, it's only money and you can't take it with you.
More reviews to follow as I test the other cars on my list
So far I thought I'd narrowed down my choice to either a BMW 130i or Audi A3 sportback 3.2 DSG. It all seemed a good plan, I'm not a fan of turbocharged cars generally, especially ones with lag, hesitancy or a reluctance to rev (MkV Golf GTi I'm looking at you with the last one), and the sudden rush of torque tends not to be good for my partner who has chronic neck pain that isn't going to improve, and I will admit to being sorely tempted by the DSG due to my knackered left knee from a skiing injury, so off we went (well, actually we were already in Exeter, but still), the plan being to visit Exeter Audi and Westerly's BMW on Marsh Barton. As it happened, I didn't get to the BMW garage at all, and unfortunately, Exeter Audi didn't have a 3.2 A3 to test (manual or DSG), which was a shame. They did, however, have their S3 Demonstrator to hand, so given that the price is pretty much the same (or depending on options, the S3 can work out quite a bit cheaper as it has leather etc as standard and the A3 doesn't), and after some arm-twisting by the sales rep
we took the S3 out for a spin.Climbing into the car, the first thing both me and my partner noted was how comfortable and supportive the seats were, and how much of a nice place to be the car was. It all felt very solid, high quality and the little S3 badges dotted in various places were a very nice touch. Turning the key, the engine sprang into life with a nice throaty growl, and we moved off. I was actually very surprised how light the car was to drive, the clutch was much lighter than the one on my civic, and trundling through the traffic coming out of Marsh Barton was really easy, the car didn't mind going slowly (unlike some performance cars) and it also gave the car a chance to warm up before we got onto some roads where it could be opened up a bit more. We headed out to the A38 which gave me the chance to let the car go a little. Very first impressions are actually a little disappointing, it doesn't seem that quick low down, compared (again) to the MkV golf, but keep the foot down, or choose a lower gear, and it changed. The turbo comes in with very little noticable change, little lag, it actually felt more like an NA engine, but when worked, the car is very, very fast. We went up to Chudleigh (tackling Holden hill in the process, and having to watch speed carefully as the car wanted to go much faster up the hill that would have been legal), then through chudleigh and through a couple of back roads leading back onto the A38 at Harkham bends, giving a good opportunity for some high speed cornering. I tried (at the encouragement of the sales rep) to get the ESP lights on, but at already well into illegal speeds, the car was just sticking to the road in a most impressive way. Suitably impressed I stopped trying and came to the conclusion that in the dry, without doing something incredibly dumb, you'd be going very quickly before you troubled the car (and would potentially have a very big accident). The car felt totally neutral, balanced and very reassuring. The brakes on the car were very impressive, 17 inch discs no doubt help, but they had very good, progressive stopping power, and did truely feel like they could stand the car on it's nose if you asked them to. I was also impressed with the ride, I normally dislike cars with 18" rims, especially small ones, as normally they lead to a crashy, harsh ride, but it seems they've made an effort with the S3, the ride was smoother than my own car, without sacrificing handling or responsiveness.
We got back to the dealership and looked through the price and options list, surprisingly the car with the options I would like works out a fair couple of grand cheaper than the 3.2 Quattro I was looking at (by the time you've added leather and a few other bits and pieces), the S3 has better economy and costs the same to insure.
In conclusion, I was very impressed by the S3, and I wasn't expecting to be. I didn't think it was going to be the kind of car I was looking for, but it's risen up the list quite a bit following driving it. It's a lively car, it looks great in an understated way, which suits me just fine, and it was very quick. I'm still waiting to drive the V6, mainly because of the DSG, but I'm sorely tempted, I must admit. The S3 is one of the few cars I've driven recently that actually left me seriously consider buying one. It's not cheap (approx £28k for the spec I'm looking at), but neither are the other cars on my list, and looking at second hand A3 DSG values, I'm not going to save that much buying second hand if that's what I chose to do, as much as people say buying new cars is a bad idea, it's only money and you can't take it with you.
More reviews to follow as I test the other cars on my list
Looks so much nicer 
