GTP Cool Wall: 1999-2003 Audi S3

[RandomCarGuy17]

Going by the Top Gear CW standard; I have to rate this uncool.

 

[Pagey279]

It's usually owned by knobs with "Fresh" or "Dapper" written across their silly hats, driven 2 inches from the rear bumper of the car in front, and when not held up is driven at 5000 miles an hour everywhere.
A bland hot hatch ruined further by the drivers it attracts.

 

[AudiMan2011]

It would have been Cool if it didn't have that boy-racer stigma that's attached to earlier hot hatches.

Meh.

 

[homeforsummer]

Uncool. Bland to behold, cursed with styling whose original clarity has been muddied by Audi's ever-so-slight improvements with every model generation, and allegedly (I've not sampled one myself), not that special to drive, even by the standards of its day. Joe Public wouldn't be able to tell it apart from a basic 1.6 or a 1.9 TDI, and they've now fallen into the hands of oafs so their reputation is unlikely to improve any time soon.

Incidentally, I've just spent the last week or so knocking about in the latest S3 Saloon. Wasn't keen at first, but it grew on me, and this one actually drives pretty well. It even rides properly and steers better than Audis of old. I'd even say it's cool, in the modern, it's-an-aspirational-car-to-non-car-people sense. Though I still had moments where I was a little uncomfortable with the whole Audi image. People seemed quite shocked when I let them out of junctions or let pedestrians cross the street, which implies it doesn't happen often with four rings on the nose.

 

[Murcie_LP640]

While it can't exactly avoid the bland looks, it doesn't have the Audi stigma on this side of the world.

Still, doesn't exactly set the world on fire so I'm going with a Meh.

 

[Wolfe]

Here, Audis seem to be treated like Subarus for people who would otherwise drive a VW or entry level Mercedes-Benz. Actually, come to think of it, I don't think I could pick out the drivers of any single brand as being exceptionally aggressive.

 

[SlipZtrEm]

In Toronto, Audi drivers really have taken over the old stereotype of BMW drivers with a vengeance. Not that it affects this car, since it was never sold here.

It's still Uncool, possibly seriously so. It's a dumpy, sullen-looking thing. The interior was a sensory-deprivation tank, and I've never read a review that wasn't disappointed in it. You know how the B7 RS4, R8, and TT-RS get referred to as the surprisingly good-handling Audis? Yeah, this is on the other side of that divide.

 

[acascianelli]

I voted cool because you don't see them much in the US. I think I've only seen 2 or 3 of these. But, I can't help but feel that they're just a fancier mk4 GTI with AWD.

 

[Tornado]

It's the TT's laughably dumpy looking brother. Uncool,but not seriously so since it's at least sort of a sleeper.

Just FYI, the 1.8t is lighter, cheaper, more reliable than the VR6

Yeah, we know Europe got the mythical turbo Volkswagens that didn't blow up like FD RX-7s.

And Audi never owned the VR6.

Except in the the A3 that replaced this one... And the TT. And the second TT.

Also better built quality than the variants of it (GTI/Curpa)

Looks about the same to me.

 

[homeforsummer]

Looks about the same to me.

Relevant word here. I actually prefer the look of the Golf Mk4's cabin to the otherwise very similar A3, Leon and Octavia from the era, but Audi did at least seem to screw its stuff together a bit better than the others.

 

[Ibonibo]

It's the TT's laughably dumpy looking brother. Uncool,but not seriously so since it's at least sort of a sleeper.

Yes though I find the S3 better looking than the gen1 TT. It became more sleeper with all the 1.6 and TDI putting the bodykit of the S3 on them. It's one of the first and definitly the last modified Bodyshell in the S line (large fenders). Now Audi sadly puts S models out with exactly the same body as the normal variants.

Yeah, we know Europe got the mythical turbo Volkswagens that didn't blow up like FD RX-7s.

Maybe they put unicorns in the engines in Europe But the 150hp and 225hp engines (at least over here) are pretty solid engines, and with a bit of care they last a long time, tuned or not. My chipped engine with 170000km has still the first turbo (which surely has the roots in the care taken of it, but shows that they can hold up)

Except in the the A3 that replaced this one... And the TT. And the second TT.

Yeah the never was a wrong choice of words. Till then fits better. It came in 2003 when it was too late for the 8L. Though the S variants never got the 3,2. It's too heavy making the understeery Audis even understeer more. A direct comparaison between the 1.8T TT and the 3.2 shows this immensely.

Looks about the same to me.

They do look the same, it's the details and the feel.

 

[Aud1]

Does anyone know where I can buy a frame around the license plate like this? "Audi Press Office".
@GranTurismo916 @Katiegan