have to ask, what is the standard cars performance like, had a couple of mates out in the car and them like me seem to think it aint standard......been in and drove a lot of high performance cars and this s3 is well up there....whats the best way of confirming a cars map??? to put some meat on the bone...one guy has a focus rs of around 300 horse and his son has a subaru of just over 300 bhp.....and says this car is quicker.....????
standard power???had some
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I always found the stock car a bit slow.
From what you're saying it's quite possible that the car has been mapped to at least the same power as the other 2,as it's unlikely that a stock 265bhp S3,at 1.5tonnes would really be faster than those.
Easiest way to check/confirm is to put the car on a set of rollers and find out.
From what you're saying it's quite possible that the car has been mapped to at least the same power as the other 2,as it's unlikely that a stock 265bhp S3,at 1.5tonnes would really be faster than those.
Easiest way to check/confirm is to put the car on a set of rollers and find out.
The standard car is no slouch but in performance terms it's not great.
Are there any clues on the car?
Cold air intake
Exhaust
Uprated fuel pump
As that would point to the possibility of a 1+, 2 or 2+ map on it
If not it may just have a stage 1 map on it which will liven up the performance to roughly 300bhp
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Are there any clues on the car?
Cold air intake
Exhaust
Uprated fuel pump
As that would point to the possibility of a 1+, 2 or 2+ map on it
If not it may just have a stage 1 map on it which will liven up the performance to roughly 300bhp
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Shane-Ireland
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no real clues,intake/ exhaust/ ....are stock//// would not know about a fuel pump.....time will tell...
CrypticS3
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I have a 400 BHP 2004 Impreza STI and if I'm honest it's not that much faster than my S3 which is bog standard engine wise (Not for long 
). Basically it comes down to the Drivetrain. The Impreza with it's permanent 4WD has a lot of drag and eats a lot of the power before it gets to the wheels. Now I'm not saying that the Haldex system in the S3 is any better (it just straight up isn't as far as grip and balance is concerned) but it's much more efficient and has significantly less drag due to the way it distributes power. Your friends Impreza is probably loosing the equivalent of 80+ BHP in drivetrain loss alone. So in a straight line with a rolling start the S3 does feel a lot more urgent and effortless. I think if you rolled together on the straights it would be close but hit the twisty stuff and I think he'll be feeling a lot more confident than you. As for the RS I'm sure that is a large bum dyno error or his car has issues getting the power down.
). Basically it comes down to the Drivetrain. The Impreza with it's permanent 4WD has a lot of drag and eats a lot of the power before it gets to the wheels. Now I'm not saying that the Haldex system in the S3 is any better (it just straight up isn't as far as grip and balance is concerned) but it's much more efficient and has significantly less drag due to the way it distributes power. Your friends Impreza is probably loosing the equivalent of 80+ BHP in drivetrain loss alone. So in a straight line with a rolling start the S3 does feel a lot more urgent and effortless. I think if you rolled together on the straights it would be close but hit the twisty stuff and I think he'll be feeling a lot more confident than you. As for the RS I'm sure that is a large bum dyno error or his car has issues getting the power down.
GMballistic
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Only way to really tell is to take it on the dyno as Alex mentioned, ...be around £50-£60 for a basic power run which will tell you how much power the car has. 
I have a 400 BHP 2004 Impreza STI and if I'm honest it's not that much faster than my S3 which is bog standard engine wise (Not for long
A 400hp STI would destroy an S3 with any tune on the std turbo. If it's not 400bhp. It's very hard to get 400bhp from an STI, the Subrau community, like Ford and Vauxhall throws around a lot of rubbish figures.
I had a dyno day recently and an a highly modded STI was expected to put down at least 420bhp. It made 367... I get that on a Stage 2+ 8P or Stage 1 8V. The difference is that in the VAG world the figures are more realistic. E.g. Focus ST225 and VXR's claiming 300bhp on their standard turbo. No chance, they are Dyno'd badly and allowed to climb up the rollers which adds 30bhp onto the figure...
Rick
Nice to hear a tuner's opinion. Rick, what do you mean by "allowed to climb up the rollers which adds 30bhp onto the figure"? Are you saying those cars may have been run on badly calibrated dynos?
