Kind of a boring week at work. It's quiet, and while I wait on somethings might as well do a little write up on a 2023 Audi S3 test drive I had the other week.
First off, I am kind of focused on going down the 8Y.5 RS3 path. One thing I hadn't done yet, was actually test drive a 8Y S3 to make sure when / if I receive my RS3, no regrets.
I went down to the local dealership that I placed my deposit at and they had a 2023 Audi S3 Technik (Prestige in US), fully loaded with every possible option you can imagine. Black on black and red stitching. Honestly, I wanted Daytona Grey, and I have owned a lot of black cars, but if I were to be buying a new car...
First off exterior,
I have grown a bit out of the hatchback look, and really like the sedan. Proportions up close it is what I want, but after seeing one on my vacation last few days I found the 8Y seems quite compact to a B9 for example. Though it has good proportions from a distance in the sense that I find the B9 to be more longer and not wide enough. The 8Y on the other hand seems to have that proper width to length ratio, so at different angles it looks good!
Otherwise, the 8Y, I like it, I have 0 complaints about the exterior.
Next, the interior.
This I had a problem with, and I will get to that in a second.
First the good. Let's start with the seats, I like them, they felt much more comfy then my Golf R, and the quality of material was good. Having the more chunky seat at my driving position still passed the test of me being able to sit in the back seat which I am happy about. Figure if 6' me, can sit in the front and back fine - this is an important test. My B8 S4 actually was cramped with its seats in the rear and often I had to move my seat up.
Steering wheel felt great, this one was heated (no flat bottom) but I would likely do quite similar in that I would keep the heated controls and buy an aftermarket steering wheel /w heated. Buttons!! YES!!! I hate the MK8 for this, but I had drive select easily accessible, and if I wanted to put traction control into sport, there is a BUTTON! The glorious buttons all worked beautifully and with the upgraded screens and UI compared to the MK7 and MK8 Golf R's, they functioned so nicely! The only gripe was with volume control, I kind of still like a knob to be honest as it left me lost while driving which is a bad thing. Ideally you use the steering wheel volume control, as the center is too far away near the passenger which is bad.
The sunroof! I know people hate this, but I have always loved my sunroofs, and happy to have one in my next vehicle. Overall space in the trunk was fine, I have a hatch where yes I have more space to stack things, but the S3 trunk was longer which works for me!
Now for the bad. I didn't like the seating position, it felt a bit too 'compact' vs 'sporty'. I feel like it should have sat a bit lower and had a more sporty of a cabin. The catch is, like my B8, you would give up some leg room, so you are stuck sitting a bit more upright. Not as bad as a SUV / CUV, but still a disappointment that will likely carry over to the RS3.
...Audi WHY WHY WHY!!!
First off the shapes that they decided to use through the interior. Doors, handles, vents - this was a mistake. It give it a chunky clunky American 90-00's car look. Then with the wasted space with how the driver side vents were used, they replaced the void space with cheap piano black finish hard plastic to cheapen up the interior even more. I do like the passenger side vents, but the driver side (most important side) is pretty terrible. Around the nugget shifter is a bunch more cheap piano black finish. The interior is the farthest thing of what I would have expected from an Audi unfortunately.
Cheap materials and plenty of it. At least with a MK8 by way of materials, they didn't over do it with cheap materials. The 8Y makes up for itself in other aspects, but when you walk through the rest of the Audi showroom, the 8Y really shows its place as the bottom of the line-up.
As for the drive, I truly enjoyed the power actually from the 2.0T and I know there was a bit of power down low that was missing. My MK7.5 Golf R fixed that same problem with an ECU tune and I expect the S3 can be easily fixed just the same. Not a big concern for me. The 7-speed DSG, excellent, I regret not getting it in my MK7.5 Golf R or I think this whole car search would have been easier. The Haldex tune is also a requirement, again lacking but easily fixable.
Suspension and chassis is something I care about as well. To be honest though the 8Y S3 felt like my Golf R. That's not a good thing though. Yes it has the same chassis, but that is actually the problem. Even with the drive select set to something more comfortable, the 'economy' chassis showed its colors. Is it a terrible thing? Everything that I enjoy about the Golf R is still right here in the 8Y chassis. That somewhat stiff ride that makes you want to zip around the city like no ones business. Tack in the suspension and honestly it's a great package. It did show my age though, as I started questioning whether I wanted to get into a more comfortable of a ride...I feel like something could have been done here to make it a bit more soft in comfort / auto and more 'Race' in dynamic mode
From a driving standpoint, I would likely consider the S3 to replace my Golf R, especially stock vs stock. Compared to when I was looking at the 8V, it does feel much nicer in the 8Y where I felt there was a bit of a gap between the MK7.5 vs 8V in sportiness, but the 8Y felt good.
So where does that leave me? Well I am not buying a 8Y S3, and I feel like the improvements in the rear diff and the 2.5T is going to make for a fun upgrade over the Golf R. However, I am a little bit concerned. The interior mostly, and then when you factor in the premium you are paying for the car overall - is a 8Y.5 RS3 going to be worth it? I still think Audi Canada is going to place it in that $75-80k range. I think going above that, puts it above the BMW M2 here in Canada, and so I think I would at that point give the 8Y.5 RS3 a hard pass. Keeping mind that a B9.5 S4 is going to be in the same range as well.
The B9.5 S4 was also something I test drove a bit ago, and I enjoyed it. It was more mature, with much more nicer of an 'Audi' interior. It was comfortable, and felt like the car you road trip, vs the grocery getter and short trips in the 8Y / MK7. The B9.5 also felt like an Audi, where the 8Y seems to missed that a bit.
Again, it's hard to keep reminding myself that this is the base Audi, then you look at the price and are reminded you are paying for one. I do like the my MK7.5 interior over the 8Y interior, and if I could upgrade the graphics in my instrument panel, toss in new seats - I would prefer my MK7.5 easily, which is sad as it is a GOLF! It does seem to make the MK7 that much more special. The MK8 has definitely grown on me, and the FL is a little bit interesting to me, though I would prefer a sedan as my next car.
All this has left me a bit nervous. The B9.5 S4 is being discontinued, and looking at what inventory is coming in -> black interior, carbon atlas, sport diff, adjustable dampening in either black or dayton grey /w Black Optics (or competition), could be hard to find and will a custom order still go through so late in the game? Possibly a B9.5 or B10 S5 would be the next option as the B10 A4 is said to be an EV.
So well looks like next three months will be interesting, to say the least in the car world and what happens around it!!
