£30k budget - What car would you buy?

[Forbzeeee]

Hi all,

I am struggling with deciding what car to buy after my 2009 S3 8P (Stage 1 Remap). I thought I would ask you fellow Audi drivers for some advice.

What car would you buy with a £30k budget?

My scenario is as follows:

Daily round trip commute of 60 miles.
I do about 18000 miles per year
I do occasional customer visits (about one per week) which are up to 100 miles away
I carry passengers once every two weeks
I live in a very hilly area so 4wd is required
I dislike depreciation with a passion so historically buy cars that are 2 years old.
I don't want anything older than 4 years
I like speed and spirited driving

I have narrowed my list down to:


1. Audi S5 coupe or cab
2. Audi TTRS (I love the engine but seats will be a problem once every two weeks and some will say its a girls car)
3. Audi RS5 (costs a little bit more)
4. Audi S3 8v 3 door (I will wait and buy second hand. Is it too similar to my current car?)
5. Audi S3 8v cab (I will have to wait even longer and buy second hand).

So two questions?

1. What would you get?
2. What would you get if you were me?

Thanks

 

[Ron burgundy]

RS5 for me...

 

[warren_S5]

S5 coupe with 3.0V6T for me (as you can get nearly 500bhp for £1700 mods). Try doing that in an RS5! RS5 is the better all round car, but depends what your fancies are. I walked in looking to buy an S3 8V saloon, walked out having ordered new S5 coupe.

 

[Forbzeeee]

Warren,

What made you opt for the S5 coupe over the S3 8V? 500 BHP sounds so good

 

[warren_S5]

I got to drive a car with sports differential, active dampers and it drove fantastically. The V6 engine is sublime ( better than the V8 in the pre-facelift). The look, the interior, the engine, the potential, it just all added up to a better car (for me ) than the 8V for another couple of grand. Plus it's a longitudinal proper Quattro with crown diff, what's not to like. In facelift form I think it's a great looking coupe.

 

[JayA3sline]

RS5 are so bleen nice! Just not a fan of the interior layout but outside... Phoaar!

 

[batch]

Specced-up ex-demonstrator Golf R?

 

[Audi Dynamik]

I would say the S5 Coupe 3.0TFSI and as Warren said mods for £1700 can make it into a monster, But the S5 Coupe 3.0TFSI isnt around £30,000 you would have to wait abit to come to your budget. Do you not fancy an S4 facelift Saloon for around £30,000 with the same engine ?
Audi S4 TFSI Quattro 4dr S Tronic 3.0

Audi S4 TFSI Quattro 4dr S Tronic 3.0

 

[MrLapou]

latest 8V A3 Quattro TDi S-Tronic

 

[Sayam]

I'd buy a 3.0tdi sportback a5 in black edition with plenty of toys on it

 

[Fanboy]

+1 for RS5... But if you looking for a change then M3 E92 Which is same as RS5 but much cheaper..,

 

[wuta3]

S1 with some change to make it a proper spanker. Slap a dog box in and ure talkin.

 

[s3_trev]

"Daily round trip commute of 60 miles"

I take it fuel economy is of no importance to you, with all of your choices being performance petrol models?

 

[Sevv]

RS3 or Rs5 i mean they would hold there value better than 'S' series Audis and you dont want an 8V **** anyway or maybe even an A45 AMG that is a sexy car and better than the RS3

 

[Forbzeeee]

"Daily round trip commute of 60 miles"

I take it fuel economy is of no importance to you, with all of your choices being performance petrol models?

Thanks for all the replies so far.

Fuel economy is of some importance but not that high up on my list of priorities. Saying that, if I got a lot less than 25mpg I might start to worry.

 

[Wicked666]

What about the SQ5? May not be in the £30k bracket yet but gives you space and good fuel economy. However not as much fun as an RS I suspect

 

[warren_S5]

If you don't want <25mpg then RS5 is straight out the window.

 

[Sprintblu3]

GTR

 

[Muzza80]

If I were in that situation then I'd be looking at something with the 3.0 V6 TDI Quattro myself.

