RS3 was always less involving than the S3 8P tho... more of a fast capable every day car than a performance hot hatch...
I'd have the Golf over the equivalent A3 anyday... have you been inside both cars?? Mk7 is FAR nicer.
Obviously in your humble opinion..
However, having owned both, and still own the RS3, I would have to disagree at every level with this. The RS3 is by far the superior hot hatch, especially now with decent tyres on(F1's) , rather than the horrible and hard con ti's it came with - The handling is so much more responsive now, with less understeer. I always found the S3 was a better drive after the re-map, the steering just felt better?? Low to mid 4's to 60mph on the RS3 , certainly puts it in some interesting territory.
Ive test driven the new S3, in manual guise, and it seemed miles off the RS3 for performance, but the gearbox can give a similar illusion.
Back On topic, I like the look of the Mk7 R, however I can't stand the quad exhausts, very overkill in the looks department, and I fear I would miss the 5 pot burble, if I changed, and I have considered it..... To be fair it's my wife's car, and she's happy in the RS, perfect for the school run.........
On the subject of options, we love gadgets. My new kombi has £9K of factory options, then I spent another £6k on it on arrival
But its very special!
I like the interiors on both, we have some Mk7's on my fleet, and as above been in the new S3. Both interiors work for me