2007 Audi S3 review
17 Nov, 2007
25 Comments 
2007 Audi S3 road test
CarAdvice rating: 
Recommended Retail Price: $66,500. Price as tested $75,950.
Options Fitted: Metallic Paint - $1,300; Adaptive Light, Active Cornering - $800; Sport Steering Wheel - $700; Silk Nappa Two Tone Leather Upholstery - $400; DVD Navigation - $5,300; CD Changer - $950.
- by Paul Maric
Looks can be deceiving. Although this two-door Audi looks much like any other A3 on the road, several inherent differences set it apart from the rest. Take the turbocharged engine for example, or maybe even the sophisticated Quattro all-wheel-drive system; these are the things that turn this seemingly sedate looking car into a bull that’s just seen red.
One of the first things you notice when you land your rear in the driver’s seat is the level of control and feel the driver instantaneously has. The shaved steering wheel fits snugly into the palms, while wrap-around race inspired seats receive a colour coded treatment to match the car’s physique.
Turn the key and a rather dull and boring engine note sits there burbling away, nullifying the experience – at least until you start moving. The whole process is dead smooth and accurate; the clutch is perfectly weighed, as is the steering. Moving through the gears is a single finger job and little effort is required when you just want to just cruise along.
Drop down to second, nail the throttle and all hell breaks loose. The turbo rush hits early and damn hard. Based on the 2.0-litre turbo from the Volkswagen Golf GTI, the S3’s motor produces an extra 41kW; bumping the power output up to 188kW, while 330Nm of torque arrives from 2500rpm, not relenting until some 5000rpm. Fuel consumption is just 9.2 litres per 100km on a combined cycle – amazing for a performance hatch of this calibre.
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(7 votes, average: 5 out of 5)
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November 18th, 2007 at 12:15 am
Awesome car this one! Well done Audi!
Audi must be one of the more desirable makes on the market these days with brilliant cars like this s3 and rs4 and the upcoming rs6 and the supercar r8. Absolutely brilliant cars!
Keep it up Audi!
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November 18th, 2007 at 12:26 am
Great review as usual Paul!
I have always loved the look of the S3, a bit dull at the back but spectacularly aggressive up front.
Also, while it might sound like a lame thing to say, that steering wheel is perfect.
Only downside, I can think of a better way to spend $75,000+.
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November 18th, 2007 at 2:27 am
$75k+ for a 2 door small car…no thanks.
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November 18th, 2007 at 10:45 am
Its a problem almost all European performance cars have when they come to Australia. In germany it sells for EUR 35150 where the average wage is EUR 33000, so its the equivalent to us spending $40k on a car, which is much more realistic.
Still, its an awesome car, and since I’ve seen a few BMW 130’s around there must be a market in australia for > $65k hot hatches, and this audi is faster, and a billion times better looking.
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November 18th, 2007 at 10:58 am
I’ve driven the S3 and its a gifted piece of machinery. A ridiculously easy thing to drive too.
I’d like a 4 door version though - just for that practicality thing and to nullify the female argument.
Good review, the more the better.
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November 18th, 2007 at 11:04 am
Tom, 35000 EUR is about 60k AUD. You couldn’t say that its the equivalant of us spending 40k because 1 EUR offers more buying power (not exchange rate) than 1 AUD.
Regardless, a good review and a great car. Don’t know how many of us have 65k to spend on a hot hatch though.
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November 18th, 2007 at 11:23 am
aubz, I’m talking about effective wage. The average wage in Australia is around $50k, so for an australian to spend $50k on a car (I thought the average wage in aus was 40k, hence the upgrade), it is the equivalent of a German spending EUR 33000 on a car, ie one years salary. And in Germany the S3 costs EUR 35150. I understand the EURO is a hell of a lot stronger than the $AUS, (EUR 0.60 to $AUS 1), I’m just saying as a percentage of annual wage it would be the equivalent of us spending $50k (well I said $40k, until I looked up the average wage is Australia, which makes my pay seem rather pathetic). A european buying a european car doesn’t give a shit about the euro-aus exchange rate, the same way on australian buying a locally made or japanese car doesn’t care about it. What they do care about is how much of their salary the car is going to cost, and in that regard, the Audi S3 is the same as a $50k car in australia, and the same applies with all european cars in australia.
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November 18th, 2007 at 11:32 am
so basically, don’t see the $65k car as audi screwing us or making a car deliberately too expensive, as its priced well for any serious hot hatch in europe, it just doesn’t work well in aus, we don’t spend $65k on a hatchback with wasabi up its backside, not yet at least.
Now that I think about it, this car will be competing with the new WRX STi, if you remove some of the options. WRX STi will be faster, but the audi interior is way nicer.
