As far as I'm aware the 8P and the Mk5 don't share any switchgear at all. Maybe the wiper stalk, but that'll be your lot. And you say they drive completely differently having driven one? Owned one? The same criticisms are aimed at the S3, but when I test drove an S3 and an Ed30 back to back their handling was basically the same. What the extra weight takes away the extra grip gives back.
I'm gonna stick to my guns on this and say that the RS3 is the same car as the ones you've all bought. And brand new, your Eddy brand new would have only been a few k shy of the RS3 and considering that VW is lower in the brand ladder than Audi that makes sense.
I feel there is a lack of objectivity in this thread. I'm happy to say the BMW is a better car to drive (objective), that it's better value (objective), but that it's ugly (subjective) and I just don't want one. Whereas you keep insisting on comparing apples with oranges to get your point across. Your 2nd hand Eddy value vs. new value of the RS3 is an example. Totally disregarding the fact that the RS3 is now obsolete whereas the M135i is a brand new model another.
I'm not here to say the RS3 is a good car. If it was £35k with buckets and standard then I might have felt that way. (I say might, I probably still wouldn't have.) £40k is a rip off imho, particularly now that it's at the end of it's model cycle. For the same money I'd have had a 2nd hand TT-RS and either a Mk5 GT TDI or an A3 Sportback TDI with the change for daily duties.
But as I've already mentioned, you all are members of a forum dedicated to a version of exactly the same car, and as much as you mock Audi they make all of VAG's most dynamically capable cars.
And the cars that handle the best must be the best, right? I mean that's what your all saying isn't it? It's not as of people have other criteria when buying cars, is it?