[Toaster29]

This car, with these mods, seems like the ultimate example of what a fast Quattro sedan should be. Personally, I’ve always seen these as a great option if you need one car to do all things very well.. yet yours is just one in a fleet, and it still holds its own.

The only other car I see in this price range/speed category would be the Tesla Performance 3. Such a different experience though, and not *quite* the same sound as that awesome five-cylinder warble

Had a Tesla Model 3 performance over the weekend. Dropped by to check one out and they were pretty insistent I take one home for a couple days. Ok

The m3P is a pretty cool car. It is fast to 60 or so at which point the acceleration drops off fairly rapidly as the speed continues to increase. I honestly just couldn't get over the sense that it feels like a big golf cart as far as the drivetrain goes. I think it was very interesting and certainly the future. Just can't get on board with it yet. Maybe the next iteration. The RS3 was right there with it until about 40-50 at which point the Audi just runs away from it. While electrics are our future, my experience with the Tesla has made me appreciate the really excellent ICE in the RS3 even more.

 

[BMPR324me]

Beautiful car! Very tastefully modded!

 

[jaystone]

"A lawyer calls a plumber to have a leak fixed in his shower. After 30 minutes, the leak is fixed and the plumber gives the lawyer a bill for $400. The lawyer says 'I'm a lawyer and even I don't make that kind of money.' The plumber responds 'neither did I when I was a lawyer."

I'll see myself out. Sorry OP, back to discussing your RS3.

QFT.

(doing very well electrician here, after years getting a product design degree, and struggling as a race car fabricator/designer/machinist)

 

[Spike Ti]

Curious if you considered the M2 Competition or not, because you already had an S55 or two?

Bueller?

 

[Toaster29]

Beautiful car! Very tastefully modded!

Thanks man :thumbup:

QFT.

(doing very well electrician here, after years getting a product design degree, and struggling as a race car fabricator/designer/machinist)

Right on, glad to hear it.

Bueller?

Sorry I missed your question. I think the M2C is cool, and worth a look, but basically it's an F8X in a cheaper shell. You can get a barely used '18 F8X for the same money as an M2C. The fact that the car is so much smaller and weighs the same really bugs me too. Again, really cool car, but I think if I get another S55 powered vehicle, it'll be a used F8x CS. I got to check those out over the holiday weekend and I really liked it. They feel special in a way that the regular M3s and M4s do not. I saw the lease residuals on them recently: I don't lease, but if they depreciate like BMW expects them to (yikes!), they will be a hell of a performance bargain in the low 60s, which doesn't look like that'll take very long

 

[lowlight]

This thread is throwing a curveball in my current Audi-ism. Not happy with my SQ5, and was dead set on moving to a new S4 in 2019 after driving one this last weekend. I've known that APR has been having a good time with the RS3, but they're sooooo small. But good lord, the 9.9 they just clicked off would destroy my old HCI C6Z on the street...and you're inside an Audi. ****. Subscribed. :beer:

Agreed.

Just when I had my current automotive landscape/hierarchy and future car plans sorted...well, at least for the next ~6 weeks.

~50K fun car = ATS-V or ~60K fun car = Giuila QV or ~70K fun car = CTS-V. All was content with my world.

Now you throw a RS3 wrench in the mix. Reviews/Driving impressions I've read have been less than stellar & that turned me off. Your experience & performance numbers with so few mods has my interest. Mods are turbo inlet pipe, catless DPs, FMIC & E85 tune? Incredible gains! And yeah, better tires cannot be overstated.

That and you had to reference GT-R and Evo spiritual successors to tug at my heartstrings. Damn you.

 

[Jimmy Russells]

Agreed.

Just when I had my current automotive landscape/hierarchy and future car plans sorted...well, at least for the next ~6 weeks.

~50K fun car = ATS-V or ~60K fun car = Giuila QV or ~70K fun car = CTS-V. All was content with my world.

Now you throw a RS3 wrench in the mix. Reviews/Driving impressions I've read have been less than stellar & that turned me off. Your experience & performance numbers with so few mods has my interest. Mods are turbo inlet pipe, catless DPs, FMIC & E85 tune? Incredible gains! And yeah, better tires cannot be overstated.

That and you had to reference GT-R and Evo spiritual successors to tug at my heartstrings. Damn you.

I'm not sure where you're looking but most reviews I have seen (been paying attention over a year) are hugely positive. Not all engine stuff either, in the way it feels. Really the only negative press I have seen on the car at all is the Lightning Lap which would probably have fared a lot better with different tires and regular brakes.