It is impressive how much power can be got out of the TFSI engines. Probably explains why they are so popular! I mean I love Evos and Subarus and always will, but sometimes it's hard when you see a lightly modded S3 driven by someone who may not necessarily be a full-on enthusiast (most likely those who aren't on the forum), keep up with the Jap heroes. A bit like the badboy racers in their Golf Rs that I see around London! The Golf R and S3 are so capable and within fairly easy reach, without many drawbacks. Evo and Scoobys will always have the heritage and cool factor imo!
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Totally agree.
My previous "fast" cars were Fords,and frankly,there were all sorts of figures being thrown around.
I had the good fortune to find a tuner who had not only built rallycross engines,but also raced a lot of things up and including Historic GpC,and this guy didn't do BS at all.
He gave me a lot of good advice,which still holds true today,and always went for a good torque range rather than pub rated BHP figures.
The TFSi and other modern engines have moved on so far from the Cosworth and Subaru engine of a few years ago,that it's difficult to compare,and I know that may upset some,but looking at the costs required to get a reliable 500+bhp from those engines compared to the TFSi series,anyone can do the maths.
Getting 200bhp/litre a few yrs ago was costly at best,and those that didn't spend the money got grenade engines.
Up to 350bhp/litre is doable now,not cheaply,but attainable.
CrypticS3
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I was referencing his friends Impreza @ 300 ish BHP would be pretty close. I know my STI would walk the S3 but it's all about individual perspective. As far as speed goes getting to the end of a 1/4 a second or so quicker with 10-15 maybe 20 MPH higher terminal isn't in my opinion 'That much faster'. Now is it a big margin in a drag? Yes, but at the end of the day it's not in my eyes worthy of the term 'Destroy'. A second is short, 15mph is slow and if you can still read his plate by the end of the run it was relatively close... Maybe I'm getting too old to appreciate these small fractions. I like a fast car but I'm not someone to get involved in urination contests.
The main point I was making was about the 'Feel'. The Impreza is very visceral. You feel everything working, engine, gearbox, diffs and that gives you a lot more to focus on. For me it's great and gives plenty of confidence but it almost numbs the sense of speed. The S3 being as refined as it is almost disconnects you from all of that in its stock form and all you can do is watch the numbers climb and for me at least that makes it feel a lot more urgent and responsive and can cause bum dyno malfunction.
That said I know all about the 'Communities', I shy'd away from the Subaru crowd pretty quickly as there is a lot of nonsense going on there and I just enjoyed mine and let Andy Forrest do his thing with it when it needed a tweak.
But I'll freely admit I'm still a Newb to the Audi scene so although this may look defensive it's not. I've got nothing but time for those with knowledge and experience and I already plan on bending some ears when I get round to fitting some of these parts I'm collecting
interesting, it all harks back to my cosworth day,s when you dare not question performance/bhp......it seem,s then as now subaru are untouchable...im not in anyway having a dig at any car......im way past it all..... just wondering what folks views are......
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The main point I was making was about the 'Feel'. The Impreza is very visceral. You feel everything working, engine, gearbox, diffs and that gives you a lot more to focus on. For me it's great and gives plenty of confidence but it almost numbs the sense of speed. The S3 being as refined as it is almost disconnects you from all of that in its stock form and all you can do is watch the numbers climb and for me at least that makes it feel a lot more urgent and responsive and can cause bum dyno malfunction.
That said I know all about the 'Communities', I shy'd away from the Subaru crowd pretty quickly as there is a lot of nonsense going on there and I just enjoyed mine and let Andy Forrest do his thing with it when it needed a tweak.
But I'll freely admit I'm still a Newb to the Audi scene so although this may look defensive it's not. I've got nothing but time for those with knowledge and experience and I already plan on bending some ears when I get round to fitting some of these parts I'm collecting
The point you make about feel is very important.
The Impreza,Escort Cosworth and Evo definitely fell into the "visceral" class of cars,whereas the S3 with it's electronic steering and Haldex controller make everything feel somewhat disconnected from you as a driver.
It takes a lot to make the S3 feel and perform anything like those,but then it was never designed with that in mind.....I've just spent yrs bending the car to my will so to speak....
