# Samoa Orange S3



## Benullz (Apr 14, 2016)

So I work for a pretty large VW dealer in the Twin Cities and I noticed a pretty unique S3 come in today. We get all sorts of crazy cars on our used lot, but I've never seen an S3 in this color. I'm told they only made 3- 2016 S3 in Samoa Orange with Black Optics. 
I'm thinking about trading out of my B8 S4 and into this. Thoughts?


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## MCsquared81 (Feb 27, 2004)

Definitely a different driving experience than the S4, lighter, more precise, but a bit laggy off the line. It doesn't have the linear power delivery of the supercharged engine, but you can definitely get used to it. Some owners aren't crazy about the MagRide, but I don't have any complaints.

I've gone FBO Stage 2 on my S3, but I think I still prefer driving our FBO Stage 2 SQ5.

And that color pops!











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## Benullz (Apr 14, 2016)

MCsquared81 said:


> Definitely a different driving experience than the S4, lighter, more precise, but a bit laggy off the line. It doesn't have the linear power delivery of the supercharged engine, but you can definitely get used to it. Some owners aren't crazy about the MagRide, but I don't have any complaints.
> 
> I've gone FBO Stage 2 on my S3, but I think I still prefer driving our FBO Stage 2 SQ5.
> 
> ...


So there IS at least one more in this color. Actually now that I think of it, didn't I see you on an ACLA cruise or two? It's a really slick looking car. 
I love the S4's power- it never wants to quit. That being said, I've got 70k on the ODO and don't know that I wanna spend the 5-8 grand to make crazy power reliably. 
I came from a stage 3 TT MKII, (actually had it while I lived in LA) so I'm used to a little lag. The thing was a monster 0-60 but would drop off around 110mph, and the S4 is a monster 60-120 that never gives up. 

All that being said, my s4 is a 2010 and I don't want to deal with mech issues, especially after adding power. It's already annoying if I'm in the city for too long. 

I'm not tracking the car, and I'm not planning on going 150+, so idk why it matters to me that I go back down to a 2L. I sure do miss the gas mileage.... getting reliable power out of an MQB 2L is cheap and easy. The S4 takes some work.


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## radbaldguy (Feb 23, 2016)

That color is gorgeous... do it! You must be at West Side; they get some insane cars in the used lot. I was on a waiting list there for a Golf R a couple of years ago but they couldn't deliver (not their fault, it was back when inventory was really restricted). They even tried hard to find me an S3 with the specs I wanted but I was able to find one out of state quicker and was impatient (and wanted to pull the trigger before my wife changed her mind). Great people there; they let me test drive a bunch of different stuff when I was trying to decide what I wanted and had no heartburn that I didn't buy from them. I'd definitely go back to them to buy a car in the future.

Re. the S3: have you done much driving in an MQB with TFSI? I've been in my 2015 S3 for about 2 years in the Twin Cities and still love it. It's really a great car for the area and our mix of hot summers and really cold, snowy winters. One caution I'd give is 19" wheels and summer tires can be harsh on our crappy roads. I blew out a brand new Michelin PS4 tire earlier this year (thankfully I had road hazard insurance on it and it didn't damage the rim) and more than once thought I probably should have. I went down to 18's for my winter wheels and wish that's what I had for summers, too. Mag ride is okay but it doesn't help with the harshness -- it's either way too compliant in Comfort mode or super stiff in dynamic mode. Automatic is a decent balance but still doesn't help with the road harshness much. Overall, I wouldn't consider mag ride necessary and would lose zero sleep over not having it but also don't find it to be problematic. I'm a commuter and weekend warrior, not a track star, so I probably wouldn't be going with coil-overs anyway.

You're right that power delivery off the line is a little lacking, aside from launch control, (that's the nature of a small engine with a turbo, I guess) but driving habits quickly adapt and you subconsciously learn to keep it in the right gear (or driving mode) to keep your RPM in the sweet spot. Nevertheless, power delivery will never be as instant as a NA V8 or as linear as a supercharger -- but it's still pretty crazy to get this much power out of a little 4 cylinder). I've read that a Stage 2 APR tune and DP really does wonders for the car, especially in decreasing lag -- but I haven't experienced that yet myself. I'm waiting until I'm off warranty before doing anything like that. Don't kid yourself too much about gas mileage, though. I'm not sure what you consider good but I average under 25 MPG on mostly highway driving (50 mile round trip commute daily)... though I'm probably on the aggressive side of driving.

I've driven a Stage 1 B8 S4 and it's definitely a beast (also great in the snow) but I'd definitely choose my S3 over it. It's a little smaller, more nimble and better suited to my needs.

It sounds like you're already in a situation where you can drive it and try it out but let me know if you have any other questions about daily driving an S3 in the Twin Cities.


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## Benullz (Apr 14, 2016)

radbaldguy said:


> That color is gorgeous... do it! You must be at West Side; they get some insane cars in the used lot. I was on a waiting list there for a Golf R a couple of years ago but they couldn't deliver (not their fault, it was back when inventory was really restricted). They even tried hard to find me an S3 with the specs I wanted but I was able to find one out of state quicker and was impatient (and wanted to pull the trigger before my wife changed her mind). Great people there; they let me test drive a bunch of different stuff when I was trying to decide what I wanted and had no heartburn that I didn't buy from them. I'd definitely go back to them to buy a car in the future.
> 
> Re. the S3: have you done much driving in an MQB with TFSI? I've been in my 2015 S3 for about 2 years in the Twin Cities and still love it. It's really a great car for the area and our mix of hot summers and really cold, snowy winters. One caution I'd give is 19" wheels and summer tires can be harsh on our crappy roads. I blew out a brand new Michelin PS4 tire earlier this year (thankfully I had road hazard insurance on it and it didn't damage the rim) and more than once thought I probably should have. I went down to 18's for my winter wheels and wish that's what I had for summers, too. Mag ride is okay but it doesn't help with the harshness -- it's either way too compliant in Comfort mode or super stiff in dynamic mode. Automatic is a decent balance but still doesn't help with the road harshness much. Overall, I wouldn't consider mag ride necessary and would lose zero sleep over not having it but also don't find it to be problematic. I'm a commuter and weekend warrior, not a track star, so I probably wouldn't be going with coil-overs anyway.
> 
> ...


