Rico
interesting posts from you. The real trouble is the ever diminishing market for your envisaged S3 and RS3. Those cars will be extinct in a few years. Even people here are trading S3s for dervs now and thats a recent thing. When my 3.2 expires i doubt i will be looking at £400 tax and 20mpg cars again. Its only going to get worse from now on. remember anyone buying an RS3 is already paying nearly £10k tax on it which is money down the plug !!!
It's a fair comment Paddy, but the diminishing market isn't a few years away. There will always be people around to buy them. I love Audi's despite the fact that I greet and moan about everything from dealer attitude and behaviour to the fact that I get a soggy arm when it's raining and I drop the driver's window. Having driven 2 S cars, I for one wouldn't want to drop down, sorry, but that's flash, brash old me and I'm not afraid to admit it. Let's not forget that the S, RS and M models for that matter are supposed to be exclusive, limited numbers. I agree that in recent years this has become blurred/diluted, producing more models, softer models if you will, to sell more units. It's become more of a marketing gimmick.
I believe the fact the Focus RS existed and BMW were to release the 1M influenced Audi to release the RS3 partly. There was always a market for it, But what we got was an ever so slightly revised S3 Sportback with a 2.5 lump and the RS badge on the back.
I'm not going to wave my w!lly at anyone, but like others, I've always aspired to an S3 and I'm lucky enough to be in a position to buy and run one. I hope to be able to do so in the future too. Now they have an RS3, I would love to go for it. Problem is, I don't like the styling and as I said earlier, it's an ageing platform, so I really hope the new model is styled well, drives and handles well. If I like it, then I'll buy it as all my basic requirements will be ticked off. If it has a 2.5 engine in it, then I'll be super happy. I'd go for a TT-RS if I could, I had a test drive arranged and had the dealer searching for one, but having been brought to my family senses, it wasn't practical and so my wait goes on.
It's all personal opinion obviously and that's the beauty of forums. If we all agreed it would be a dull place and we'd all drive the same bland box.