Comments on: 2007 Audi S3 review

By: lhuda.com

lhuda.com — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 09:45:03 +0000

waaaaaaaaw Audi s3 and rouge (( red )) wonderfull

By: Shaun

Shaun — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 20:03:16 +0000

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?

By: SteveR32

SteveR32 — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 01:33:06 +0000

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.

By: Duck

Duck — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 05:22:08 +0000

^^^^Rather buy a Holden commodore SS V or Calais V

By: Duck

Duck — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 02:51:46 +0000

What a great hatch!!!! But it is quite expensive!

By: Liam

Liam — Sat, 15 Dec 2007 11:11:28 +0000

@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!

By: William

William — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 13:03:48 +0000

How much is Audi offering to take it to the nearest cliff ?

By: Flying High

Flying High — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 02:18:18 +0000

Thanks for clearing tnat up Paul
cheers!

By: David

David — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 01:26:49 +0000

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.

By: Paul Maric

Paul Maric — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 23:22:52 +0000

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.

By: Flying High

Flying High — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 10:51:06 +0000

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.

By: Tom

Tom — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 07:49:40 +0000

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.

By: ImportJap

ImportJap — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 07:21:46 +0000

Tom, that ‘average wage’ is before tax mate.

Love this S3. Sweet car, bit tough costwise but it’s pure quality.

By: Tonyn

Tonyn — Sun, 18 Nov 2007 23:00:54 +0000

its has a sports steering wheel as standard, but there is an upgrade Rs flat bottom steering wheel?

By: Mitch

Mitch — Sun, 18 Nov 2007 22:24:51 +0000

What happened to the personal opinion of the options list? i think a sports steering wheel should be standard on the sports model

By: Scott

Scott — Sun, 18 Nov 2007 03:17:15 +0000

^^ What happened there, sorry i wrote a big post but it didnt work, ignore these two comments then!

By: Scott

Scott — Sun, 18 Nov 2007 03:16:10 +0000

Whilst the Audi would be 100x more refined than the

By: Tonyn

Tonyn — Sun, 18 Nov 2007 02:10:51 +0000

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!

By: Tom

Tom — Sun, 18 Nov 2007 01:32:19 +0000

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.

By: Tom

Tom — Sun, 18 Nov 2007 01:23:38 +0000

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.