How often do you get to drive your car "hard"?

[New S4 Man]

Was lucky enough to find myself on empty well sighted roads today so give the S3 a good thrashing, which i've barely had the opportunity to do since I bought it. All within the speed limit of course. Anyway Loved the drive and felt the car came alive in comparison to the usual pootling about I do.

I'd like to go out and have another blast but this got me thinking, is the S3 happy to be driven "hard" often? And how often is often? Assuming all is warmed up OK i would like to think i'm not straining anything apart from the usual consumable items? How often do you guys drive your car like it's been stolen?

 

[deanshaw24]

I only give the car a thrashing when traffic permits, I.e if I go out driving anytime after 9pm when there's no traffic. Anytime during the day and it's pointless

 

[Benji34]

I tend to thrash it a few times a week where possible. I work shifts so find myself on empty roads at odd hours of the night and the road I travel on is a dream for the car. Long sweeping wide country roads that give me everything that makes driving enjoyable.

 

[simonali]

Never. The handling is too wayward to push on properly. Not that it's worth doing in a 1.4 particularly!

 

[Marky-s3]

Iv always drove it like iv stole it once warm with every car iv had tbh

 

[Nigeltdi4life]

Well i had to work today and it's Easter Sunday so the roads were particularly quiet, gave the car a good thrashing, got to work 15mins early aswell lol

I drive a diesel so it's easy going 90% of the time and so i guess today was the remaining 10% i have some fun lol

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[New S4 Man]

good to hear people are giving their motors a regular thrashing.

 

[-Ju-]

I hardly ever get the chance to open her up tbh as most of my driving is on busy roads and motorways. That's not to say I don't enjoy driving it even then as I stick it in comfort and use the acc where I can, it turns into a relaxing cruiser.
However get onto a nice quiet country road, put it in dynamic and it changes character completely. The throttle, gearbox,steering, engine sound and suspension are all turned up a notch and it begs to be pushed harder. That's when you appreciate why you bought the car in the first place.
Flick it back into comfort and it becomes a docile animal again......love it!

 

[New S4 Man]

Never. The handling is too wayward to push on properly. Not that it's worth doing in a 1.4 particularly!

i'm interested to know what you mean by "wayward". Do you mean the car doesn't corner very well?

 

[New S4 Man]

I hardly ever get the chance to open her up tbh as most of my driving is on busy roads and motorways. That's not to say I don't enjoy driving it even then as I stick it in comfort and use the acc where I can, it turns into a relaxing cruiser.
However get onto a nice quiet country road, put it in dynamic and it changes character completely. The throttle, gearbox,steering, engine sound and suspension are all turned up a notch and it begs to be pushed harder. That's when you appreciate why you bought the car in the first place.
Flick it back into comfort and it becomes a docile animal again......love it!

This pretty much sums up my experience. ACC makes motorway schleps nice and easy, but give it some beans down an empty B road and it's a totally different animal. I've had the car for 4 months now and I like it more now then I did when i bought it.

 

[simonali]

i'm interested to know what you mean by "wayward". Do you mean the car doesn't corner very well?

I do indeed. It's a strange sensation, feels something akin to the rear tyres (the left in particular) not having any air in them. I had the alignment checked and some small corrections made, but it made little difference. It's like the front suspension set up is stiff and sporty and the rear is soft, squishy and unsporty. I don't like it and definitely won't be getting another A3 after this one!

 

[EmmaJ]

Quite often

Didn't buy my S3 not to use the performance once up to temp obviously

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[CHCCubs]

While it is rare for a constant spirited drive since I am the city, I do always find some opportunity each time, be it a highway onramp, or good blast when the road opens up.

 

[AudiNutta]

While it is rare for a constant spirited drive since I am the city, I do always find some opportunity each time, be it a highway onramp, or good blast when the road opens up.

Same here, I try to contain myself but as soon as I see an empty stretch coming off a roundabout I can't hold back. Or a rare tunnel, windows down and on the paddles to get pops

I sometimes worry about the longevity of the window motors haha.