 

[Ginger Prince]

What about the budget for the running costs etc...?
I was recently faced with a similar dilemma and found out that the running costs of the RS models ramped up considerably from that of the S3 (that came straight from Audi themselves)
You cant beat the sound of the RS (awesome), however, after a few modifications to the S3 the performance of the RS3, 4 and 5 isn't drastically different (thats unless the RS's have been modified too!)

 

[Forbzeeee]

Looks like the RS5 is going to have to wait. I knew it would be expensive to buy and run but not quite that expensive.... It is one thirsty car.

I like the fact the S4 has the same engine as the S5 but it doesn't look special enough to me. Thanks for pointing it out though Audi Dynamik as I hadn't even looked at them before.

SQ5 - Not sporty enough and I think the extra room will be wasted but a nice car all the same.

S3 and S5 are looking like the front runners at the moment but I am still open to suggestions.

 

[DAYTONA 500]

Thanks for all the replies so far.

Fuel economy is of some importance but not that high up on my list of priorities. Saying that, if I got a lot less than 25mpg I might start to worry.

Your looking at the totally the wrong cars if your worried about mpg

 

[wuta3]

GTR

This is the right answer.

 

[Forbzeeee]

Daytona - I am not that worried about fuel economy. My current S3 8P3 is by far the most economical car I have owned and depending on how I drive I get anything between 18mpg and 34mpg. On average is probably get 25's

 

[S.]

964 turbo

 

[Boydie]

I am coming from a revo stage2+ S3 and if I had £30k to spend I would buy between:

S5 3.0V6 TSI
or
TTRS

Think I would go for the S5 personally since I am looking at them right now lol

 

[DAYTONA 500]

Daytona - I am not that worried about fuel economy. My current S3 8P3 is by far the most economical car I have owned and depending on how I drive I get anything between 18mpg and 34mpg. On average is probably get 25's

You'll get roughly the same figures from the V6 supercharged unit with the stronic gearbox on the facelift S4/S5 cars which are more fuel efficient and less road tax than the pre facelift.I went from a 2010 B8 S4 to a 2013 RS3 and I'm now in a 2013 S5 coupe,the stock V6 engine is great unit with plenty of torque and good fuel economy.

 

[Bramley]

Skyline gtr

 

[Cuppa]

S5 V6T Coupe gets my vote

 

[SparkyMcA]

S5 or TTRS for me

 

[Ron burgundy]

Save a little longer for the RS5..

They're all going to be juicy cars..

If i was looking at any the cars that your interested in , the mpg's wouldn't even cross my mind..

As someone has already said the resale on a RS model will be stronger..

 

[warren_S5]

I think the RS's are fantastic cars, but the general running costs for things such as pads, discs etc. are so much higher than on the S cars (because they're capable of doing so much more). For the seriously committed driver I think it's 100% worth it (or if money is no object), but some of the S cars cost little more to run than a big TDi or 4 pot S-Line, and can be given serious power for not much outlay. To get a significant power hike on the V8 RS engines it's basically a bolt on supercharger job.

Yes the RS looks better, drives better, sounds better and goes better, but the S can often be made every bit as quick for very limited outlay and with much lower ongoing costs.

 

[Ron burgundy]

I think the RS's are fantastic cars, but the general running costs for things such as pads, discs etc. are so much higher than on the S cars (because they're capable of doing so much more). For the seriously committed driver I think it's 100% worth it (or if money is no object), but some of the S cars cost little more to run than a big TDi or 4 pot S-Line, and can be given serious power for not much outlay. To get a significant power hike on the V8 RS engines it's basically a bolt on supercharger job.

Yes the RS looks better, drives better, sounds better and goes better, but the S can often be made every bit as quick for very limited outlay and with much lower ongoing costs.

I didn't realise the running costs of an S was similar to the big powered tdi's..that doesn't sound bad at all.

 

[Ron burgundy]

I think the RS's are fantastic cars, but the general running costs for things such as pads, discs etc. are so much higher than on the S cars (because they're capable of doing so much more). For the seriously committed driver I think it's 100% worth it (or if money is no object), but some of the S cars cost little more to run than a big TDi or 4 pot S-Line, and can be given serious power for not much outlay. To get a significant power hike on the V8 RS engines it's basically a bolt on supercharger job.

