My experiance of the ST3 on fast road.
The low end tourqe is pretty much the same. If you floor it, you wont get that much wheel spin to how much you had befre the car was mapped. The tourqe curve is urposely moved further along the rpm range (this is better for stress of clutch and other parts)
But the mid end and top end touqe - though the roof! I was doing 30 down a road and i had a scooby try to overtake me - i floored it and there was no chance in hell he was getting past. He had to slow down and get back in behind me. Think it were a WRX.
On the motorway, if you want to quickly overtake - you can easily do so. You dont even have to shift down to 5th as you can usually press the accelerator down (without presing the downshift button on the accelrator pedal in my dsg) and it will easily go from 70 to a speed quick enough to overtake. If you do shift down then the touqe is immense - the way it climb to 70 all the way to 120 is quick (i obviously tried that on a private track).
Obviously, you wont get the kick in the teeth that a Evo or Scooby gives but it does throw you back into your seat. My uncles got a Vectra 3.2 V6 and he said he mid end touqe is awesome! He misses that in his Vectra as his vectra has a lot of top end touqe.
The map itself is smooth if you floor it from 0 - top speed. But if you downshift and floor it, you do get that densation of being throw into the back of your seat.
Round corners, great fun too. I use to have to keep the revs extra high (3.7 to 4k) to get the desired speed i want of when i come out of a corner. Now, i can keep the revs lower and still get the same boost out the corner.
Seriously, my A3 is quick. The only bit is lacks is an exhaust note. I do wish i had a 2.0T at times as i do miss the noise of a petrol engine but apart from that, with the ST3, my car is spot on.
On avarage, MPG has increase by 2-4mpg on fast road.
On race map, there is a lot more low end tourqe. This is good for speeding through conutry roads with lots of bends where you have to slow to take the corner and want to get out of it quick. I've only had it on once but it was wet and it was really hard to get the power down even with my conti sport 3 tyres. But ChippedUK say for a track day - its spot on.
Overall, the ST3 is spot on. The only downside is it takes 5mins (whcih is a long wait for me).
But I've got S3 345mm Calipers and Conti Psort 3 Tyres. I would 100% recoomened these two (esp the brakes). I found the standard TDI brakes to be ok but with these, i have the confidence for extra late braking.
In saying all this, I've onyl done around 100 miles on the map and i would 100% reccomend it. I have never tried any other maps but the bluefin was described by a friend who had both as "being a bit too over aggresive at times". With the ST3, yu get the best of 3 worlds. Eco (which i doubt I'lll ever use
) fast road for every dat and race for when im feeling enthusiatic!
But words cant really describe it - you have to get behind the wheel and fidn out for yourself of go for a spin. If your ever in Manc or Liverpool, feel free to pop down and I'll take you for a spin But you wont regret it buying one
And on another note, i paid £300 for mine
