There is a 2003 S3 225bhp model around the corner from me and I've got to admit I'm tempted to buy it. Has anyone had one? Any thoughts good or bad? They seem to remap to around 260 and being 4wd can put the power down but does the 4wd dull the performance?

Cheers Rich

 

Good car. My mate has got a mk1 focus rs and had his arse handed to him by one of the line.

 

Had one for a while ,great cars . They don't feel fast when driving like most Audis ,very well built with all the toys . few months after I sold mine one also stomped all over my 3 door .

 

Good cars and would have another, st1 remap are easy but anything after your playing with the Rods as these are very weak on these engines, they have a maize of vac lines which fail (pcv system) oil pick up is common for clogging due to sump sealer and no gasket.

Rebuilt a couple of these engines, missus has a tt.

 

Great cars and go well with a remap.

 

I have a Audi S3 225 Bam, modified & mapped to 300bhp for my daily.

Things to look out for weak vacuum system.
rear springs crack.
oil pick up blocking up. due to long life services.
dodgy coolant temp sensors.
rust on roof rails.
haldex pump failing
gearbox failing.
coilpacks (recall)

There reasonable quick enough, not exactly exciting but a nice place to sit with some nice touches. Try & get the best example you can get, getting hard to find good ones.

 

Highly tuneable engines that have seen people over the pond breaking 1000bhp

A must do when you get one is a remap and sort out the handling

Mate has a highly tuned one with adjustable 4x4 system and its fantastic

 

I really fancy one of these. Only thing I find after driving lots of vag turbo stuff they feel really wooly on the performance. I would be concerned that it'd feel slow. My Sti is circa 320bhp and I'd want similar feel, so if assume you're looking at 350+BHP in an s3. By the sounds of it, that's a forged rebuild and big turbo needed. Can't imagine 260bhp in gonna cut the mustard.

What I'd really like is the new RS3 they sound superb and watching some vids online, they certainly pull hard!

 

 

a better video of the above car that shows the speedo

The S3 has 160mph on the clock

 

My cossie sounds like that yarp.

 

Night and day better than a Focus RS

 

I have one at the moment for my daily driver done 62k
Do a round trip of 50 miles a day and it does not miss a beat 32.4 mpg.

It's comfortable and feels solid even for a 12 year old car...

 

I've always liked the look of these, chunky squat hatchbacks for reasonable money.


Cheers,
Grant

 

Not sure why the above has been posted as that's certainly no 20VT!

 

It's been converted to a 6 pot iirc. Still an Audi S3 though and proof that they can be made very very quick.

Take an XR2 and stick a 2 litre Zetec in it, it's still an Xr2

 

True that! I wonder if it's the v6 from the TT?

 

Yes same engine as a R32

 

I have a 1.9TDI 130 quattro, A3, you can buy that if you like..

Dont seem to be any others for sale around!