New 2003 A3 (2.0 TDI) Pictures As Promised
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DaveS3Turbo
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RuchA3Turbo, Thanks for the feedback, its much appreciated as with all you guys, its nice to hear some praises.
As for the engine, its great and its really comfortable to drive especially the sensotronice steering.
I have one question though that leaves me to ponder. It is that in a normal car with normal steering your steerign follows potholes and bad road surfaces Right. Well in the A3 you can't feel a thing but only through the suspension, my question is if you had a blowut in a normal car you r steering cos waywards and sometimes out of control because it snags if you get what I mean. do you think this happens with the sensotronice steering? Sorry for Grammer and spelling as i am typing so much at once to so many windows.
Regards David
As for the engine, its great and its really comfortable to drive especially the sensotronice steering.
I have one question though that leaves me to ponder. It is that in a normal car with normal steering your steerign follows potholes and bad road surfaces Right. Well in the A3 you can't feel a thing but only through the suspension, my question is if you had a blowut in a normal car you r steering cos waywards and sometimes out of control because it snags if you get what I mean. do you think this happens with the sensotronice steering? Sorry for Grammer and spelling as i am typing so much at once to so many windows.
Regards David
[ QUOTE ]
davidmann said:
RuchA3Turbo, Thanks for the feedback, its much appreciated as with all you guys, its nice to hear some praises.
As for the engine, its great and its really comfortable to drive especially the sensotronice steering.
I have one question though that leaves me to ponder. It is that in a normal car with normal steering your steerign follows potholes and bad road surfaces Right. Well in the A3 you can't feel a thing but only through the suspension, my question is if you had a blowut in a normal car you r steering cos waywards and sometimes out of control because it snags if you get what I mean. do you think this happens with the sensotronice steering? Sorry for Grammer and spelling as i am typing so much at once to so many windows.
Regards David
[/ QUOTE ]
Im not sure if the one i drove had sensotronic, but sound like it takes ALL feeling out of the steering???
Rich
davidmann said:
RuchA3Turbo, Thanks for the feedback, its much appreciated as with all you guys, its nice to hear some praises.
As for the engine, its great and its really comfortable to drive especially the sensotronice steering.
I have one question though that leaves me to ponder. It is that in a normal car with normal steering your steerign follows potholes and bad road surfaces Right. Well in the A3 you can't feel a thing but only through the suspension, my question is if you had a blowut in a normal car you r steering cos waywards and sometimes out of control because it snags if you get what I mean. do you think this happens with the sensotronice steering? Sorry for Grammer and spelling as i am typing so much at once to so many windows.
Regards David
[/ QUOTE ]
Im not sure if the one i drove had sensotronic, but sound like it takes ALL feeling out of the steering???
Rich
DaveS3Turbo
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If it was the sport version then it was sensotronic steering, the feeling feels smooth.
The only bad thing about this could be driving at high-end speeds where you can't feel understeer etc....I suppose
David
The only bad thing about this could be driving at high-end speeds where you can't feel understeer etc....I suppose
David
[ QUOTE ]
davidmann said:
If it was the sport version then it was sensotronic steering, the feeling feels smooth.
The only bad thing about this could be driving at high-end speeds where you can't feel understeer etc....I suppose
David
[/ QUOTE ]
That would be a problm for me... i like to be able to 'feel' the car through the steering... like to know exactly what its doing... is this sensotroic stuff optional?
Rich
davidmann said:
If it was the sport version then it was sensotronic steering, the feeling feels smooth.
The only bad thing about this could be driving at high-end speeds where you can't feel understeer etc....I suppose
David
[/ QUOTE ]
That would be a problm for me... i like to be able to 'feel' the car through the steering... like to know exactly what its doing... is this sensotroic stuff optional?
Rich
DaveS3Turbo
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It wasn't no, i maybe wrong i am not sure. The steering may have feel however i couldn't give a positive answer as i haven't been at high speeds yet! A BIG YET!
[ QUOTE ]
davidmann said:
haven't been at high speeds yet! A BIG YET!
[/ QUOTE ]
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
Well i got the test car upto 100, but was mainly on straight roads, so wasnt really able to tell... but round the roundabout, it wasnt TOO bad for feeling.. not as good as my a3, but not too bad. let us know more when its run in properly. Seriosuly condsidering the 3.2V6 next year.
rich
davidmann said:
haven't been at high speeds yet! A BIG YET!
