Facelift Is the S3 facelift worth it?

[WarwickL]

I still don't understand why the FL rear diffuser is worse than the PFL.......




Yea, it might be boring for a typical RS model, but it is by far and I mean really by far much better looking than any A3 or S3 PFL or FL.

All I see in that video is a grey concrete floor ?

Am I missing something ?

 

[VWNCC]

All I see in that video is a grey concrete floor ?

Am I missing something ?

What a troll. That's it. Ending this discussion.

 

[Simon L]

Anyway, you're all miles off topic .............question was 'Is the facelift worth it?'

Overall, I'm going Yes!! Happy now?? lol

 

[FBF01]

What a troll. That's it. Ending this discussion.

Lol trust me, we've got a prized c o c k along on the R forum, that's nothing

 

[Simon L]

Lol trust me, we've got a prized c o c k along on the R forum, that's nothing

Should imagine it's full of em!! lol

 

[WarwickL]

Anyway, you're all miles off topic .............question was 'Is the facelift worth it?'

Overall, I'm going Yes!! Happy now?? lol

If you are in the market now, yes

If you are tyre kicking, wait for a year just prior to the next model

 

[FBF01]

Should imagine it's full of em!! lol

Steeeeeeady....lol. Good place to be actually. Took a while to get used to it. A lot of big/annoying personalities over there, but thankfully a few have come and gone. Fair share on here also I must add lol

 

[Simon L]

Steeeeeeady....lol. Good place to be actually. Took a while to get used to it. A lot of big/annoying personalities over there, but thankfully a few have come and gone. Fair share on here also I must add lol

Yeah I know what you mean..............but you get used to Warwick, he's not that bad!! lol

 

[Koomerang]

^ Yeah, Warwicks a bit of a glass half empty guy which can be a bit draining....

IMO, ignoring styling which is subjective, the 3 big benefits of the FL to me are the new 7spd DSG, Matrix LED's and better tech (Virtual cockpit, MMI improvements, Apple CarPlay etc). Factoring in big depreciation on the pre FL S3's (which I don't currently own anyway), to me purchasing a FL S3 with the above benefits outweighed apparent initial 'savings' on buying a run out pre-FL S3 (such savings likely more than lost in depreciation hit).

 

[WarwickL]

Yeah I know what you mean..............but you get used to Warwick, he's not that bad!! lol

Nah, I am

Worth is personal and the comments reflect that.

The FL is just another A3 but like the PFL, a good one.

Still, something about owning a PFL saloon being the intro model.

Which is why the 19 coupe could sway me to buy Audi again.

 

[GSB]

The FL exhaust sounds better than the PFL? First I've heard of this. What's this attributed to? Any comparison videos?

Someone going to explain to me about these louder farts the FL....does and what's you lot putting in that fuel tank...to achieve this.....*** lol

Hmmm. Noticed the increased noise this morning. Didn't hear it until I had the window down, it had to be in dynamic mode on drive select, and since I still have functional limbs and swap my own cogs my car doesn't fart. But, there's definitely a naughtier charachter to the exhaust in dynamic now. A very 80's mix of the popping and crackles on part throttle & overrun that definitely wasn't there on the PFL.

 

[msdmjb]

emotions aside and talking cold hard cash..............
is it worth changing a PFL to a FL - no
is the FL a decent car for the money - yes (until Audi UK put the price up to counter the euro)

 

[Jassyo06]

Cracking banter damn missed it all lol

 

[pauly69]

emotions aside and talking cold hard cash..............
is it worth changing a PFL to a FL - no
is the FL a decent car for the money - yes (until Audi UK put the price up to counter the euro)

Ha, if you put emotions aside we may as well all be driving Dacias*

(* other cheap brands making undesirable cars are also available)


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[Jassyo06]

Well av been staring at facelift S3 most of those afternoon, 3 of where in RS side of Glasgow Audi, Navarra dayz of thunder, and that white.....lol all 3 had 19"s magride.... Audi at there point of manufacture had ran out of standard 18"s...fired on the wing arms,colours Navarra looks very nice clean just like black, miniscule hint of dark purple to it....**** getting stonechips on that,yeah Daytona Grey for the win it's a great all rounder,19's transforms the hatchbacks stance.... 18"s are slightly dwarfed in the A3's wheel arches, all 3 cars l sat in where all standard dark affairs no VC actually my cars interior leaves them looking very ordinary..... So as l have said you need to add the goodies to the interior to make it look different as it's the exact same as the old car bar the steering wheel,l do like the rear diffuser it's nice as are the rear tail lights,it's a good product

 

[Simon L]

