Audi RS3 launch confirmed....

[RedRobin]

I think everyone needs to bare in mind we dont live in a communist country and people can choose how they spend their money and what they want to do.

Everyone else will have their own circumstances, so I reckon we should avoid insisting our own logic and criteria be applied to everyone else in the world.

....Hear! Hear! I couldn't agree more

[RedRobin]

I'm sensing that RR is about to go and sign some RS3 order paperwork at an Audi Dealership !!! :znalika:

....Absolutely not without a decent test drive first!

[NewNiceMrMe]

Why can't you appreciate and respect the needs of others?

I do. It's a free world. But that means I'm free to think they're f*cking stupid too.

C'mon Plastic Bobbin, you know me better by now.

[RedRobin]

I do. It's a free world. But that means I'm free to think they're f*cking stupid too.

C'mon Plastic Bobbin, you know me better by now.

....True . We do have considerable history

At least with all the 'plastic' my car doesn't rust so easily and I don't have to care so much about stone chips etc.

[Riz]

Ah finally the Audi RS3 has arrived.... 8 years too late as I no longer want one!

Riz :D

[silentandy]

So other than the Golf R, what are the direct competitors to this car if any?

[Woppum]

So other than the Golf R, what are the direct competitors to this car if any?

S4

S3 sport back

R32 less so

...

[Riz]

£40k ~

The new =

Audi S3 / S3 Sport back

BMW M1

Volkswagen Golf R

Focus RS

Subaru STi

Mitsubishi EVO

The old =

Audi S4

BMW M3 / M3 CSL

BMW M5

Audi RS4 / RS4 Avant

Audi RS6

Mercedes C63 AMG

A lot of good cars can be had for £40k ~ All comes down to what you want.

Riz

[ian_m]

crikey - I am almost agreeing with Tipex here, thing is Riz - you mention the Focus RS, and that is an absolute BARGAIN compared to the RS3

[Woppum]

crikey - I am almost agreeing with Tipex here, thing is Riz - you mention the Focus RS, and that is an absolute BARGAIN compared to the RS3

Not when you get inside it! The rs3 makes the feckus look expensive! Lol

[Riz]

I guess everybody wants different things from what they want in a car etc. If anybody remembers the buzz about the Audi RS3 when I used to own the original S3 years ago will remember than I was wanting Audi to build the RS3 sooo badly! But things have moved on and I really don`t see the RS3 putting any bigger smile on my face than my R32, but I don`t need rear doors or a boot as its a second car. So for anybody wanted a mid sized estate type car with performance to boot, the Audi RS3 seems reasonable as long as you can live with paying over £40k for a smaller car compared to things like the S4 etc.

Personally I couldn't wake up in the morning to start a £40k + car which sounds / idles like a diesel, or not consider a decent second hand option.

Now wait until the Audi RS3 has been out a year and the buzz has died out, you should see prices around the £35k mark perhaps.

Riz

[ian_m]

I agree there - the Focus is nowhere near the quality of the Audi... but just wait for Tipex to tell us it is of the same standard :D

[Tipex]

I agree there - the Focus is nowhere near the quality of the Audi... but just wait for Tipex to tell us it is of the same standard :D

I don't like to disappoint-

The Ford interior is actually better than the Audi's in some ways, on first impressions the Audi looks better made, but long term, the Ford is way, way more hard wearing, all the Audi's lovely looking soft touch rubberised finish will all peel off, leaving an interior that looks skankier than a whores fanny.

Older generation Audi's had good quality interiors, but Audi have done a big cost saving thing like merc did, and now the quality is all fake.

[ahankins]

Your barking! Feckus looks like a load of tat from the pound shop! That's when it's brand new.

[garcon magnifique]

Just wait until today's Audis are five years old. They will look truly shabby because all that fake, fancy, nice to touch finish will be peeling and disintigrating.

