# my chronicle, 2015 S3



## 2.0TurboA3 (Dec 21, 2001)

I won't call it a build thread since I am not planning on doing much to it besides the normal bolt ons and a tune. That being said, I will be doing as much driving and will share my thoughts as I go.
Initial thoughts:
I haven't put that many miles on the car yet and I am trying to break it in responsibly. That being said, I have had some stop n go traffic, a spirited jaunt up the interstate and a mild ride through some twisties. Initial traffic summary is that it is much smoother ride without all the shifting. Highway, she pulls hard. I was in regular drive on the dsg and dynamic mode and a worked wrx tried to pull away. He was unsuccessful and quite shocked, as was I, since I wasn't even trying very hard getting to triple digits. It is very responsive and boost comes on strong and smooth. In sport mode, the car changes completely. It becomes mean and angry. Boost is right there, shifts are hard and deliberate with a noticeable bark during gear changes, and you get a real sense of why this is an S car. Going to a local gtg tonight I took a nice twisty road that had a pretty heavy police presence so I didn't get to really test any limits, but my initial impression is that it will be very capable with the large brakes she sits down very quick so I definitely got into them a couple times to check performance. Very happy with stopping power even if I wasn't on the gas that hard to warrant it. Steering and the magnetic ride are enjoyable and make you feel very connected to the car and the road. 19's are nice but do add an additional bit of stiffness to the ride, but they look great, so I will suck it up. Two things that I would change, needs a rear sway. Maybe I got spoiled by my R, but it definitely has some body roll, not much, but I think the sway will make it exceptional. Lastly, the radar based lane assist and whatever else it has effectively rendered my valentine 1 useless and annoying.

Hopefully some may find this useful.
FYI, it is a Daytona launch edition. .


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## 2.0TurboA3 (Dec 21, 2001)

Previous car that I am comparing it to
2013 Golf R, 1+ vw racing springs and stabilla rear sway set on lightest setting.


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## Wiley337 (May 1, 2002)

2.0TurboA3 said:


> I will be doing as much driving and will share my thoughts as I go.


Thanks for the details, and keep sharing.


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## 2.0TurboA3 (Dec 21, 2001)

Well, little over 500 miles on the clock now. Getting used to the dsg and it has proven itself to be excellent in my commute. Car and throttle are very responsive, especially when someone is trying to cut in line 
Plenty of power, but doesn't pull as hard as my stage 1+ golf R. Although, I haven't stomped my foot to the floor in sport mode yet either. Took an on ramp that I have played on before and even at 80 the car felt planted, at least as well as my R with vw motorsport springs and rear sway, if not better. 
Getting used to the downshifting in traffic as it is rather hard, but not an issue, just used to doing it myself when I wanted. Still haven't used the paddles much, plenty of time for that. Planning on a country drive soon to test her out a little more.


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## dajiggalo (Jun 13, 2012)

interesting write-up.... I'm in the same boat (I have a 2012 Golf R, HPA Stage 1), thinking about an S3. I need the 4 doors for family reasons, but I'm a little reluctant due to the DSG (I'd miss manual transmissions too much)


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## IHIERBal (Sep 26, 2014)

dajiggalo said:


> interesting write-up.... I'm in the same boat (I have a 2012 Golf R, HPA Stage 1), thinking about an S3. I need the 4 doors for family reasons, but I'm a little reluctant due to the DSG (I'd miss manual transmissions too much)


I just took my S3 home Monday (3 days ago), after coming from 8 previous vehicles that were all 5/6 speed I can't say I miss it THAT much. I still on occasion hop in and my left foot looks for a clutch pedal to start the car. Or when I have to come to a fairly quick stop, my left foot automatically raises to down shift. Other than having to get used to it, like I said before, I'm not missing it too much so far.


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## UGA1988 (Jul 24, 2014)

Thanks for the review as I am still trying to decide on the A3 or the S3. 

I was wondering what you meant when you said " the radar based lane assist and whatever else it has effectively rendered my valentine 1 useless and annoying".

What options do you feel do not work correctly or intrude into the driving experience? Thanks!


