I have an RS3 and my son has an S3. The RS3 is way better, much faster and sounds incredible. Yes you can spend £500 and push the S3 up but you do the same with an RS3 and then that becomes amazingly fast and in another league to the S3. Running costs however should make you think carefully as the RS3 is juicy and everything is expensive on it
I owned a 2017 S3 and just got my 2023 RS3 2 weeks ago. The RS3 definitely feels in a different level in terms of performance, but overall they really do feel fairly similar. Ironically my S3 came with a flat bottomed wheel and the RS3 didn’t. My S3 also came with two sets of floor mats. Regular and a set of S3 embroidered. The RS3 only came with regular. Seems like it would be the opposite But the RS3 definitely feels a noticeable step faster. Sounds much meaner too
Recently bought an S3. Really like the car. Was fully optioned prestige but did not have the active dampers. That’s the only thing I really miss. Best car in its class. Great style, tech and performance.
Personally I couldn't justify spending so much more for a 0-60 1 second faster launch for a daily driver, so I bought a '17 my18 facelift S3 8V with just 45k km on the odo, loaded with all the optional extras. Maybe one day I'll 'bite the bullet' and get that RS3 - but it might be electric by the time I do.
I have the S3, in my country it's close to double the price for RS3 2nd hand so as much as I'm tempted I can also jump on my sport bike if I want faster. However the RS3 sounds great & is still tugging my heart strings.
Great comparison!! RS3 has - better sound - same power as a tuned S3 but maintaining reliability - bigger and better looking brakes front to back -wider front mechanics not only the aestethics - closer ratio steering rack as mentioned also in the video - more agressive haldex than S3 and even more aggressive than regula A3 - overall more aggressive package For me it’s a clear winner if you want the most performant car, but not the best choice if you want a bit of everything. Oh, if you start putting money into the S3 to increase the performance, you’ll narrow the price gap so that you might as well buy the RS3 from the start and enjoy your life.
@@Birmingham_racing yes but for 99% of the time it's in eco and lives below 4,000rpm. As a daily an S3 ticks all the boxes 99% of people need, don't you think?
these cars are about how they make you feel, which is very hard to put a price on. I replaced a Golf GTI Performance, Manual, by an RS3, which is a daft car. The Golf was a terrific drive but I am still really glad to have bought the RS3.
@@davidkelly2542 u ever driven one and actually modified one? stage 2 e85 with kw v3 coilovers, my car is anything but boring. spoken from somone whose never driven one. funny how people speak with so much conviction yet have no experience 🤡
@@Rs3mocha he's not wrong though. There are far better 'driver cars' out there. Basically every Porsche comes to mind, some BMW's and to some extent even the A45 is more engaging and perkier. The trump card for the Audi is it is an excellent all rounder that's super comfortable for daily usage, rapid when you need it to be and is subtle enough to just blend in.
@@MTKOZ i highly doubt you guys know what it feels like cornering going 90 holding traction Your definition of engaging is just drifting and losing the rear end Rs3 tunes better than what you listed. And Porsche is just a step up from audi. Least their 911 is but also way more Again the people the speak about driver experience don't actually drive these cars Its that fact that cornering doing 90 flying over your head says it all
Had the 8V S3 for 8 year and always wondered whether 8V RS3 would have been better. Drove it with an Akrapovice exhaust: Sound amazing, power difference more than disappointing. Now take away the sound and its pointless 😢
Try driving the latest RS3, it's on another level to the previous generation, which I owned and wasn't that impressed with. The new one is outstanding, not just noise, everything!
That’s exactly what I was thinking looks alone And knowing that you have the very best version counts a lot if you want the bragging rights,Don’t forget pretty much have the fastest vehicle out there with almost 2nd to none handling while everyone and you hear the unique engine.
Is the RS3 better, yes. Is it worth it. Depends on the size of your wallet. If you can afford it no problem, go for it. Personally i did not deem the RS3 worth the 35% price increase, so i went for the S3 (fitted with a lot of options) and i've been very pleased so far
I believe the internal trim is different between the two outside of the UK (seatbelt trim matching car colour, same for seats, air vents and 12 o’clock coloured stripe on the steering wheel). Not sure why Audi UK haven’t provided these options in the UK :(
I’d assume 7 cylinders in a straight alignment impose some physical challenges (swinging masses and such) upon the engineers, thus it’d be unnecessary to even think about it.
