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Long awaited RS 3


boxerbeat
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I have been running a Q5 3.0TDI S Line. nice car but the wife hated it. To big so back to a hatch back. Her challenge was to change the car with no additional cost to me.

Our 2011 RS 3 turns up this weekend and I have to say Even though I liked the Q5 I did miss our S3. Well now we have gone 1 better. (My opinion only) I have posted on here before my liking for the RS 3. Now I have a chance to sample ownership.

If your interested I will post some pic's and periodic reviews.

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Always interested.

I like the drive and love the engine but just felt a bit disappointed it didn't get the 'full RS' treatment - that's my opinion though, I think they could have made it a bit wider all over +++ also the one I drove didn't feel that different inside that my S3, I think it needed the buckets.

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I have been running a Q5 3.0TDI S Line. nice car but the wife hated it. To big so back to a hatch back. Her challenge was to change the car with no additional cost to me.

Our 2011 RS 3 turns up this weekend and I have to say Even though I liked the Q5 I did miss our S3. Well now we have gone 1 better. (My opinion only) I have posted on here before my liking for the RS 3. Now I have a chance to sample ownership.

If your interested I will post some pic's and periodic reviews.

pics and thoughts always welcome. I've yet to see one on the road.

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You just didnt notice it +++
terminally underwhelming, despite being fast, they just aren't special.

Chatting in the pit garage yesterday, we were in agreement that BMW M started going the wrong way with the E46, making the outside of the M cars very showy and bling-y and obviously an M car rather than a plain BMW. The original concept of BMW M was of a car that blended in and which anyone could use for work (say) without advertising that they had a posh or expensive car. One of the others (for example) has an E34 M5 which, if you take of the M5 badge, is indistinguishable. To people that don't know, it looks like he drives an old banger.

Is Audi aiming at that niche, perhaps, i.e. people that want something special but a bit Q?

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That's always been the argument Audi fans use to explain why they are just so dull to look at, I don't buy it myself though, I can always distinguish an RS Audi from cooking models, same with BMW M cars though, even without the badges I don't find it hard to distinguish them, maybe that's just because i'm a petrol head though?

I kind of think the 'understated' performance car thing is a load of rubbish though, anyone who knows about cars will still know what it is, and how much it costs, anyone that doesn't, wont care anyway.

My idea of a 'Q' car isn't an RS3, or an 'M' car, or anything like that, it would be something old, like an RX7 with a 500bhp V8 under the bonnet, or an E30 with a 500bhp V8, or a Mk2 Golf with a 20v turbo a la Mook.

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I kind of think the 'understated' performance car thing is a load of rubbish though, anyone who knows about cars will still know what it is, and how much it costs, anyone that doesn't, wont care anyway.

The "understated performance" thing is precisely to deal with non-petrolheads though. Often, such people will not be able to tell the difference between a standard E30 or E34 and the corresponding M version, but they can recognise a Porsche or a Mitsubishi Evo and will instantly decide that you're rich, or a yob, or a rich yob. This being the UK, all three of those are a negative association. They do care (or at least enough of the do), but in the opposite sense to us.

I, for example, am very careful about which clients are allowed to see the 911. Some would spit it, assume that I was charging too much, and ask for a discount. To which the answer "How the feck do you think I saved up enough for it" is not a constructive answer.

A "proper" M5 would be perfect for me, as non-petrolhead clients would think it was a 520d whereas petrolhead clients would see it as a positive.

Remember the TG stunt where they parked an M5 and an AMG outside a Greenpeace meeting, and none of the sandalistas batted an eyelid?

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I have to say I just don't agree.

People who aren't into cars wont care if you pull up in a Porsche, an Evo, an M3 or a Ford Cortina, they just don't notice the car because they have no interest in them.

In your position I personally wouldn't 'hide' the Porsche from certain clients, you don't have to explain the things you purchase to anyone, and any client that judges you on the car you drive rather than the quality of your work is probably going to be more hassle than they are worth in my experience.

Not saying you are wrong to do it, you know your clients, just saying I wouldn't.

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People who aren't into cars wont care if you pull up in a Porsche, an Evo, an M3 or a Ford Cortina, they just don't notice the car because they have no interest in them.

Perhaps there are three categories, not two?

People who are into cars, people who don't give a toss, and people who actively dislike cars and dislike those who like them. Andrew and I certainly seem to have spotted the latter group.

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I could have got a new Panamera for what the 6 Series cost. I wouldn't because they are ugly but I couldn't because it is a Porsche. It wouldn't go down well at all with clients or garages. The BMW is de-badged and has a £250 "11" plate instead of the 62 plate it should wear as I didn't want people thinking I'd bought a new one!

I like it that some people think it is a 5 Series!!!!:grin:

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I could have got a new Panamera for what the 6 Series cost. I wouldn't because they are ugly but I couldn't because it is a Porsche. It wouldn't go down well at all with clients or garages. The BMW is de-badged and has a £250 "11" plate instead of the 62 plate it should wear as I didn't want people thinking I'd bought a new one!

I like it that some people think it is a 5 Series!!!!:grin:

Like your thinking Booster. An 11 plate 6 series, they'll think you paid £3k for it.

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I think even those completely uninterested in cars have some conception of which are the high end expensive marques. But they probably don't distinguish within marques. So, they see a Porsche as expensive because all Porsches are expensive, whereas they see a BMW as a BMW whether it's a 318d or an M6.

You'd probably get away with an AMG Merc too, unless you put a Miltek on and thrash it. :P

It depends what kind of business you're in, but I do think there's a risk of making the wrong impression by turning up in a Porsche that probably wouldn't be the case in an equally expensive BMW/Merc/Audi.

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The risk of creating the wrong impression played a [small] part me going for an S5. It looks like a 2.0Tdi s-line to 99% of car driving people and that suits me fine.

I work with loads of different clients from just about every industry and background imaginable and unfortunately, there are some who wouldn't appreciate a contractor turning up in a nicer car than the one parked outside their window.

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Oddly enough there was an RS3 parking at the gym tonight. It was blue and did look quite nice for an A3 but nothing really stunning like the RS4 was. But the t0sser parked in a disabled bay so was obviously a complete tw4t.

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I was discussing the RS3 today. I still cannot fathom why you would stick wider tyres on the front than the rear, unless you had to do it as an afterthought after you designed and pressed the bodywork and therefore couldn't fit the same width rears on there. (Clearly FWD bias etc).

Just baffles me.

Seen a few with the bigger grills, but have a slight (and probably unfounded) niggle about haldex and the Front / rear split of torque.

Do like the way my B8 torsion drives with a rear bias....

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£250 "11" plate instead of the 62 plate it should wear as I didn't want people thinking I'd bought a new one!

Nooooooooooooooo I hate those kind of plates - but I agree in this case visiting clients etc that it serves a purpose. The BMW geeks would spot its newer anyway - the new shape wasn't out on a 11 plate surely?

Anyway on with the humourous guesses.....

BE11 BOY

BA11 BOY

BA11 BAG?

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