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## DaLeadBull (Feb 15, 2011)

2.0TurboA3 said:


> Well, little over 500 miles on the clock now. Getting used to the dsg and it has proven itself to be excellent in my commute. Car and throttle are very responsive, especially when someone is trying to cut in line
> Plenty of power, but doesn't pull as hard as my stage 1+ golf R. Although, I haven't stomped my foot to the floor in sport mode yet either. Took an on ramp that I have played on before and even at 80 the car felt planted, at least as well as my R with vw motorsport springs and rear sway, if not better.
> Getting used to the downshifting in traffic as it is rather hard, but not an issue, just used to doing it myself when I wanted. Still haven't used the paddles much, plenty of time for that. Planning on a country drive soon to test her out a little more.


Thanks for your impressions. Can you compare it stock for stock with the mk6 R, or even stage 1 R to stock S3 if you've had prior experience when your R was just stage 1 with nothing else?


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## Xanlith (Apr 19, 2014)

UGA1988 said:


> I was wondering what you meant when you said " the radar based lane assist and whatever else it has effectively rendered my valentine 1 useless and annoying".


Apparently the radar used by the lane assist sets off the Valentine 1's and Passports non stop. Escort has posted on their webpage they are looking into ways to filter it out but as of yet have no solution. Can anyone with ATP confirm you can turn off the radar if you wanted to still use the radar detector from time to time?


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## 2.0TurboA3 (Dec 21, 2001)

IHIERBal said:


> I just took my S3 home Monday (3 days ago), after coming from 8 previous vehicles that were all 5/6 speed I can't say I miss it THAT much. I still on occasion hop in and my left foot looks for a clutch pedal to start the car. Or when I have to come to a fairly quick stop, my left foot automatically raises to down shift. Other than having to get used to it, like I said before, I'm not missing it too much so far.


Same here. I look for it now and again, but definitely not feeling like it's missing anything while driving.



UGA1988 said:


> Thanks for the review as I am still trying to decide on the A3 or the S3.
> 
> I was wondering what you meant when you said " the radar based lane assist and whatever else it has effectively rendered my valentine 1 useless and annoying".
> 
> What options do you feel do not work correctly or intrude into the driving experience? Thanks!


 if you don't have a radar detector that picks up K pop signal this won't be an issue. The lane assist and adaptive cruise are all cool features and definitely add to the experience, I would say this is a big enough issue to warrant leaving it off, I just need to get my v1 updated to allow me to shut off k pop, my version has an older software so it needs an update.



DaLeadBull said:


> Thanks for your impressions. Can you compare it stock for stock with the mk6 R, or even stage 1 R to stock S3 if you've had prior experience when your R was just stage 1 with nothing else?


 I would say it is difficult to compare them apples to apples. If I were to try I would say that the R, because of the manual I would really just pull in 3rd gear because that seemed to be the longest to redline. With the S, if you stand on it from go, it pulls seamlessly through all the gears so I would say that the S feels faster than even my 1+ R, due only to my personal driving style. From a roll at say 60, my R felt faster at 1+ (because it was), stock I would say the S feels quicker because the downshifts are more scientific as opposed to my row and go manual driving style which would, at times require grabbing another gear to get the right outcome. I hope that helps, it is a very similar car in many aspects but the fit and finish is great. I would recommend the S for sure. Stock for stock suspension definitely goes to the S, but with the magnetic ride and 19's, it isn't really a fair comparison there either.



Xanlith said:


> Apparently the radar used by the lane assist sets off the Valentine 1's and Passports non stop. Escort has posted on their webpage they are looking into ways to filter it out but as of yet have no solution. Can anyone with ATP confirm you can turn off the radar if you wanted to still use the radar detector from time to time?


I have not been able to find a way to turn it off yet, the option to turn it off described in the manual is just the audible warning, not the radar itself.


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## 2.0TurboA3 (Dec 21, 2001)

Did my first two hundred mile round trip in the car and had a good time doing it. There was a ton of traffic on the way back so spirited driving was kept too a minimum. On the way out though, it was hard to keep it under 80. Car feels natural there and has a great response to throttle pressure. Interior is very comfortable with a couple hours of sitting. Did use the cruise on the way out but not long enough to understand the adaptive part. TBH, not even sure if the car has it. Can anyone else who has a Daytona launch edition confirm it as an included option.