If you are going to track it a lot the RS3 is the best option, if you are doing only city/highway the S3 is the better option, is a no brainer, if you want to spend the money for a car that you won’t use, go ahead and buy the RS3 just to have one.
Round or flat bottom steering wheel IMO got little to do with sportiness. It may have to do with ergonomics and premium feel, I would expect should have come standard on both versions.
It’s actually related to the driver assists as the round one is a capacitive wheel. It can sense when your hands are on it so that it can provide active lane keeping (almost self driving) amongst others.
The round steering wheel is fitted to cars with the adaptive cruise and other driver aids like lane assist so it has sensors built into the wheel, the low spec cars get the flat bottom wheel...the adaptive dampers in my S3 Vorsprung are great, I was really surprised at how good the system is over uneven bumpy roads
@@EccentricWorld No, it doesn't certainly not in the UK, I spent a lot of time comparing the car specs in early 2021 before I ordered my car, I also viewed a good few TH-cam tests, it was better to go with the Vorsprung spec than add options to the base model as the price got very close but you still couldn't spec the adaptive dampers for a base car, only the Vorsprung spec had it. Currently, if you spec a uk car on the audi website and choose the driver assist package the round steering wheel is a mandatory addition, the info for that wheel explains that it has hands on sensors for the driver aids, the flat bottom wheel does not. The Vorsprung spec has all of the available options including the adaptive dampers, of course specifications and options may vary in other countries
Low spec? WTF are you on about? I have a carbon sportback, hardly low spec! It has the flat bottom wheel of course and is the better looking than a Vorsprung.
Vorspung spec is a waste of money - you're paying for options that most people don't want and you get those horrible silver stickers on the wheels, that horrible steering wheel... get the carbon... flat bottom steering wheel, check... carbon roof spoiler, side skirts, mirror housings... proper RS look with everything you need and nothing you don't. Taking delivery of mine after a 19 month wait... in Tango Red in a couple of weeks, also have C&S pack and RS pack on mine. That's the spec to go for!
You can get blue and red in other markets. Mine will have grey, as I've ordered mine with ceramic brakes. I'll have them painted red on delivery though.
Pisses me off to see this, as I ordered my RS3 in September 2021 and still don't have any idea when I will get it. It is a carbon edition sportback, tango red, comfort & sound pack, RS dynamic pack. Dealer thinks it will be March next year, but really is just guessing. Of course you can buy a used one with delivery mileage for ten grand over list. Mine was £58k when ordered. I'll probably cancel my order and get an AMG A45s with low miles if Audi continue to screw their UK customer base. At least the Merc isn't as badly overpriced by greedy dealers.
![[UNCUT] “บอสณวัฒน์” ลากไส้!! ใครหนุนหลัง "แม่ตั๊ก ป๋าเบียร์" I คนดังนั่งเคลียร์ I 30 ก.ย. 67](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/QlD7mU2KKRk/mqdefault.jpg)
Is the RS3 worth the extra cash? Let us know below...
no because you only care about algorithm.
Worth every penny mate
Yes
I have the rs3 for olmoste a year now ,
Its the best do it all car i have driven
Yes and yes!
yes it is - without OPF!