Yes the RS looks better, drives better, sounds better and goes better, but the S can often be made every bit as quick for very limited outlay and with much lower ongoing costs.

I didn't realise the running costs of an S was similar to the big powered tdi's..that doesn't sound bad at all.

Not sure why I posted this twice...stupid iphone

 

[OVRA3]

I got to drive a car with sports differential, active dampers and it drove fantastically. The V6 engine is sublime ( better than the V8 in the pre-facelift). The look, the interior, the engine, the potential, it just all added up to a better car (for me ) than the 8V for another couple of grand. Plus it's a longitudinal proper Quattro with crown diff, what's not to like. In facelift form I think it's a great looking coupe.

They sound amazing as well, there is one that parks in the multi-storey where I park. Wasn't expecting it to sound as meaty as it does

 

[warren_S5]

I didn't realise the running costs of an S was similar to the big powered tdi's..that doesn't sound bad at all.

The only area cost increases slightly is in the fuel department (but then petrol costs less than diesel these days). The TDi may see 40mpg (3.0TDi Quattro) whereas the 3.0V6T will do 27mpg, but otherwise there is fair parity in running costs.

I've just run an S3 for 3 years and it's done an average of 29mpg, and cost me one set of tyres (and two services) in the near 3 years I've owned it. So £800 for tyres, £400 for servicing. £1200 over 3 years isn't huge (given size of wheels etc.) I doubt you could run an S-Line for much less.

 

[Ron burgundy]

The only area cost increases slightly is in the fuel department (but then petrol costs less than diesel these days). The TDi may see 40mpg (3.0TDi Quattro) whereas the 3.0V6T will do 27mpg, but otherwise there is fair parity in running costs.

I've just run an S3 for 3 years and it's done an average of 29mpg, and cost me one set of tyres (and two services) in the near 3 years I've owned it. So £800 for tyres, £400 for servicing. £1200 over 3 years isn't huge (given size of wheels etc.) I doubt you could run an S-Line for much less.

Yeah that's not bad at all really..

I bet the v6 petrol sounds nice doesn't it..

I just need a v8 back in my life..I tend to think about the costs after and then perhaps shed a little tear here and there in the process .

 

[Cuppa]

The V6 engine is sublime ( better than the V8 in the pre-facelift). In facelift form I think it's a great looking coupe.

Ahem. Define better

It's a great looking coupe in either form and you don't tend to hear many people saying they want a V6 back in their life, but...

I just need a v8 back in my life..

The V8 has it's place too and a lot of people prefer the front light configuration on the pre-facelift rather than the facelift (often called facesmash by our US colleagues).

Joking aside though. Both are really great cars, Audi is moving with the times in reducing cylinders and the V6T is a cracker no doubt. I kept my silver B5 A4 for 13 years and saw plenty of other Audi designs come and go and none tempted me, but it was the lines of the 5 that hooked me.

 

[warren_S5]

Ahem. Define better

Ha ha! Fair shout, it's a better engine for people like myself that have come from forced induction engines (in high states of tune)! When I drove the older V8 lump ahead of eventually buying my 61 plate S3 I initially thought there was something wrong with it (the V8). There was a tremendous sound but then it just didn't seem to have the 'go' to go with the 'show'. The dealer checked it and it was all ok, and so I took it out for another extended test drive. It still 'felt' slow to me (I'd come from 360bhp / 1400kgs), so my wife timed the car and it was actually nearly as quick as my S3. And this is the really bizarre thing, the linearity of the power delivery was so smooth it meant that I perceived I wasn't being kicked back into my seat, therefore it felt slow, but if you watched the speedo it was obviously quick!

To me the V6T is 'better' as I've got more scope to cheaply insert the kick in the back from a pulley and map. The V8 version would cost me so much more to modify. Hence why I bought the coupe as a V6, it was a lovely car as a V8 but my inadequate financial capability meant I hadn't got the funds to S/C the V8!

 

[S3_Jacko]

S3 8V saloon and take the rest finance, thats what i'd do.... Love them, i'll own 1 someday!