 

[New S4 Man]

I do indeed. It's a strange sensation, feels something akin to the rear tyres (the left in particular) not having any air in them. I had the alignment checked and some small corrections made, but it made little difference. It's like the front suspension set up is stiff and sporty and the rear is soft, squishy and unsporty. I don't like it and definitely won't be getting another A3 after this one!

Ah gotcha. sorry to hear that! What you gonna go for instead? I guess the standard A3 maybe places comfort before handling. My old polo felt like a bus when cornering

 

[Riko0073]

Quite often

Didn't buy my S3 not to use the performance once up to temp obviously

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Just out of interest how do you know when the car is up to temperature as I can't seem to find this reading on the MMI/ dash etc?

 

[Nealey080]

Just out of interest how do you know when the car is up to temperature as I can't seem to find this reading on the MMI/ dash etc?

It's in the lap timer menu on your dash board menu.

 

[Riko0073]

It's in the lap timer menu on your dash board menu.

Cheers mate

 

[EmmaJ]

Just out of interest how do you know when the car is up to temperature as I can't seem to find this reading on the MMI/ dash etc?

Had the oil temp enabled on all DIS screens. Don't drive it hard to oil temp is way over 80c.

If you don't have th

Just out of interest how do you know when the car is up to temperature as I can't seem to find this reading on the MMI/ dash etc?

Had the oil temp enabled on all DIS screens via VCDS. Don't drive it hard to oil temp is way over 80c.

If you don't have that enabled it's in the Lap Timer of all places!

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[EmmaJ]

That'll teach me to read previous posts

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[musicegbdf]

It's in the lap timer menu on your dash board menu.

Another failure by audi . I have no real interest in boost gauge, but water and oil temp seem a big missing facility on day to day display.
On a S3 a real mistake.

Coming to the question. Not as much as I would like . Would like to try one (not mine) on the track.
Roads around here just too busy for a S3 really . However , I actually like it as an every day car. It is easy to drive every day , and when you need it you know you have the power. Not just acceleration, but also on long uphill sections on motorways. The cabin is a great place to be and seems to hold value well. Only real downside is the dealerships.

 

[Tom.H]

I have boost gauge and oil temp on the main screen on the VC

 

[musicegbdf]

I have boost gauge and oil temp on the main screen on the VC

Lucky you , I am PFL

 

[mfl]

In a country with 110km/h max speed limits on motorways, where every decent tunnel has a speed camera and traffic is becoming ever more congested due to our forward thinking planners, and not to mention wall to wall police hiding with speed cameras and radars very where - not as often as I like. ! and also audi could have included a proper info screen on the MMI for the S3 showing information like oil pressure, turbo boost and water temperature - I like the irony of an expensive car with no water temperature gauge.

 

[simonali]

Ah gotcha. sorry to hear that! What you gonna go for instead? I guess the standard A3 maybe places comfort before handling. My old polo felt like a bus when cornering

It's an S Line, so it should be reasonably sporty, but the front and rear seem to be different cars, like it has SE suspension fitted to the rear. It also has a sunroof, so I wonder if there is a loss of torsional rigidity in the bodywork that adds to the sensation...??

 

[Tom.H]

I do whenever the opportunity arises and once up to temp, love the noise when you lift off or change down in dynamic (on the facelift anyhow)

 

[steverobertsbbc]

Totally misread the title of this thread.

 

[mr gee]

In a country with 110km/h max speed limits on motorways, where every decent tunnel has a speed camera and traffic is becoming ever more congested due to our forward thinking planners, and not to mention wall to wall police hiding with speed cameras and radars very where - not as often as I like. ! and also audi could have included a proper info screen on the MMI for the S3 showing information like oil pressure, turbo boost and water temperature - I like the irony of an expensive car with no water temperature gauge.