Indeed at Westside (new cars, not used) but we are lucky to see what comes in before it hits the lot. 
The car is gorgeous. I have a couple weird issues with it that I really shouldn't have- turbo lag isn't one of them. 
I come from 2 prior k04 cars. Even with superb tuning, you need to get that thing to +3 grand for power. 

I hate the key. A lot. Also I'm coming from the S4- the seats are divine. Not super so in the S3. 
The S3 is a P+ with black optics, the special color, and b&o sound. No blind spot monitors, no nav, and the b&o sounds a lot thinner in this car. 

No nav is whatever, but it'd be nice to have. The blind spot monitors are great to have. Tough to leave behind. 

My payment is going to increase no matter what, but it's hard to justify all that for a car that "inferior."

BUT I get balance of a warranty, a rare color (orange is my favorite) and it's a hell of a lot cheaper to put down stock S4 power in an S3 with software. 

The haldex felt gross, actually. My stage 3 TT was also haldex but I guess I got used to it. Now being in that S4 Torsen powerplant, the S3 just felt a little squirmy and REALLY front biased. Maybe it's just me. 

SOMEONE TELL ME WHAT TO DO ?


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## 27turbocars (Jun 26, 2016)

I don't like my S3 AWD system. I know that on paper it suppose to use all the little modern gadgets but overall my car feels terrible on the black optics 19" and the clunky magnetic ride. As far is the orange color on that S3? all I can say is WOW!! it looks so good. It reminds me of the Corvette C6 Z06 atomic organge and also the BMW M3-M4(current body style).


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## TBomb (Sep 23, 2009)

Benullz said:


> Indeed at Westside (new cars, not used) but we are lucky to see what comes in before it hits the lot.
> The car is gorgeous. I have a couple weird issues with it that I really shouldn't have- turbo lag isn't one of them.
> I come from 2 prior k04 cars. Even with superb tuning, you need to get that thing to +3 grand for power.
> 
> ...


Keep your S4. If the biggest attraction with the S3 is the color, then just have your S4 vinyl wrapped in a similar color. Problem solved :thumbup:


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## radbaldguy (Feb 23, 2016)

TBomb said:


> Keep your S4. If the biggest attraction with the S3 is the color, then just have your S4 vinyl wrapped in a similar color. Problem solved :thumbup:


I think this is good advice. If the best thing you can say about the S3 is the color and the warranty, then it would be a 'no' for me. Color can be achieved with a good wrap and the warranty is an iffy endeavor if you're talking about seriously modifying the car right away for more power; there are a few too many stories of Audi giving TD1 flags and outright refusing to even diagnose problems when a car was modified. You may be able to achieve the same comfort of a warranty with mechanical breakdown coverage from your auto insurer, too.

Your list of other concerns is understandable, too.

The key fob does suck; it's HUGE and awkward. I have no idea why they used it instead of the newer type that most other Audis use now. I don't usually make car buying decisions based on they key; but if that would be an annoyance for you, it's a consideration. 
The lack of the driver-assist package would be a deal breaker for me (I use adaptive cruise and blind spot every single day... they make traffic suck a little less).
I agree on the B&O sound being underwhelming -- unfortunately, high quality sound upgrades in these cars are very expensive or nearly impossible (the bus is encrypted, so you have to take speaker level outs and aggregate them). I'm presently planning to tap a line out from the sub and install a stand-alone amp and sub but would have loved to do a more holistic upgrade (or better yet, I would have loved for an expensive option like B&O to have actually produced great sound).
Also no arguments that the AWD could be better from a performance perspective. The car is inherently front-biased. I think it gets a worse reputation than it deserves, though. Some have reported a better overall feeling about suspension and AWD after upgrading the rear swaybar and links. It seems the suspension contributes somewhat to folks' negative feelings about the AWD.

Overall, I'd say your list of cons outweigh the pros on this one.


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## phospher5 (Jun 21, 2012)

That colour looks great on that car....... kinda wish it was available on the RS3 around my parts.......


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## Turbonated (Mar 23, 2018)

Benullz said:


> So I work for a pretty large VW dealer in the Twin Cities and I noticed a pretty unique S3 come in today. We get all sorts of crazy cars on our used lot, but I've never seen an S3 in this color. I'm told they only made 3- 2016 S3 in Samoa Orange with Black Optics.
> I'm thinking about trading out of my B8 S4 and into this. Thoughts?


Umm... really late to this thread but found it through Google. I work at a Volkswagen dealership in MN and traded a 2016 Samoa Orange S3 a little over a year ago and bought it instantly. Could it be the one you were looking at?


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## MCsquared81 (Feb 27, 2004)

Turbonated said:


> Umm... really late to this thread but found it through Google. I work at a Volkswagen dealership in MN and traded a 2016 Samoa Orange S3 a little over a year ago and bought it instantly. Could it be the one you were looking at?


Not sure about the OP, but my Samoa Orange S3 ended up in Wisconsin


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