Can’t really criticise Audi for the less sound and theatre, that’s purely down to the Euro eco car haters
I have an RS3 and my son has an S3. The RS3 is way better, much faster and sounds incredible. Yes you can spend £500 and push the S3 up but you do the same with an RS3 and then that becomes amazingly fast and in another league to the S3. Running costs however should make you think carefully as the RS3 is juicy and everything is expensive on it
Hi lozcossie I’m your king lost youngest son, can I have a Golf R ? Lol
If your on a lower budget tho like 15k obviously the s3 would be the one
If I could afford an rs3 I would get it over the s3 any day it’s the bigger brother realistically
I owned a 2017 S3 and just got my 2023 RS3 2 weeks ago. The RS3 definitely feels in a different level in terms of performance, but overall they really do feel fairly similar. Ironically my S3 came with a flat bottomed wheel and the RS3 didn’t. My S3 also came with two sets of floor mats. Regular and a set of S3 embroidered. The RS3 only came with regular. Seems like it would be the opposite
But the RS3 definitely feels a noticeable step faster. Sounds much meaner too
Recently bought an S3. Really like the car. Was fully optioned prestige but did not have the active dampers. That’s the only thing I really miss. Best car in its class. Great style, tech and performance.
Personally I couldn't justify spending so much more for a 0-60 1 second faster launch for a daily driver, so I bought a '17 my18 facelift S3 8V with just 45k km on the odo, loaded with all the optional extras. Maybe one day I'll 'bite the bullet' and get that RS3 - but it might be electric by the time I do.
Slap a V5 turbo on that thing and a tune and it'll push around 300kw atw. Proper fast.
Haldex
@@Tony_Montana380yeah the torque vectoring must be fun doing a corner at 20 MPH in the city.
@@MrjavoiThe ???
I have the S3, in my country it's close to double the price for RS3 2nd hand so as much as I'm tempted I can also jump on my sport bike if I want faster. However the RS3 sounds great & is still tugging my heart strings.
Hard facts - in terms of driving dynamics and sheer practicality, neither of these hold a candle to the Fiat Multipla.
Why do people like you make all these nonsense comments like anyone cares!😆
Great comparison!!
RS3 has
- better sound
- same power as a tuned S3 but maintaining reliability
- bigger and better looking brakes front to back
-wider front mechanics not only the aestethics
- closer ratio steering rack as mentioned also in the video
- more agressive haldex than S3 and even more aggressive than regula A3
- overall more aggressive package
For me it’s a clear winner if you want the most performant car, but not the best choice if you want a bit of everything.
Oh, if you start putting money into the S3 to increase the performance, you’ll narrow the price gap so that you might as well buy the RS3 from the start and enjoy your life.
the main difference is if u put money into both, the rs3 will get significantly more gains
Spitting straight facts
Nah the base S3 here is 55,000 USD and the base RS3 si 80,000 USD there's a huge gap in price.
@@MrjavoiThers3 starts at like 67
Unless you are going to track them then I don't think the RS3 is worth the extra upfront plus the extra running costs.
You buy an rs3 for the sound
@@Birmingham_racing yes but for 99% of the time it's in eco and lives below 4,000rpm. As a daily an S3 ticks all the boxes 99% of people need, don't you think?
Lives in eco, no. You can get an asr valve controller to open the valves so you get the sound below 4000. I bought one solely for the engine.
@@Birmingham_racing was gonna say just that
Interesting to see if the total cost of ownership is much different as expect the RS holds value better
these cars are about how they make you feel, which is very hard to put a price on. I replaced a Golf GTI Performance, Manual, by an RS3, which is a daft car. The Golf was a terrific drive but I am still really glad to have bought the RS3.
They make you feel numb because there incredibly boring 😴. Much better engaging alternatives
@@davidkelly2542 u ever driven one and actually modified one? stage 2 e85 with kw v3 coilovers, my car is anything but boring. spoken from somone whose never driven one. funny how people speak with so much conviction yet have no experience 🤡
@@Rs3mocha he's not wrong though. There are far better 'driver cars' out there. Basically every Porsche comes to mind, some BMW's and to some extent even the A45 is more engaging and perkier. The trump card for the Audi is it is an excellent all rounder that's super comfortable for daily usage, rapid when you need it to be and is subtle enough to just blend in.
@@MTKOZ i highly doubt you guys know what it feels like cornering going 90 holding traction
Your definition of engaging is just drifting and losing the rear end
Rs3 tunes better than what you listed. And Porsche is just a step up from audi. Least their 911 is but also way more
Again the people the speak about driver experience don't actually drive these cars
Its that fact that cornering doing 90 flying over your head says it all
@@Rs3mocha I have a 1000cc sportsbike, an s14a, a golf r and an rs3. I respect your opinion but you're still not totally right.
