# 2016 s3



## Alloy07 (Jul 16, 2014)

Our 2016 S3 came in today. This is our first Audi and we are really excited about it. We originally ordered last summer but we were waiting for SS seats and black optics. Love the SS seats, impressed with the front seat leg room and comfort of the seats. Stitching is very nice, interior even smells great. 

Thanks to folks here for help in the ordering process.


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## Alloy07 (Jul 16, 2014)

A photo of the " homelink " IMO looks very clean in person. 










And one more exterior shot


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## Cesar2387 (Nov 12, 2014)

Awesome! I get mine on Monday. Almost the same spec as yours except I ordered with Black/Titanium interior to give it a better contrast.


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## chip2058 (May 18, 2015)

How is that possible? My car has been sitting in Rhode Island for a week now, Audi NA told me their was a port hold on all US 2016 A3, S3 and Q3s to await government clearance for sale.


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## vvhiskey (May 24, 2015)

Black optic package, really jealous.


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## StefanPetrut (Aug 30, 2012)

So they did change the shift paddles. That kinda makes me sad, I loved the ones on the 15's. These are like metal versions of my GLI paddles.  Could we get some more shots of the interior too? I can't get enough of those seats!! 

This is exactly like the one I have on the way only mine will be blue.


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## drexplode1 (Sep 28, 2006)

Would love to check out those SS seats in person...its the MI neighbor thing to do ;-)
-Greg


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## Dsocohen (Apr 19, 2015)

StefanPetrut said:


> So they did change the shift paddles. That kinda makes me sad, I loved the ones on the 15's. These are like metal versions of my GLI paddles.  Could we get some more shots of the interior too? I can't get enough of those seats!!
> 
> This is exactly like the one I have on the way only mine will be blue.


Yeah, the 2015 paddles look much better. That sucks. It looks like the rear view mirror is different as well. According to a discussion about the paddles on Audi-sport.net, it looks like the 2015 paddles can easily be swapped with the 2016 ones.


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## high_octaneGTI (Nov 10, 2007)

The white with the black optic looks awesome. Congrats!


I got my 2016 S3 yesterday as well


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## araemo (Dec 9, 2012)

Dsocohen said:


> Yeah, the 2015 paddles look much better. That sucks. It looks like the rear view mirror is different as well. According to a discussion about the paddles on Audi-sport.net, it looks like the 2015 paddles can easily be swapped with the 2016 ones.


Have you seen comparison pics? I didn't even notice.


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## Dsocohen (Apr 19, 2015)

araemo said:


> Have you seen comparison pics? I didn't even notice.


The links to the comparison pics are in this thread:

http://www.audi-sport.net/xf/threads/my-s3-came-with-different-paddle-shifters.248432/


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## Alloy07 (Jul 16, 2014)

THANKS much everyone ! I really appreciate it ! we haven't picked the car up so I don't have a bunch of interior pictures. Our dealer mentioned that the trim pieces seemed a different color for 16 and that the rear diffuser had a grey trim ring around a black diffuser. Don't have a good picture of that though. We do love the seats, very comfortable and even though the adjustments are manual there seems to be a lot of adjustment and it seemed really easy to adjust. I was very impressed with the front leg room, haven't driven an S3 in awhile but its has an amazing amount of interior space for the size car IMHO.


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## Dsocohen (Apr 19, 2015)

Dsocohen said:


> The links to the comparison pics are in this thread:
> 
> http://www.audi-sport.net/xf/threads/my-s3-came-with-different-paddle-shifters.248432/


This link seems to have the official differences between the 2015 and 2016 models. Most of the changes affect the A3 in European markets. The last two rows of the table on page two outline the new interior mirror design and the smaller, chrome paddle shifters

http://www.pdf-archive.com/2015/04/03/model-year-2016-changes-by-model-635635059886119753/


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## Onequick4door (Sep 13, 2014)

Congratulations, but seeing yours in the exact config I ordered excluding the exterior color is killing me. I didn't order till middle of june, so the Euro holiday in manufacturing in august is eating into my future seat time. :banghead:


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## Phanuel (Sep 4, 2014)

Picked up my Sepang 2016 last night as well.

Noticed the paddles were different, kind of sad. Anyone got a part number/place to order the the older paddles?