Well av been staring at facelift S3 most of those afternoon, 3 of where in RS side of Glasgow Audi, Navarra dayz of thunder, and that white.....lol all 3 had 19"s magride.... Audi at there point of manufacture had ran out of standard 18"s...fired on the wing arms,colours Navarra looks very nice clean just like black, miniscule hint of dark purple to it....**** getting stonechips on that,yeah Daytona Grey for the win it's a great all rounder,19's transforms the hatchbacks stance.... 18"s are slightly dwarfed in the A3's wheel arches, all 3 cars l sat in where all standard dark affairs no VC actually my cars interior leaves them looking very ordinary..... So as l have said you need to add the goodies to the interior to make it look different as it's the exact same as the old car bar the steering wheel,l do like the rear diffuser it's nice as are the rear tail lights,it's a good product

Disagree with you on the rear diffuser I prefer the PFL but the rest sounds good...................particularly dayz of thunder...............win, win and win again!! lol

...........and yeah, you do have to spec them good n proper

 

[Jassyo06]

Disagree with you on the rear diffuser I prefer the PFL but the rest sounds good...................particularly dayz of thunder...............win, win and win again!! lol

...........and yeah, you do have to spec them good n proper

Yeah the PFL saloon rear diffuser is far better looking mate,but the rear diffuser on the hatchbacks looks better

 

[Simon L]

Yeah the PFL saloon rear diffuser is far better looking mate,but the rear diffuser on the hatchbacks looks better

Thought you went to look at saloons..........didn't they have any?

 

[Jassyo06]

Thought you went to look at saloons..........didn't they have any?

Only a S-line Saloon in Nano.... No man's land actually that's where l stand... For my deposit l could get a used RS3, new SQ5,TTS black Ed Jordan strongly advised me not to go S3 saloon as he said l would regret it as soon as the RS3 saloon came out,spec was £45k GMFV is gash though

 

[Simon L]

Only a S-line Saloon in Nano.... No man's land actually that's where l stand... For my deposit l could get a used RS3, new SQ5,TTS black Ed Jordan strongly advised me not to go S3 saloon as he said l would regret it as soon as the RS3 saloon came out,spec was £45k GMFV is gash though

Think he might have a point mate!

 

[Flying Scotsman]

I was in a quandary to cancel my S3 order and go 2018 RS3 but when pics and press release were issued. I said no...not enough styling difference...I did like honeycomb grill and the dual exhaust rear end, but not the wheels, extra bit stuck on the spoiler and no updates in the interior, plus the wait time.
I love the exhaust note though!!!

 

[Simon L]

Only a S-line Saloon in Nano.... No man's land actually that's where l stand... For my deposit l could get a used RS3, new SQ5,TTS black Ed Jordan strongly advised me not to go S3 saloon as he said l would regret it as soon as the RS3 saloon came out,spec was £45k GMFV is gash though

Then again if the maths ain't gonna stack up you could flip the BC for S3 saloon FL and look again in a couple of years at the RS lineup? Can't see the RS3 Saloon being much cheaper than the TTRS at launch.

 

[RVP20]

Then again if the maths ain't gonna stack up you could flip the BC for S3 saloon FL and look again in a couple of years at the RS lineup? Can't see the RS3 Saloon being much cheaper than the TTRS at launch.

The RS3 hatch will be slightly cheaper I'm guessing


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[Jassyo06]

Then again if the maths ain't gonna stack up you could flip the BC for S3 saloon FL and look again in a couple of years at the RS lineup? Can't see the RS3 Saloon being much cheaper than the TTRS at launch.

No mate I ain't doing another car on finance after my next car, if l wait for the RS3 saloon l will afford one very easily indeed @RVP20 there won't be another RS3 Sportback for some considerable years

 

[Simon L]

No mate I ain't doing another car on finance after my next car, if l wait for the RS3 saloon l will afford one very easily indeed @RVP20 there won't be another RS3 Sportback for some considerable years

Got his dad's smooth patter that boy of yours........................you go in for a FL Saloon and before you can say 'Derron Brown just hypnotised my sorry ***' you've signed on the dotted line for an RS3 Saloon!! lol

 

[Jassyo06]

Got his dad's smooth patter that boy of yours........................you go in for a FL Saloon and before you can say 'Derron Brown just hypnotised my sorry ***' you've signed on the dotted line for an RS3 Saloon!! lol

Lol Aye it'll be solar orange aswell letting him choose the colour and putting him on the insurance as he'll be over 25 by then.....

 

[RVP20]

Lol Aye it'll be solar orange aswell letting him choose the colour and putting him on the insurance as he'll be over 25 by then.....

No hatch either eh! At least we know now


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[4K]

Well you are definitely not going to like the 2018 RS3

It's actually a 2017 RS3, and I love the Saloon, which I am tempted to go for, but I know that the M2 will have the handling edge over it, so might sway me towards that more.

 

[4K]

To each his own.

I own a PFL and I do find that the best exterior change of the FL is the rear diffuser, especially for the S3. I have no idea what you are talking about regarding the reflectors. We have always had reflectors in the rear for our market.

The FL will be the same, people will still think an S3 is an A3...I mean..it kinda is...it is just a sportier A3 anyways...

Show me the reflectors on the PFL S3 valencer/rear bumper then. Oh wait, they're not there.