I want a nice engine sound when I'm going on the highway, but not when I'm driving around a parking lot lmao
i do hate that round steering wheel
the interior on the RS3 look like standard A3 S3 the only change is the logo sign RS3 this is terrible 😬 for this price does not make you feel special
Says black calipers on the RS3, shows red calipers on the video...🤦🏽♂️
The steering wheel is round due to the sensors for the hands free driving I’m led to believe. The driver assistance pack deletes the flat bottom wheel
I've driven any luxuy car you can think of, currenty in an A6.
I won't buy another Audi. Poor and boring.
Gotta buy an RS model to have fun with an Audi!!!
The s3 has a standard Haldex all wheel drive like golf r. Not proper torsion diff quattro
Had the 8V S3 for 8 year and always wondered whether 8V RS3 would have been better. Drove it with an Akrapovice exhaust:
Sound amazing, power difference more than disappointing.
Now take away the sound and its pointless 😢
Try driving the latest RS3, it's on another level to the previous generation, which I owned and wasn't that impressed with. The new one is outstanding, not just noise, everything!
You think the RS3 feels similar power wise to the S3? Are you mental.
@@mauricetoussaint7283 isn’t the new one muffled by OPF?
From performance the new one incl. torque vectoring is more interesting
@@Michael-yz4mc not similar but not as much better as you would expect.
First person to ever say this, and listened to dozens of reviews comparing the two cars! SMH
A really good comparison would have been a a3, s3 and the rs3. Suddenly the s3 makes complete sense in the real world.
Remap s3, air intake, resonator out exhaust. Boom rs3 cheaper
Stage 1 map and a custom exhaust will make u the happies car owner ever
Nice cars
RS3 worth on looks alone that front end is so aggressive! Editing incredible as always
That’s exactly what I was thinking looks alone And knowing that you have the very best version counts a lot if you want the bragging rights,Don’t forget pretty much have the fastest vehicle out there with almost 2nd to none handling while everyone and you hear the unique engine.
Really good video mate 👏🏾👍🏾👊🏽
Thank you!
RS3 also is way more expensive to maintain than S3...
Cost was the same when I checked with a dealer - as servicing is fixed price for 3 years
@@luciussander8217 for 3 year ofc it's the same, because barely they do nothing in car ;) But I'm buying car for about 10 years, not 3...
Is the RS3 better, yes. Is it worth it. Depends on the size of your wallet. If you can afford it no problem, go for it.
Personally i did not deem the RS3 worth the 35% price increase, so i went for the S3 (fitted with a lot of options) and i've been very pleased so far
I believe the internal trim is different between the two outside of the UK (seatbelt trim matching car colour, same for seats, air vents and 12 o’clock coloured stripe on the steering wheel). Not sure why Audi UK haven’t provided these options in the UK :(
In Aus that's an interior package option. I don't actually like it that much but thankfully we can just option stitching colour on seats instead.
5 cylinders are great but why are there no 7 cylinder engines? Same length as 8 so not worth the bother, perhaps.
I’d assume 7 cylinders in a straight alignment impose some physical challenges (swinging masses and such) upon the engineers, thus it’d be unnecessary to even think about it.
You must not know how capable their stock 5 cylinder engines are with a few bolt ons and a tune…
If you are going to track it a lot the RS3 is the best option, if you are doing only city/highway the S3 is the better option, is a no brainer, if you want to spend the money for a car that you won’t use, go ahead and buy the RS3 just to have one.
I went from a 7.5 Golf R to a 8.5V RS3 Carbon.
The RS3 is the winner
7.5 was dull, didn’t have torque vectoring
@@daniel.s8126 what would the suspension mods be that you suggest?
Imagine spending all that money to buy one of these and using its sound system to listen to a shoddy show on a tinpot radio station
We all know that the RS premium is all because of the inline 5, which is way more fun and capable than the 4 banger in the S.
Round or flat bottom steering wheel IMO got little to do with sportiness. It may have to do with ergonomics and premium feel, I would expect should have come standard on both versions.
It’s actually related to the driver assists as the round one is a capacitive wheel. It can sense when your hands are on it so that it can provide active lane keeping (almost self driving) amongst others.
Rs3 has a far better engine. That's what you're paying for
I think you want some better tyres and a proper LSD.
Ridiculous cars, S-line Tdi would do me just fine
Very well done test!
I'd rather see more Detailing and design aspects in the interior than performance if I'm being honest.
Unfortunately you are going to get impressions on performance when you watch a performance car video!
Unfortunately this is a long-term test, under your criteria an F1 car is a better than a ford focus for daily driving
53K? Yeah right! good luck with that one! I can't even find a second hand one for that price! Dealerships can go **** themselves!
That in Euros lol. 60k+ in USD.
Paid £59k for my RS3 carbon sportback, taking delivery in April.
RS all the way If your going to get an Audi
Mod it to keep the power in the back wheels, it's much more fun to drive 👍
Most stupid comment I've ever heard
RS3 Competition please
P zero are terrible tyres
You can say that again, i fitted 4 brand new P Zero and 2 of them developed pimples 3 months later. Try the Michellin PS5
None of them are worth it without a third pedal but they are wonderful cars
steering wheels are ment to be round.flat bottoms are stupid
Flat bottom is way better. Clearly you've never used one or you're just plain dumb.
You've never had one have you?
The round steering wheel is fitted to cars with the adaptive cruise and other driver aids like lane assist so it has sensors built into the wheel, the low spec cars get the flat bottom wheel...the adaptive dampers in my S3 Vorsprung are great, I was really surprised at how good the system is over uneven bumpy roads
That's incorrect. I dropped the S3 8Y when first came out. Flat has all that?
@@EccentricWorld No, it doesn't certainly not in the UK, I spent a lot of time comparing the car specs in early 2021 before I ordered my car, I also viewed a good few TH-cam tests, it was better to go with the Vorsprung spec than add options to the base model as the price got very close but you still couldn't spec the adaptive dampers for a base car, only the Vorsprung spec had it. Currently, if you spec a uk car on the audi website and choose the driver assist package the round steering wheel is a mandatory addition, the info for that wheel explains that it has hands on sensors for the driver aids, the flat bottom wheel does not. The Vorsprung spec has all of the available options including the adaptive dampers, of course specifications and options may vary in other countries
Low spec? WTF are you on about? I have a carbon sportback, hardly low spec! It has the flat bottom wheel of course and is the better looking than a Vorsprung.
Vorspung spec is a waste of money - you're paying for options that most people don't want and you get those horrible silver stickers on the wheels, that horrible steering wheel... get the carbon... flat bottom steering wheel, check... carbon roof spoiler, side skirts, mirror housings... proper RS look with everything you need and nothing you don't. Taking delivery of mine after a 19 month wait... in Tango Red in a couple of weeks, also have C&S pack and RS pack on mine. That's the spec to go for!
Rs3 + unitronic stage2+ makes over 550 hp!
You can't tune the latest RS3 in that way, Audi have locked the ECU.
The rs3 callipers are finished in black as standard..............shows red callipers, go figur.
The Rs3 tested is the Launch edition spec, not standard spec. Launch Edition spec gets red calipers.
At least someone was listening! 😂
@@gazmcb8537 ok thank you!
@@ParkersTV I was to but didnt see even half of the vid, bit boring sorry.
You can get blue and red in other markets. Mine will have grey, as I've ordered mine with ceramic brakes. I'll have them painted red on delivery though.
Waste of time in this little country.
Pisses me off to see this, as I ordered my RS3 in September 2021 and still don't have any idea when I will get it. It is a carbon edition sportback, tango red, comfort & sound pack, RS dynamic pack. Dealer thinks it will be March next year, but really is just guessing. Of course you can buy a used one with delivery mileage for ten grand over list. Mine was £58k when ordered. I'll probably cancel my order and get an AMG A45s with low miles if Audi continue to screw their UK customer base. At least the Merc isn't as badly overpriced by greedy dealers.
did you get it? if so how is it?