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## Dsocohen (Apr 19, 2015)

Dsocohen said:


> This link seems to have the official differences between the 2015 and 2016 models. Most of the changes affect the A3 in European markets. The last two rows of the table on page two outline the new interior mirror design and the smaller, chrome paddle shifters
> 
> http://www.pdf-archive.com/2015/04/03/model-year-2016-changes-by-model-635635059886119753/


Looking at the new R8 pics on the homepage, it seems that it also received the smaller, redesigned paddles and a similarly shaped rear view mirror. Maybe there's a new, ergonomic factor that we're not appreciating...


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## Dsocohen (Apr 19, 2015)

Alloy07 said:


> THANKS much everyone ! I really appreciate it ! we haven't picked the car up so I don't have a bunch of interior pictures. Our dealer mentioned that the trim pieces seemed a different color for 16 and that the rear diffuser had a grey trim ring around a black diffuser. Don't have a good picture of that though. We do love the seats, very comfortable and even though the adjustments are manual there seems to be a lot of adjustment and it seemed really easy to adjust. I was very impressed with the front leg room, haven't driven an S3 in awhile but its has an amazing amount of interior space for the size car IMHO.


Also, it looks like we got the new Off...Ready tachometer, which works better with Auto Start/Stop. Not that anyone uses that feature. BMWs have had those tach markings for a while now.


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## CbutterK (Feb 27, 2015)

*Interesting. Looks like they went back to the small silver paddles from last generation cars*

Those "NEW" 2016 paddles look exactly like the paddles I had on my 2011 TTS, which was the same "upgraded from black plastic" paddles from all of the last gen Audi models... I wonder why they went back to it. And if it's not the same exact ones from the last gen cars, I'm really curious why they took the time to redesign the new paddles to look just like the old ones, before the nice bigger 2015 paddles.


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## Phanuel (Sep 4, 2014)

Yeah, they feel exactly like my '08 A4 paddles.

Ugh, $275 for these, http://europrice.us/shift-paddles-post-facelift-extended


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## CbutterK (Feb 27, 2015)

Phanuel said:


> Yeah, they feel exactly like my '08 A4 paddles.
> 
> Ugh, $275 for these, http://europrice.us/shift-paddles-post-facelift-extended


or, pay only $130 for the same thing : http://www.ebay.com/itm/Audi-Paddles-/221457810795?hash=item338fea056b&vxp=mtr;)


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## Phanuel (Sep 4, 2014)

CbutterK said:


> or, pay only $130 for the same thing : http://www.ebay.com/itm/Audi-Paddles-/221457810795?hash=item338fea056b&vxp=mtr;)


Yeah, that's a way better price. I'm asking my sales rep about the change but I expect I'll have to shell out for these.


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## PbanyS3 (Jun 13, 2015)

*2016's are here!!!*

New upgraded turbo? No DSG mini-lag?opcorn: CONGRATS!eace:


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## Onequick4door (Sep 13, 2014)

PbanyS3 said:


> New upgraded turbo? No DSG mini-lag?opcorn: CONGRATS!eace:


Did i miss something in this string or any other regarding the 16's?


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## Dsocohen (Apr 19, 2015)

Phanuel said:


> Yeah, that's a way better price. I'm asking my sales rep about the change but I expect I'll have to shell out for these.


Yeah, as one of the main surfaces that you're always touching, it's pretty infuriating that Audi has regressed to a sub-optimal design. If these new paddles are the same part number as on other Audis, there may be more aftermarket options now. I wonder if the new ones even light up anymore. Pretty disappointing. 

On the plus side, I think the new rear view mirror will provide better visibility.

I'm not too sure how i feel about the Off, Ready indication in the tach. I guess if you're an auto start/ stop user, it's better. However, there's a non-traditional look about it that bugs.


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## aus-phil (Apr 26, 2012)

Is the '16 rear view mirror bigger? Test drove a '15 and it was tiny.


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## Phanuel (Sep 4, 2014)

aus-phil said:


> Is the '16 rear view mirror bigger? Test drove a '15 and it was tiny.


I think it's around the same size. I'd need to go back to the dealer to check myself. Visibility out of the A3 is definitely worse than my old A4. The rear seat head rests eat up so much of the cut down rear window.


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## TBomb (Sep 23, 2009)

So, not being 100% up to speed on the 8V A3/S3, is the auto start-stop something that is optional in that you can select to turn it on or off? Can someone shed some light on that?