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## araemo (Dec 9, 2012)

2.0TurboA3 said:


> Did my first two hundred mile round trip in the car and had a good time doing it. There was a ton of traffic on the way back so spirited driving was kept too a minimum. On the way out though, it was hard to keep it under 80. Car feels natural there and has a great response to throttle pressure. Interior is very comfortable with a couple hours of sitting. Did use the cruise on the way out but not long enough to understand the adaptive part. TBH, not even sure if the car has it. Can anyone else who has a Daytona launch edition confirm it as an included option.


Simple check: does it have the cyclops eye below the license plate? If not, it doesn't have adaptive cruise control:









Pics of launch edition cars don't have that, so I'm, going to say no.


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## davera3 (Jul 26, 2014)

dajiggalo said:


> ... but I'm a little reluctant due to the DSG (I'd miss manual transmissions too much)


Coming from my manual GTI, I thought I would feel the same, but its still manual enough that I'm not missing the clutch (this is on my little A3, not the S3, but same tranny).


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## 2.0TurboA3 (Dec 21, 2001)

araemo said:


> Simple check: does it have the cyclops eye below the license plate? If not, it doesn't have adaptive cruise control:
> 
> Pics of launch edition cars don't have that, so I'm, going to say no.


Thanks for the info, makes sense. No adaptive cruise. Not sure I'm upset about that.


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## GordV (Sep 28, 2014)

2.0TurboA3 said:


> Thanks for the info, makes sense. No adaptive cruise. Not sure I'm upset about that.


I had adaptive cruise on a prior vehicle (an Infiniti) and I really didn't like it. It is now an "anti-feature" for me. Two main reasons (for me) -- first, it was way too quick to aggressively slow down when vehicles cut in front too closely (common issue!) and, second, it seemed to be much more sensitive to other "nanny" effects such as slowing down around moderate highway corners, etc. Basically trying too hard to mimic common behaviors that I consider to be very annoying in other drivers. It could easily be that other adaptive cruise s/w is better and incorporate fewer "nanny effects" but I disliked it enough that I avoid it now and would really want to test a system thoroughly before buying one again.


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## 2.0TurboA3 (Dec 21, 2001)

GordV said:


> I had adaptive cruise on a prior vehicle (an Infiniti) and I really didn't like it. It is now an "anti-feature" for me. Two main reasons (for me) -- first, it was way too quick to aggressively slow down when vehicles cut in front too closely (common issue!) and, second, it seemed to be much more sensitive to other "nanny" effects such as slowing down around moderate highway corners, etc. Basically trying too hard to mimic common behaviors that I consider to be very annoying in other drivers. It could easily be that other adaptive cruise s/w is better and incorporate fewer "nanny effects" but I disliked it enough that I avoid it now and would really want to test a system thoroughly before buying one again.


Good info, thanks for sharing. I could definitely see that being a pita around here with all the ******* drivers.


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## 2.0TurboA3 (Dec 21, 2001)

Plate bracket came off today after work. Got the tow hook bracket for when the time comes. Until then, the clean look


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## SCHWAB0 (Dec 6, 2004)

There's a perfect opportunity for AoA to get the Golf R crowd to spend a bit more and upgrade to an S3, and most are hesitant due to the lack of manual. I know we're beating a dead horse here, but otherwise the car is perfect.

Congrats on the ride man, but that left foot needs some lovin' too .. at least for this guy


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## 2.0TurboA3 (Dec 21, 2001)

SCHWAB0 said:


> There's a perfect opportunity for AoA to get the Golf R crowd to spend a bit more and upgrade to an S3, and most are hesitant due to the lack of manual. I know we're beating a dead horse here, but otherwise the car is perfect.
> 
> Congrats on the ride man, but that left foot needs some lovin' too .. at least for this guy


I agree, they could have created a mass exodus from the R to the S if they made a manual. And, given the opportunity to select a manual I would have. I don't feel, however, that they compromised the car by not offering it. As I said in an earlier post it is a different driving experience with the dsg that gives feedback in other ways besides the 3rd pedal. The mag ride and the drive select make for a positive connection. The manual shift mode helps to keep you connected as well. I just turn my stereo up and tap my left foot on the dead pedal to the beat.


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