 

[lowlight]

I'm not sure where you're looking but most reviews I have seen (been paying attention over a year) are hugely positive. Not all engine stuff either, in the way it feels. Really the only negative press I have seen on the car at all is the Lightning Lap which would probably have fared a lot better with different tires and regular brakes.

Hmmm, maybe I've been confusing my memory of RS3 reviews with S3? Very different cars I know, sorry.

I did see the LL article, & Ezra Dyer's excellent piece in C&D too.

Any other RS3 forums to read? Was surprised to see mostly crickets over at Vortex & Audizine.

 

[Jimmy Russells]

Hmmm, maybe I've been confusing my memory of RS3 reviews with S3? Very different cars I know, sorry.

I did see the LL article, & Ezra Dyer's excellent piece in C&D too.

Any other RS3 forums to read? Was surprised to see mostly crickets over at Vortex & Audizine.

The RS3 specific forum on Audizine gets some traffic but a lot of it is just a bunch of **** swinging with different tuners and what not . Audi World is mostly UK based but I’m sure there’s a decent forum there too. The Facebook group is useless.

 

[MisterTroy]

The RS3 specific forum on Audizine gets some traffic but a lot of it is just a bunch of **** swinging with different tuners and what not . Audi World is mostly UK based but I’m sure there’s a decent forum there too. The Facebook group is useless.

The audi-sport.net subform is alright but mainly for seeing pictures rather than technical information. They have a lot of exclusive paint photos I haven't seen posted anywhere else.

 

[Toaster29]

Agreed.

Just when I had my current automotive landscape/hierarchy and future car plans sorted...well, at least for the next ~6 weeks.

~50K fun car = ATS-V or ~60K fun car = Giuila QV or ~70K fun car = CTS-V. All was content with my world.

Now you throw a RS3 wrench in the mix. Reviews/Driving impressions I've read have been less than stellar & that turned me off. Your experience & performance numbers with so few mods has my interest. Mods are turbo inlet pipe, catless DPs, FMIC & E85 tune? Incredible gains! And yeah, better tires cannot be overstated.

That and you had to reference GT-R and Evo spiritual successors to tug at my heartstrings. Damn you.

Haha, I hear you. Mods are turbo inlet pipe, OEM catless mid pipes (which is the factory part for ROW, the downpipe is stock and has a huge cat about 4 inches from the turbo), FMIC (no gain in power on E85), and E85 tune. This car does mix elements from both the Evo and the GT-R once you start modifying it for sure. It has felt REALLY strong in this cold weather we've had lately. I may have gotten ahold of a latest gen 5.0 on the way home from Thanksgiving with the family and the Mustang driver may have been quite confused :laugh: The sleeper nature of this car is one of its best attributes. It looks like something special, but the vast majority have no idea what it actually is or what it can do.

 

[Toaster29]

I've had the APR downpipes and mid pipes for a while now, and just got around to getting that installed. It's a total pain in the rear to do, so I farmed that job out. The APR DP is of very high quality, as expected. I like the cast bits at the really hot parts of the DP, and the flex pipes are really nicely done as well. Once you ditch the stock cat, APR allows for some more pops and bangs on deceleration with the valves open. I like how they limit that to valve open conditions as I would find it highly annoying under normal driving. The sound is just out of this world. It sounds so, so good. The power is fantastic. I simply would never have believed that a nearly stock A3 based Audi could pull the way this little beast does. The car is downright, genuinely fast...even for my butt dyno. It feels like a good 130 mph full weight. Hopefully I'll find out soon.

I can't get enough of this little car you guys. It is certainly my favorite "run around, do all things" kind of car that I've owned. While it isn't as good dynamically as the F80s were, it's HELL of a lot more feisty, playful, and "real" where the F80s feel a lot like robots most of the time. You all that own these things that are still stock....do yourselves a favor and unlock some of the magic that it's hiding. Its alright car out of the factory, but I can't believe the transformation a few well placed mods do to bring this thing into an entirely different performance realm. I love it

Untitled by glmmd81, on Flickr

Untitled by glmmd81, on Flickr

 

[Jimmy Russells]

I've had the APR downpipes and mid pipes for a while now, and just got around to getting that installed. It's a total pain in the rear to do, so I farmed that job out. The APR DP is of very high quality, as expected. I like the cast bits at the really hot parts of the DP, and the flex pipes are really nicely done as well. Once you ditch the stock cat, APR allows for some more pops and bangs on deceleration with the valves open. I like how they limit that to valve open conditions as I would find it highly annoying under normal driving. The sound is just out of this world. It sounds so, so good. The power is fantastic. I simply would never have believed that a nearly stock A3 based Audi could pull the way this little beast does. The car is downright, genuinely fast...even for my butt dyno. It feels like a good 130 mph full weight. Hopefully I'll find out soon.