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## Dsocohen (Apr 19, 2015)

TBomb said:


> So, not being 100% up to speed on the 8V A3/S3, is the auto start-stop something that is optional in that you can select to turn it on or off? Can someone shed some light on that?


Every car I've ever driven that has that feature provides you with a switch to turn it off. My S3 is still on order so I can't speak directly about that feature in this car, but I'd be willing to bet that there's a way to turn it off. The question is can you keep it off between drives so that you don't have to disable it every time you get in the car. Can anyone speak as it whether auto start/stop exists on both the A3 and S3? I've looked through the spec sheet and haven't seen any mention of it. It'd be weird to have the tach indications for ready and off and not actually have the system.


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## Dsocohen (Apr 19, 2015)

Phanuel said:


> I think it's around the same size. I'd need to go back to the dealer to check myself. Visibility out of the A3 is definitely worse than my old A4. The rear seat head rests eat up so much of the cut down rear window.


If you spec the S Sport seats, I believe you get shorter rear head rests than the regular seats. That could help with visibility.


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## Phanuel (Sep 4, 2014)

I don't think NA A3s have start-stop as an option in the US.

NA S3s definitely don't. I have that updated tach dial but no start-stop on my car. It's a button on the dash if you have it to enable-disable it.



Dsocohen said:


> If you spec the S Sport seats, I believe you get shorter rear head rests than the regular seats. That could help with visibility.


Oh, I have the SSport Seats. I need to put the headrests down. They're way too high right now. But I've only had the car for 18 hours and put 14 miles on it.


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## Dsocohen (Apr 19, 2015)

Phanuel said:


> I don't think NA A3s have start-stop as an option in the US.
> 
> NA S3s definitely don't. I have that updated tach dial but no start-stop on my car. It's a button on the dash if you have it to enable-disable it.
> 
> ...


That's cost-cutting for you. No sense in maintaining two tach styles when one will technically suffice. Totally dumb to have off and ready indications yet they have no usable meaning for NA S3 owners. I would rather just have the 0 indicator.


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## high_octaneGTI (Nov 10, 2007)

Alloy07 said:


> A photo of the " homelink " IMO looks very clean in person.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Have u been able to setup your homelink? I'm having some trouble with mine


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## Phanuel (Sep 4, 2014)

CbutterK said:


> or, pay only $130 for the same thing : http://www.ebay.com/itm/Audi-Paddles-/221457810795?hash=item338fea056b&vxp=mtr;)


Also, been looking around and my Googlefu is failing me. Does anyone have a 2015 A3/S3 guide for removing the airbag to get access to the steering wheel components?


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## DAC350 (Aug 25, 2014)

Alloy, is it still the larger key fob/key? I was hoping the would change it to the none switchblade/smallerkey fob.


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## Phanuel (Sep 4, 2014)

Still the same


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## bterra (Mar 15, 2015)

Got my 2016 S3 with the SS Seats about three weeks ago. Still in love!


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## Tuan209 (Apr 14, 2009)

Does the 2016 come with carplay and Android Auto?


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## Ando83 (Feb 14, 2014)

Tuan209 said:


> Does the 2016 come with carplay and Android Auto?


That's been my question as well ever since I ordered a 2016 S3, so I emailed Audi of America last week and got the response below earlier today. I had also asked about the potential for a software update if they didn't initially have CarPlay and Android Auto in the 2016s...

"Hello Mr. [Ando83],

I wanted to follow up with you as promised. After further review, the new Audi A4 and Audi A7 will have CarPlay and Android Auto integration. As far as other models in our line up having these features via a software update, that information has not been released yet. Thank you once again for your patience while I looked into this for you.

Warm regards,

XXXX XXXXXXX
Digital and Social Media Team Leader

Audi of America, Inc.
Customer Experience
3800 Hamlin Road
Auburn Hills, MI 48326
United States of America"


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## Revolver1966 (Mar 30, 2014)

They added SMALLER paddles? That's a stupid decision. If you're going to buy those OEM ones just pay for the S2T replacements and then resell them later


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## crp123 (Jul 10, 2015)

Can someone that has received a new 2016 please list out the changes from the 2015 model? 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## CbutterK (Feb 27, 2015)

crp123 said:


> Can someone that has received a new 2016 please list out the changes from the 2015 model?
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


How about you just read an earlier post that has a link to the changes between 15 & 16?