[/ QUOTE ]
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
Well i got the test car upto 100, but was mainly on straight roads, so wasnt really able to tell... but round the roundabout, it wasnt TOO bad for feeling.. not as good as my a3, but not too bad. let us know more when its run in properly. Seriosuly condsidering the 3.2V6 next year.
rich
DaveS3Turbo
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yes i agree.....Wait for the new RS3 save ure money and consider finance for the new Rs3
Supposed to be the RS4 engine in the A3
It will be as quick as an M3 etc.....Its worth it.
Supposed to be the RS4 engine in the A3
It will be as quick as an M3 etc.....Its worth it.
Its not an option, I'm not sure of the exact mechanicals but instead of having a power steering pump you have an electric motor to power the steering rack.
It has advantages in fuel economy and in time advantages with the expansion of ESP.
Noticable differences is that you can have the car on full lock for as long as you like and have no judder at idle, also at parking speeds the steering is very light. Not that I noticed until running my older A3 for the first time in acouple of weeks, felt very cumbersome at parking speeds.
The steering is fine on good sweeping road and motorways but as soon as you hit the twisties I find the ESP cutting in very frequently, maybe due to poor feedback.
Kev.
It has advantages in fuel economy and in time advantages with the expansion of ESP.
Noticable differences is that you can have the car on full lock for as long as you like and have no judder at idle, also at parking speeds the steering is very light. Not that I noticed until running my older A3 for the first time in acouple of weeks, felt very cumbersome at parking speeds.
The steering is fine on good sweeping road and motorways but as soon as you hit the twisties I find the ESP cutting in very frequently, maybe due to poor feedback.
Kev.
DavidR
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[ QUOTE ]
davidmann said:
Correct me if i am wrong but does that look liek a sports car to you?
[/ QUOTE ]
Its a fine looking car, but it is still a diesel hatchback.
[ QUOTE ]
davidmann said:
No but the cars you think are sports cars are super performance cars ie £24,000 upwards in most cases. However thats liek sayin well a civic which has been tuned etc...with a body styling kit to make it a type-r badge.
[/ QUOTE ]
Not sure I understand what you are saying in your second sentence, but "sports cars" are in my mind something a bit special that people turn to look at in the street. Cars that offer superior driving dynamics and performance to most routine cars and are often priced out of many peoples means. A civic type-R is not a sports car, it is a shopping trolley with a great engine and a mediocre chassis driven by people in burberry baseball caps called Gary.
[ QUOTE ]
davidmann said:
When push comes to shove you are comparing a £20,000 car to a student £7,000 car....hmmmmmmm. Yer sounds like a good comparison to me!
[/ QUOTE ]
The comparison is fair except that the Audi is a premium hatch whereas the Saxo is cheap and cheerful. In fact, a Saxo modifed carefully is a hell of lot more fun that a modified A3 and I include the S3 in that comment too.
[ QUOTE ]
davidmann said:
One other thing that i would liek to get done in the near future is to get the engine chipped maybe, are there any suggestions of whom does this and where? for the A3 obviously.
[/ QUOTE ]
There are almost hundreds of tuning outlets for TDis now. The 2.0TDi may still be rather new to get the most from compared to the trusty 1.9, but with time I am confident you'll get substantial gains by a chip along without the need to modify DVs, exhuasts etc (which usually produce minimal gains on VAG cars anyway)
[ QUOTE ]
davidmann said:
The kit was fitted by audi themselves, i have a brochure here of the bodykit maybe i could scan it and post it as a pdf or something. Its fully covered by audi and the finish is superb and fits perfectly as you would expect.
[/ QUOTE ]
Its a shame that the standard A3 A4 look like the poor relatives of the official audi bodykit models. In fact, the new A4 with OEM bodykit looks better than the new S4 IMO.
[ QUOTE ]
davidmann said:
As for the engine, its great and its really comfortable to drive especially the sensotronice steering
[/ QUOTE ]
IMO (again) the sensotronic or servotronic steering is rubbish and provides an unnecessary distraction, certainly on the new S4. What is the point of the wheel weighting up in the corners when it provides even less feedback and makes quick corrections especially difficult (most noticable on a wet racetrack). Audis inherently and almost universally are completely devoid of steering feedback and to muddy the responses even further seems to be an unusual error in the design of the S4 (i assume the A3 system is similar, I have only driven a new A3 with normal steering). I found that servotronic was not particularly transparent either.... I would be concered as you are that in the event of a blowout, sudden change of direction or in an attempt to correct an oversteer situation, the steering would be too slow witted and heavy to give the driver the advantage that he needs to stay on the road.
davidmann said:
Correct me if i am wrong but does that look liek a sports car to you?
[/ QUOTE ]
Its a fine looking car, but it is still a diesel hatchback.
[ QUOTE ]
davidmann said:
No but the cars you think are sports cars are super performance cars ie £24,000 upwards in most cases. However thats liek sayin well a civic which has been tuned etc...with a body styling kit to make it a type-r badge.
[/ QUOTE ]
Not sure I understand what you are saying in your second sentence, but "sports cars" are in my mind something a bit special that people turn to look at in the street. Cars that offer superior driving dynamics and performance to most routine cars and are often priced out of many peoples means. A civic type-R is not a sports car, it is a shopping trolley with a great engine and a mediocre chassis driven by people in burberry baseball caps called Gary.
[ QUOTE ]
davidmann said:
When push comes to shove you are comparing a £20,000 car to a student £7,000 car....hmmmmmmm. Yer sounds like a good comparison to me!
[/ QUOTE ]
The comparison is fair except that the Audi is a premium hatch whereas the Saxo is cheap and cheerful. In fact, a Saxo modifed carefully is a hell of lot more fun that a modified A3 and I include the S3 in that comment too.
[ QUOTE ]
davidmann said:
One other thing that i would liek to get done in the near future is to get the engine chipped maybe, are there any suggestions of whom does this and where? for the A3 obviously.
[/ QUOTE ]
There are almost hundreds of tuning outlets for TDis now. The 2.0TDi may still be rather new to get the most from compared to the trusty 1.9, but with time I am confident you'll get substantial gains by a chip along without the need to modify DVs, exhuasts etc (which usually produce minimal gains on VAG cars anyway)
[ QUOTE ]
davidmann said:
The kit was fitted by audi themselves, i have a brochure here of the bodykit maybe i could scan it and post it as a pdf or something. Its fully covered by audi and the finish is superb and fits perfectly as you would expect.
[/ QUOTE ]
Its a shame that the standard A3 A4 look like the poor relatives of the official audi bodykit models. In fact, the new A4 with OEM bodykit looks better than the new S4 IMO.
[ QUOTE ]
davidmann said:
As for the engine, its great and its really comfortable to drive especially the sensotronice steering
[/ QUOTE ]
IMO (again) the sensotronic or servotronic steering is rubbish and provides an unnecessary distraction, certainly on the new S4. What is the point of the wheel weighting up in the corners when it provides even less feedback and makes quick corrections especially difficult (most noticable on a wet racetrack). Audis inherently and almost universally are completely devoid of steering feedback and to muddy the responses even further seems to be an unusual error in the design of the S4 (i assume the A3 system is similar, I have only driven a new A3 with normal steering). I found that servotronic was not particularly transparent either.... I would be concered as you are that in the event of a blowout, sudden change of direction or in an attempt to correct an oversteer situation, the steering would be too slow witted and heavy to give the driver the advantage that he needs to stay on the road.
Sports car? Hm, when I think of sports car I think of an Aston Martin DB9 or a Maserati Spyder, *not* an S3 (much as I love it..)
DaveS3Turbo
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Yes we can I think. You should have perhaps warned people though who don't have a broadband connection that the images are very large.
Luckily I now have broadband. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
AL
Luckily I now have broadband. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
AL
DaveS3Turbo
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[ QUOTE ]
A civic type-R is not a sports car, it is a shopping trolley with a great engine and a mediocre chassis driven by people in burberry baseball caps called Gary
[/ QUOTE ]
Oi I had one of these for a while and it wasn't too bad!!!
[ QUOTE ]
IMO (again) the sensotronic or servotronic steering is rubbish
[/ QUOTE ]
Totally agree - one of the main reasons for ditching my new S4 and returning to a RS4.
[ QUOTE ]
Its a shame that the standard A3 A4 look like the poor relatives of the official audi bodykit models. In fact, the new A4 with OEM bodykit looks better than the new S4 IMO
[/ QUOTE ]
Yup!! Another reason it went.
[ QUOTE ]
The comparison is fair except that the Audi is a premium hatch whereas the Saxo is cheap and cheerful. In fact, a Saxo modifed carefully is a hell of lot more fun that a modified A3 and I include the S3 in that comment too.
[/ QUOTE ]
Wasn't it you that had one of these /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/****.gifSAXO? Didn't it fall to bits all the time? Wouldn't like to crash in one.
A civic type-R is not a sports car, it is a shopping trolley with a great engine and a mediocre chassis driven by people in burberry baseball caps called Gary
[/ QUOTE ]
Oi I had one of these for a while and it wasn't too bad!!!
