Well, I too have just had a test drive in the S3 and again have praise for it. I was on the verge of going for a new 3.2 TT for a few years, something a little different from the S3 I have now, but quoted a 9 month waiting list, and with all the potential new green taxes set to come through I talked myself out of it.
So, the S3, well I agree with most of what's been said so far.
The looks aren't quite as good as the old one, why they haven't widened the arches is beyond me... in fact it really annoys me as it's one of the best parts of the current S3.
Anyway, the drive of the new S3 is really good, I had the car for an hour so had a chance to run it on the motorway, some country lanes and pull over and have a good look around.
So, it sounds awesome and goes like stink, but it's all done in a relatively un-fussy way - no real lag to worry about and has a much wider power band than my current S3.
The drivers seat sits to high in my opinion (but it's a bit to high in the old one too!) and I miss the pull out leg support from the old recaro's.
Handling is good, very sharp and responsive compared to my old car, and the ride seems firmer, but not uncomfortable. It still has understeer to deal with if you go in to hard at a round about, but it's nowhere near as severe as my current S3, and when you put the power back on it seems to work out where it needs to put the drive much quicker.
The really big surprise for me were the brakes - they are massively powerful, but the biggest surprise is the feel. Everyone knows Audi's have the grabbiest brakes on the planet (but you get used to it eh!!), but these were actually really progressive a light touch, was just that, a light touch, puch a little harder and they progressively apply more resistance.... it was this that convinced me Audi have spent all their time, effort and budget sorting out making the S3 drive like an S car and not cut a corner somewhere to give us the arches we all want to see. I think they made the right choice!
So, my order has gone in:
Sprint blue with all the toys except sat nav and the bucket seats.
With a requested delivery of Mar 1st.
I know I haven't had the highest number of posts and there appears to be some concern over the validity of some of these messages, but i'm just sharing my experience. If any of you are thinking about getting one, but are unsure of the looks - take a test drive. I think you'll be pleasently surprised.