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## Dsocohen (Apr 19, 2015)

crp123 said:


> Can someone that has received a new 2016 please list out the changes from the 2015 model?
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Pretty sure it's just the smaller shift paddles and rear view mirror shape. I posted a link to a document that details it in this thread.


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## crp123 (Jul 10, 2015)

Thanks I missed that info. My sales person is still looking for the info 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Dsocohen (Apr 19, 2015)

Dsocohen said:


> Pretty sure it's just the smaller shift paddles and rear view mirror shape. I posted a link to a document that details it in this thread.


I reviewed that linked document again and it looks like all S models are now receiving the "new, smaller chrome look paddles". I bet they got standardized across all models to cut costs.


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## Cesar2387 (Nov 12, 2014)

The new smaller paddles still light up?


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## Phanuel (Sep 4, 2014)

Cesar2387 said:


> The new smaller paddles still light up?


I just checked. When the headlights are switch on, yup.


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## Dsocohen (Apr 19, 2015)

It looks like the Black Optics package comes with Pirelli Pzero 235/35/19 while the standard 19" package comes with Continental Contisport 5P 235/35/19. Can OP confirm?


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## Ronan1 (Mar 5, 2008)

high_octaneGTI said:


> The white with the black optic looks awesome. Congrats!
> 
> 
> I got my 2016 S3 yesterday as well


How does the power/speed compare to your BT GTI? I've a Mk5 here too, but she's all stock and whups the TDI A3 I just picked up


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## Cesar2387 (Nov 12, 2014)

Dsocohen said:


> It looks like the Black Optics package comes with Pirelli Pzero 235/35/19 while the standard 19" package comes with Continental Contisport 5P 235/35/19. Can OP confirm?


Mine camee with Continental.


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## high_octaneGTI (Nov 10, 2007)

Ronan1 said:


> How does the power/speed compare to your BT GTI? I've a Mk5 here too, but she's all stock and whups the TDI A3 I just picked up


The s3 has some power. But sadly it's no match for my Mkv lol


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## Revolver1966 (Mar 30, 2014)

high_octaneGTI said:


> The s3 has some power. But sadly it's no match for my Mkv lol


What'd you do to your Mk5? The jump from stock to stage 1 on the Mk7 is night and day. The S3 will be mind blowing tuned.'


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## high_octaneGTI (Nov 10, 2007)

Revolver1966 said:


> What'd you do to your Mk5? The jump from stock to stage 1 on the Mk7 is night and day. The S3 will be mind blowing tuned.'


Mkv is fully built and should be close to 500whp as of right now


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## Alloy07 (Jul 16, 2014)

Dsocohen said:


> It looks like the Black Optics package comes with Pirelli Pzero 235/35/19 while the standard 19" package comes with Continental Contisport 5P 235/35/19. Can OP confirm?


Mine came with Continentals !


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## Alloy07 (Jul 16, 2014)

high_octaneGTI said:


> Have u been able to setup your homelink? I'm having some trouble with mine


I just programmed the homelink to open the garage door, followed the instructions included in the owners manual and it worked perfect only took a few seconds.


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## high_octaneGTI (Nov 10, 2007)

Alloy07 said:


> I just programmed the homelink to open the garage door, followed the instructions included in the owners manual and it worked perfect only took a few seconds.


What page in the manual? I've looked through it 3 times and couldn't find it


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## C5Bill (Jul 21, 2015)

*HomeLink instructions*



high_octaneGTI said:


> What page in the manual? I've looked through it 3 times and couldn't find it


For my 2016 S3, the HomeLink instructions were on a separate card in the glove box. The dealer went over it during delivery.

Bill


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## Alloy07 (Jul 16, 2014)

high_octaneGTI said:


> What page in the manual? I've looked through it 3 times and couldn't find it


It was a separate card just on Homelink, it was in the Audi case that held the owners manual. I just took a photo of it, hope this helps.


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## high_octaneGTI (Nov 10, 2007)

Alloy07 said:


> It was a separate card just on Homelink, it was in the Audi case that held the owners manual. I just took a photo of it, hope this helps.


Awesome! Thanks!


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## HalvieCuw (Mar 20, 2003)

Revolver1966 said:


> What'd you do to your Mk5? The jump from stock to stage 1 on the Mk7 is night and day. The S3 will be mind blowing tuned.'


a 114-116 trap car is now mind blowing? is a stock 5.0 mind blowing? christ, you people have low expectations.


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