I can't get enough of this little car you guys. It is certainly my favorite "run around, do all things" kind of car that I've owned. While it isn't as good dynamically as the F80s were, it's HELL of a lot more feisty, playful, and "real" where the F80s feel a lot like robots most of the time. You all that own these things that are still stock....do yourselves a favor and unlock some of the magic that it's hiding. Its alright car out of the factory, but I can't believe the transformation a few well placed mods do to bring this thing into an entirely different performance realm. I love it

But but but it's a Haldex based Golf how in the world have you not understeered into a tree yet???


This is on my to-do list one day for sure, but for now I am still enjoying flogging it without a worry in the world. Are you on the E85 tune or 93/91? Do you have an intake or the turbo inlet?

 

[Toaster29]

But but but it's a Haldex based Golf how in the world have you not understeered into a tree yet???


This is on my to-do list one day for sure, but for now I am still enjoying flogging it without a worry in the world. Are you on the E85 tune or 93/91? Do you have an intake or the turbo inlet?

It's on E85 in the video. Yes, I have the 4" turbo inlet and 4" carbon intake pipe hooked to the stock airbox. The turbo is basically silent except at full throttle. The car really has a dual personality now. With the valves closed, the car is very quiet and there's no bangs. Now with the valves open, it is quite loud and there's lots of popping and banging on deceleration. Very, very different car depending on your mode. I really like that tremendously. Very little loss of the excellent daily driver attributes with these mods.

 

[lowlight]

Nice, thanks for the update.

The fact you're so impressed with the car says a lot, given your ownership history.

I keep weighing RS3 vs C43 AMG vs Q50 Red Sport as possible fun winter cars at some point.

I'm thinking the RS3 has the most character, C43 might be too close to Giulia QV (next fun car purchase!), and Q50 RS might be too heavy & bland (first world problems) in this company.

Looking forward to your next drag strip results!

 

[GLI Dan]

Nice, thanks for the update.

The fact you're so impressed with the car says a lot, given your ownership history.

I keep weighing RS3 vs C43 AMG vs Q50 Red Sport as possible fun winter cars at some point.

I'm thinking the RS3 has the most character, C43 might be too close to Giulia QV (next fun car purchase!), and Q50 RS might be too heavy & bland (first world problems) in this company.

Looking forward to your next drag strip results!

I've not driven this current gen of C-AMG's so I can't comment on that, but its down on power compared to both the RS3 and Q50RS. I haven't driven an RS3, but I did drive an S3 and loved everything about it, just the right sized car.

The Q50RS is very different from both of them though, and while on paper it looks like a good match up, its just not in the same league when you take the package as a whole. The Q50RS has gobs of power, its truly my favorite highway car I've had, and honestly its very competent and can be chucked around but you do start feeling it's weight on tighter switch back type cornering. It's a great car but only because of the price point you can find them, if you actually paid what the MSRP is it makes it a bad choice, but Infiniti was practically giving these things away. That said, it has so much potential and is just a few minor tweaks away from being a truly phenomenal car, I hope Infiniti does what they need to do with the next gen. However, given the choice of the 3, the RS3 (or M2C) is the one I would go with.

Toaster: Did you buy this car or lease it? I may have to snag it from you when you get bored of it, great spec and all the right mods.

 

[Toaster29]

Nice, thanks for the update.

The fact you're so impressed with the car says a lot, given your ownership history.

I keep weighing RS3 vs C43 AMG vs Q50 Red Sport as possible fun winter cars at some point.

I'm thinking the RS3 has the most character, C43 might be too close to Giulia QV (next fun car purchase!), and Q50 RS might be too heavy & bland (first world problems) in this company.

Looking forward to your next drag strip results!

I will get out the dragy here soon and see what I can do. APR has a low traction (street tire) stage 2 file which is what is loaded on my car now. Supposedly a big improvement in launch traction. We shall see

Toaster: Did you buy this car or lease it? I may have to snag it from you when you get bored of it, great spec and all the right mods.

I bought it. Never leased a car in my life and I certainly wouldn’t mod a leased one this much. I’ll let you know when it’s time, but I have quite a list of potential next owners with this one. That said, I have no doubt it’ll go to one of my real world or internet car buddies.

 

[Toaster29]

Sooo yeah....





100% full tank of E85. Full weight. Production file anybody gets when they order the stage 2, etc, etc.

0-60 was 3.0 seconds flat with zero roll-out


Untitled by glmmd81, on Flickr

 

[zmt2]

why cars so fast now?! Jesus. Go slay some giants with that thing

 

[jeller]

Damm that little thing scoots :thumbup: