S3

[the pirate]

My experience of running an S3 (2003 model) for two years and 40,000 miles so far is very good.
I don't drive it very often, leave that to the misses, but she likes to press on just like I do.
She usually gets through front tyres every 10,000 miles, michelins at that.
I changed the haldex oil and filter recently, and the front brake pads are now due for changing, after 52,000 miles.
We intend to swap it soon for a new a4 quattro avant, so will probably not have to go for a cambelt change.
I would not hesitate to recommend the cars to anyone.

[Henka]

I'm after one too... As all cars, the S3's seem to have their quirks and bizarre stuff. Take the rear end - there is very limited (doesn't seem to be any) way to dial in camber with the stock stuff. Compare the S3 and the A3, you'll find that the lowered suspension on the S3 needed one of the controlarms on each side to be shorter - on the A3, they are the same length. The fix is to buy adjustable control arms... Not a big thing, yet something that is good to know. As far as the front end goes, seems they built in very limited camber adj there too... Adjustable top mounts are avaliable. ARB's - well, a number of different are avaliable in the US - but you'll have to use TT ones as no A3Q or S3 was sold there. r32 stuff is useable too. I'd say that there is much more stuff avaliable both suspension wise and engine wise for the S3 than A4 or S2 - new modern stuff. Different controllers for the Haldex unit and so on. For me, this is why I got hooked and started looking for one. I sold my S2 Avant because it felt old and heavy and started builing my 90Q project instead. My daily beater has come to it's end of line and the step from my Jetta II (don't laugh, it's got some quality's that can't be beaten!) to a S3 feels just right. It's small, it's light and it's 4wd - albeit Haldex. Still, of all the non-4wd 4wd systems around, Haldex feels like the most fun stuff to try and tweak. With the correct setup, I'm sure it'll handle beautifully...