[ QUOTE ]
IMO (again) the sensotronic or servotronic steering is rubbish
[/ QUOTE ]
Totally agree - one of the main reasons for ditching my new S4 and returning to a RS4.
[ QUOTE ]
Its a shame that the standard A3 A4 look like the poor relatives of the official audi bodykit models. In fact, the new A4 with OEM bodykit looks better than the new S4 IMO
[/ QUOTE ]
Yup!! Another reason it went.
[ QUOTE ]
The comparison is fair except that the Audi is a premium hatch whereas the Saxo is cheap and cheerful. In fact, a Saxo modifed carefully is a hell of lot more fun that a modified A3 and I include the S3 in that comment too.
[/ QUOTE ]
Wasn't it you that had one of these /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/****.gifSAXO? Didn't it fall to bits all the time? Wouldn't like to crash in one.
No, I have broadband and gave up waiting for them to load - maybe there were too many people looking when I tried /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif
I don't see what the hang up is here - I think the new A32.0TDi is a good car, would even be tempted to get one myself - especially with the tuning options available now. And the bodykit looks sweet. I think the suspension is better than the current S3, but everything I've heard suggests that the steering is dull and you can't feel much through it.
However, I don't see it is a sports car, and there are plenty of other cars on the road that would cane it - Wando's PD130 for example /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif But then you don't buy it for that.
I don't see what the hang up is here - I think the new A32.0TDi is a good car, would even be tempted to get one myself - especially with the tuning options available now. And the bodykit looks sweet. I think the suspension is better than the current S3, but everything I've heard suggests that the steering is dull and you can't feel much through it.
However, I don't see it is a sports car, and there are plenty of other cars on the road that would cane it - Wando's PD130 for example /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif But then you don't buy it for that.
DaveS3Turbo
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David,
Just make them a bit smaller in Photoshop or something. No need to get rid all together mate. Or perhaps create yourself an entry in our gallery, and then modify your post to contain the link to the gallery.
AL
Just make them a bit smaller in Photoshop or something. No need to get rid all together mate. Or perhaps create yourself an entry in our gallery, and then modify your post to contain the link to the gallery.
AL
[ QUOTE ]
RS4 Barry said:
Wasn't it you that had one of these /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/****.gifSAXO? Didn't it fall to bits all the time? Wouldn't like to crash in one.
[/ QUOTE ]
Both David R and myself did. For me this resulted in a new flavour of Saxo. Flying Banana Saxo /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif Was no joke at the time I can tell you. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cry.gif
David (M), Welcome on board, nice car. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/groovy.gif
RS4 Barry said:
Wasn't it you that had one of these /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/****.gifSAXO? Didn't it fall to bits all the time? Wouldn't like to crash in one.
[/ QUOTE ]
Both David R and myself did. For me this resulted in a new flavour of Saxo. Flying Banana Saxo /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif Was no joke at the time I can tell you. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cry.gif
David (M), Welcome on board, nice car. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/groovy.gif
David check out Oettinger for a chip, they are the only tners I know that are currently offering anything for the new A3 2.0 TDi. Unfortunately the A3 wil never be classed as a sports car, due to the comfort and quality levls taking precedence over handling. My A3 is far from being sporty IMO, I still need a few more mods before I'll be anywhere near happy.
Oettinger
Oettinger
I am sorry, but there is not really an A3 that you can call remotely 'sporty'. The A3 has now established itself as a prestige hatch car, good build quality, nice engines, fantastic interior, BUT, numb lifeless steering and soft suspension, something a sports car should have.
And can anyone really call a diesel 'sporty'????? IMO diesel engines are just to boring to call sporty, you just get the full hit of torque/bhp and its all over.
People need to try and not confuse sports car with supercar. There are loads of 'sports cars' under £24k and IMO hot hatches are def sports cars, and the CTR is one of the best along with the 172 Clio Cup, the Focus RS, Leon Cupra R, Mini Cooper S, Scooby WRX... need I go on?
And can anyone really call a diesel 'sporty'????? IMO diesel engines are just to boring to call sporty, you just get the full hit of torque/bhp and its all over.
People need to try and not confuse sports car with supercar. There are loads of 'sports cars' under £24k and IMO hot hatches are def sports cars, and the CTR is one of the best along with the 172 Clio Cup, the Focus RS, Leon Cupra R, Mini Cooper S, Scooby WRX... need I go on?
DaveS3Turbo
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If you want the images back up then say, they can be online again within 20 seconds....I just changed the filenames on the server.