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November 18th, 2007 at 12:10 pm
the audi is much more refined than the STi, make no mistake about that!
i dont think we should complain about the european manufacturers ripping us off…. just think of the price the americans are paying for our ss, oh sorry pontiac
Would be interesting to see s3 vs r32 vs sti vs evo!
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November 18th, 2007 at 1:16 pm
Whilst the Audi would be 100x more refined than the
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November 18th, 2007 at 1:17 pm
^^ What happened there, sorry i wrote a big post but it didnt work, ignore these two comments then!
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November 19th, 2007 at 8:24 am
What happened to the personal opinion of the options list? i think a sports steering wheel should be standard on the sports model
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November 19th, 2007 at 9:00 am
its has a sports steering wheel as standard, but there is an upgrade Rs flat bottom steering wheel?
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November 19th, 2007 at 5:21 pm
Tom, that ‘average wage’ is before tax mate.
Love this S3. Sweet car, bit tough costwise but it’s pure quality.
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November 19th, 2007 at 5:49 pm
I realise that ImportJap, the average wage was pre-tax for both German and Australian wages, and the tax for both Germany and Australia is about the same for both those annual salaries. A german earning EUR 35000 a year walks away with a disposable income of EUR 21000 a year, or around 40% tax. The average aussie earning $50k a year pays 30% tax, and then add on GST to most purchases so the effective tax goes up to around 35%, depending on how much stuff they buy each year. So it still works out to be around the same.
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November 19th, 2007 at 8:51 pm
To Paul Maric - Presumably this test was conducted in Australia. So how can you get the 0-100 times wrong? It appears that you do not actually conduct a proper test on these times and just put in the times quoted to you by the manufacturer. You really should be doing these things as ‘tested’ not as ‘assumed’ correct based on manufacturer specs.
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November 20th, 2007 at 9:22 am
Flying High:
Aside from equipment that uses GPS tracking, it’s not possible to obtain an entirely accurate 0-100km/h time. Unfortunately, our budget doesn’t stretch far enough to afford these often expensive devices (circa $10,000+ for a decent unit).
Although we do use a G-tech to measure 0-100km/h times, these are only used as an indication.
Just FYI though, when tested, the S3 was able to continuously achieve sub 6-second 0-100km/h times - according to the G-tech.
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November 20th, 2007 at 11:26 am
I’ve found that VAG cars tend to be very conservative with their performance stats - Any car i’ve tested (albeit roughly) or i’ve seen tested is always quicker than VAG companies (VW/Audi/Skoda etc) list.
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November 20th, 2007 at 12:18 pm
Thanks for clearing tnat up Paul
cheers!
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December 3rd, 2007 at 11:03 pm
How much is Audi offering to take it to the nearest cliff ?
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December 15th, 2007 at 9:11 pm
@David: In regards to VAG cars having underquoted performance stats, my wife’s 3dr GTI would attest to that. Twice now we’ve had her *standard* car run at dyno days where it has performed far greater than the quoted 147kW factory flywheel figure would indicate. Most stock GTIs are running high 120kWs-low 130kWs on Aussie dynos. First day for our GTI, in June this year, the car pulled 149kW *at the wheels* on a Dyno Dynamics dyno. Second dyno run was recently in Sydney at Mainline, where on a 31 degree day after a few hours on the Hume Hwy the car pulled 140kW. Obviously the car has more than 7kW in drivetrain loss. Quite a sweet little car is the ol’ girl’s GTI!
My drive is a 2004 Cooper S and I have been able to take an S3 out on my favourite test route. It was fan-bloody-tastic. You’d swear the Audi guys built this car with a Cooper S and GTI as the two main ingredients. The S3 has the steering feel and directness as the MINI (although not quite as sharp, but damn close) with the refined ride quality and turbo rush of the GTI, but better.
I was very impressed with then S3. Perhaps around town the $20K difference between it and a GTI is not so noticeable, but on a twisty road you hit paydirt big time. You can just be so damn agressive on turn in with the S3, the grip is superb.
A vast improvement over the previous model S3, which was no slouch either. Well done Audi, 5 thumbs up from this hot hatch fan!
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December 21st, 2007 at 12:51 pm
What a great hatch!!!! But it is quite expensive!
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March 11th, 2008 at 3:22 pm
^^^^Rather buy a Holden commodore SS V or Calais V
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April 16th, 2008 at 11:33 am
I am sure a person that would buy a “holden commodore SS V or Calais V” would not ever consider an S3. Just like a person buying an S3 would never consider a holden.
For what its worth - I wouldn’t be caught dead owning an SS-V Calais, regardless of any “bang for buck” equation.
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April 21st, 2008 at 6:03 am
Why are audi’s in Oz so expensive, the same S3 is South Africa is only around AUD 47k, or about 30 - 40% cheaper than in Oz. Sounds like you guys are getting seriously ripped off. For AUD 75k you’re looking at buying a RS4 in South Africa?
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