I had a good 20minute test drive today in a 62 plate with 2500 miles on it, from five oaks Audi. It was a very basic spec, but quite competitive at £38991. I turned up open minded, not wanted to like what in my eyes was quite a dated A3 with a nice lairy engine.......
From the moment it started I was impressed, memories of my RS4 came flooding back. On the road it felt very composed, whilst driving normally to warm it up, suspension is hard but very compliment, and the exhaust noise was lovely. Once it had warmed up, I pushed the lever in manual mode, and flicked the paddle back into 2nd gear at approx 35 mph and floored the throttle....OMG, what a noise and the acceleration is just ferocious, and the grip, on the occasionally damp roads, was unbelievable. Having only covered 2500 the engine felt tight, and I'm sure with another 10,000 miles under the bonnet, it would loosen up nicely. The test drive lasted 25 minutes or so, covering a number of different roads, of fairly hard driving, but never above 3 figures, and I was suitably impressed at the end to see the mpg around the 23 mark! Not far off what the Ed35 would be. Cruising on the motorway at approx 75-80 was very relaxed due to the 7th gear. And on the subject of gearboxes in manual mode it will happily bounce of off the rev limiter until you flick the paddle - it was nice to have full control.
What I car, I want one, I'm feeling the Ed35 will go up for sale first thing tomorrow, but I'd also like to drive the M135, which I've got coming in a couple of weeks, but I just don't know how it will better the RS3. Coupled with the great residuals, the RS3 could be quite e performance car bargain for me.
Spec wise, what do I want?;
Colour - Misano red, Daytona grey or white (loving Misano best, which is strange as I've never been a red car fan)
Bose
Rain and light pack - used to it on previous cars
Interior light pack - nice to have
Matt aluminium styling pack - in my view finishes off the front of the car
Buckets would be nice but not essential
Titanium wheels, although I could refurb other colours to match
Cruise - although this can be added
Privacy - not essential though, as my youngest is now 3.
Adaptive headlights - because I'm used to them, although I do very little night driving
Electric folding mirrors
To be fair looking back on that list, it looks like I'd be happy with a fairly basic spec! Haha
Anyone want to buy a fully loaded (bar sunroof and suspension) Golf GTI Edition 35 5 door DSG with 9000 miles?...........