Well of course they will still think it's an A3. Even the intellectuals at the insurance companies class it as an A3, and the receptionists at Audi when they call up to tell you your car is ready to collect.

 

[4K]

The facelift is more than just a few updates. I've had the 'opportunity' to directly compare 5000 miles in a very late (April '16 build) PFL S3 with my new facelift S3, and while I've only done a couple of hundred miles in the new car, already I've noted a number of things that have been improved, even if only in the most minor way. These tiny improvements add up to a car that 'feels' rather different to the one I just handed over.

Even tiny things, like the way the parking sensors gently fade to silence when you've stopped approaching an obstacle are a godsend. I had a new Astra a few weeks ago, and the parking sensors were loud enough and insistent enough to actually spur me into looking up a Spanish translation for 'parking sensor' so I could pull the ****** fuse.

The cabin is quieter (this may or may not be a function of not having pano roof anymore), the MMI talks to Spotify on my phone. The MMI dial turns the correct way to go up and down menus. I can advance and rewind tracks on the steering wheel (a major irritation on the PFL) The headlights are little short of amazing, and make the PFL LED's look like the hopeless rubbish they are. The B&O sounds better than the old car.

The car doesn't feel any faster, despite its extra power, but it does feel 'better'. There's something I can't quite resolve in the behaviour of the chassis that makes it markedly nicer to drive than the outgoing car. Certainly the steering feels more talkative (could be the different tyres though), but there is a quality in the ride that wasn't there before though. Sadly my **** is not finely tuned enough to tell you what exactly it is that's different, but it definitely feels 'better'.

Of course, none of this is really sufficient reason to change from a PFL if you already have one. These are what I've discovered after a couple of hours, and I imagine there is yet more to discover once I start playing with mag-ride and Quattro settings and throwing it through a few favoured bends. But based on my experience so far, I'd say the FL is definitely worth having over an older car, and given the choice there would need to be significant financial reasons needed for me to opt for an older car instead.

Interesting point of view. However, those minor changes you mention should have been done years ago, when they were developing the PFL S3. Things like Spotify integration to MMI, BMW had about 4 years ago on the M6 (and probably other models too). The MMI dial going the correct way; this just makes me laugh as that's always been an irritation of mine on the S3.

We're now moving into the realms of haptic feedback, semi autonomous driving and driver inconsistency correction on the fly, with the new 5 Series and Golf having these features already coming out in a few months, so all the points you've mentioned are moot given that direction. It's felt like Audi has been behind the curve technologically for many years now.

 

[WarwickL]

Your best option it seems is not to buy Audi then ?

Yep, the FL is worthy

 

[Jassyo06]

If l didn't have/own/rent a pre face lift car,l would certainly go for the new car, but they do need spruced up with options,especiallythe interior ,l love the red design package with red stitching everywhere and them red stitched supersport seats are just off the scale, nobody else is doing a better all-round package just now than Audi

 

[Gordo77]

Interesting point of view. However, those minor changes you mention should have been done years ago, when they were developing the PFL S3.

The word "should" just indicates that your expections don't match reality. Sometimes you can't easily change reality, so the only other real option is to change your expections. As someone else said above, maybe an Audi is just not for you.

 

[Simon L]

The word "should" just indicates that your expections don't match reality. Sometimes you can't easily change reality, so the only other real option is to change your expections. As someone else said above, maybe an Audi is just not for you.

At the end of the day some peeps (and I'm not necessarily suggesting 4k is one of them) will never be satisfied with anything. Just glad I'm not wired that way!! lol

 

[Psyman79]

Apologies if this has been covered.

Is the screen still bigger with the tech pack over normal sd nav like it was in the PFL?

Can't seem to see refernce to it on Audi site.

 

[Gordo77]

Apologies if this has been covered.

Is the screen still bigger with the tech pack over normal sd nav like it was in the PFL?

Can't seem to see refernce to it on Audi site.

I think the centre screen and resolution is the same regardless of whether you go for the Tech pack (advanced) or not.

 

[Psyman79]

I think the centre screen and resolution is the same regardless of whether you go for the Tech pack (advanced) or not.

Thought that might be the case as all the images seem to be a similar size border.

Thats a shame but i'll have VC so i won't be looking at it too often.

 

[Gordo77]

Thought that might be the case as all the images seem to be a similar size border.

Thats a shame but i'll have VC so i won't be looking at it too often.

I'm still playing around with what to have where... at the moment I've got Sat Nav with google maps on the central screen and the big S3 rev counter on the VC.

 

[Psyman79]

I'm still playing around with what to have where... at the moment I've got Sat Nav with google maps on the central screen and the big S3 rev counter on the VC.

Sean at Aberdeen Audi gave me a shot of his TTS a couple of times so had a play with it then, sure it'll still take me a while to get it just right

 

[rasA4]

My PFL has a lot of minor annoyances that were fixed in the last year of the PFL. I will definitely have more confidence in the FL.

Can you expand on the minor annoyances that were fixed in the last year of the PFL?
Cheers