Whereas, the cabin of your average Ford and Subaru will still look like new. My Impreza is hardly the most luxurious interior, with hard plastic all over the place, but that hard plastic is incredibly durable stuff. 33,000 miles in and apart from a little driver's seat bolster wear the interior looks exactly the same as it did in the showroom.

[Mook]

Older generation Audi's had good quality interiors, but Audi have done a big cost saving thing like merc did, and now the quality is all fake.

I disagree about the new Audis Tipex - they're better than they were.

Ford interiors are a shed load better than they used to be though.

Look, if you want a crud interior, take a look at a hawk-eye Impreza (2005-07). Korean plastic meets recycled styrofoam cups. But that's not why you buy one...

[ahankins]

The A6 cabin is still up there. Even my 5 year old Golf is still as new.

[Tipex]

The A6 cabin is still up there. Even my 5 year old Golf is still as new.

Sorry, your wrong, it's the A6's we have on our fleet that form the basis of my opinion, some people really do wear Audi tinted glasses, I know Audi is supposed to be the fashionable brand at the moment, but if your going to make statements about other brands like that, at least actually go and sit in them, rather than spout rubbish.

The current A6's are just the same Mook, constantly going back to Audi for replacement trim parts that are flaking/peeling while under warranty.

[Mook]

The current A6's are just the same Mook, constantly going back to Audi for replacement trim parts that are flaking/peeling while under warranty.

OK, I think we're talking crossed-wires here, Tipex - the dash itself is fine, but I agree that the matt (or satin?) lacquer on things like the air vents are duff and it does peel off. I spent too much time trying to get two out of my S4 that I gave up in the end and got someone else to do it

Can't speak for the quality on the B8, but the B7 was just as bad (albeit that it was the same car as the B6).

[Tipex]

Yep, its all the tactile bits, that you have to touch in the general driving of the car, the bits they coat to make them feel posh.

Things like door handles, and pulls, and the surrounding trim, window switches, dash buttons etc

[NewNiceMrMe]

I'm slagging the RS3 off because it looks as tacky as hell.

However, I can't quite get the notion that Audi's don't have quality interiors. They do. What I'm saying is that in this case the quality has been tacked and tarted up with bits of all manner of a Halfords Max Power Bin to try to make it look sporty - and it has only succeeded in making it look pants.

I've never been in an Audi that doesn't have a quality interior though. I had one (and hated it) that I did 50,000 miles in over 18 months, and the only good thing about it was the interior finish.

[garcon magnifique]

I think the point is, particularly with the latest models, that quality finish is only skin deep. It looks great new but simply doesn't stand up to wear and tear the way that less fancy looking interiors in less 'fasionable' cars do.

Take the latest Merc C Class. The look and feel of the interior is probably not as superfluously "nice" as a B8 A4. But it will look and feel like new after 10 years and 100,000+ miles.

[NewNiceMrMe]

Well on that basis I wouldn't know because I haven't been in many very new Audi's (say anything over the last 12-18 months), so I can't really comment.

I did knew Mercedes had finally sorted their act out again though. I was an an M-Class a few weeks back and it was a lovely finish inside. Didn't think much of the car itself but it was nice inside and didn't feel as plasticky and cheap as a good few Merc's I'd been in over the last 10 years.

[garcon magnifique]

The latest model Mercs have definitely made a step forward. Interesting what you say about the M - I like the current model, but it seems a bit - er - cosy inside for something so huge.

Trying to be objective about this whole interiors mallarky, I think there's a natural pay off between durability and the high quality finish 'look', and it costs more than most manufacturers are willing to spend to achieve both.

[NewNiceMrMe]

It is compact inside, no doubt about it. This wasn't a test drive or anything like that but MrsMe looked at one ages ago and the interior size was a shock. Compared to the RX400 it felt like half the size (it wasn't, it just felt that way).

However, the spec's are just all horribly wrong and the engine combinations are a bit odd on the M Class. I'm pretty sure it must be up for replacement very soon.