You should look at Australia's speed cops
this is Victoria

 

[Jassyo06]

Ah gotcha. sorry to hear that! What you gonna go for instead? I guess the standard A3 maybe places comfort before handling. My old polo felt like a bus when cornering

I have only thrashed my car once and that was enough for me, the S3 suspension can't handle the power it's a A3 with a more powerful engine, very unstable car as well on some surfaces ie undulating surfaces hit something like this at speed it bounce ye off the road.... Straight-line driving that's what it's made for nowt else

 

[Tom.H]

I have only thrashed my car once and that was enough for me, the S3 suspension can't handle the power it's a A3 with a more powerful engine, very unstable car as well on some surfaces ie undulating surfaces hit something like this at speed it bounce ye off the road.... Straight-line driving that's what it's made for nowt else

Ah quit your whining, mine is alright - I put it all down to the driver (bad workman blames his tools and all that)

Only kidding

 

[batch]

I have only thrashed my car once and that was enough for me, the S3 suspension can't handle the power it's a A3 with a more powerful engine, very unstable car as well on some surfaces ie undulating surfaces hit something like this at speed it bounce ye off the road.... Straight-line driving that's what it's made for nowt else

Overstating it there Jassy boy! Ask @jungle650 - I managed to make brisk progress at the weekend!

 

[batch]

In reply to the OP, I do like to press on when I can - but only out in the sticks. I don't get much satisfaction from motorways, but stitching a few roundabouts and dual carriageway stretches together, or better still a good twisty B-road blast for an hour or so, yeah I'm addicted. That said, traffic and the dreaded 35mph Sunday driver species mean you'll often struggle to find a nice quiet stretch these days.

 

[jungle650]

I'm reply to the OP, I do like to press on when I can - but only out in the sticks. I don't get much satisfaction from motorways, but stitching a few roundabouts and dual carriageway stretches together, or better still a good twisty B-road blast for an hour or so, yeah I'm addicted. That said, traffic and the dreaded 35mph Sunday driver species mean you'll often struggle to find a nice quiet stretch these days.

You just need to get up and out earlier to enjoy emptish roads @batch .

 

[msdmjb]

I live in rural southern Europe and every single week my S3 gets blatted and absolutely nowt gone wrong in 22k miles.
Once warmed up it gets used as intended from 2nd gear country lanes to 6th gear very high speed runs, always at stupid o'clock and appropriate places - those who know Europe will know what I mean by rural before too many people frown.
You can drive around most of its failings but in reality its short comings are only an verbal excuse for not going very quickly, in the right hands car can still jiggle and only at the upper end of performance might it slow you down - lack of feel is no excuse for not being able to drive quickly, learn to trust the car and tyres (for me MPS4 are disappointing at high speed cornering bite but do let you know when they are getting fidgety)

Once an engine is up to temp road driving shouldn't reduce its reliability and it has a rev limiter (think what Audi do when testing it), I rode a few 800cc bikes up to 100k miles each and each got redlined most days and still worked fine.

 

[TOYNEG]

I have just booked my accommodation for my S3's first trip to the Nurburgring - i am keen to see how it compare on track against my old B7 RS4 - it's def quicker in a straight line

 

[Tom.H]

I have just booked my accommodation for my S3's first trip to the Nurburgring - i am keen to see how it compare on track against my old B7 RS4 - it's def quicker in a straight line

Be keen to hear how you get on, I want to get back over there.

 

[Jassyo06]

Overstating it there Jassy boy! Ask @jungle650 - I managed to make brisk progress at the weekend!

No l ain't mate a stock S3 is pretty unstable on a B Road at speeds over 70 mph combine the floatyness with lack of steering feel it can get a bit scary, the car doesn't instill much confidence in the driver at all, just my opinion which a lot previous/ex members would agree with

 

[batch]

No l ain't mate a stock S3 is pretty unstable on a B Road at speeds over 70 mph combine the floatyness with lack of steering feel it can get a bit scary, the car doesn't instill much confidence in the driver at all, just my opinion which a lot previous/ex members would agree with

I agree with those characteristics - and that horrendous bounce - but it's not as bad as has been stated. In fact got no problems with the steering at all, it's just the bouncing that freaked me out!

 

[Jassyo06]

Ah quit your whining, mine is alright - I put it all down to the driver (bad workman blames his tools and all that)

Only kidding

Your larger/wider wheels in combination with magnetic ride will improve the handling of your S3 greatly.

 

[Tom.H]

Your larger/wider wheels in combination with magnetic ride will improve the handling of your S3 greatly.

I'm yet to try it out round sound bends in anger to see how it handles, magnetic rode does seem nice and firm in dynamic!