I’m going to try how long I can resist the urge to tune it. 
4 Likes
I love this car, however I hope Audi USA will also introduce the RS3 Sportback and RS4 Avant to the United States.
4 Likes
Couldn’t agree more. I think the mk7.5 Golf R was a masterpiece aesthetically - if we had a hatch option for the RS3, i would have 100% picked up one of those
3 Likes
Rs4 avant- would be nice
4 Likes
I find it weird that you don’t already have them in the states; I’m sure wagons were popular in the past. I suppose it was the rise of the SUV, but still. At least you have the RS6 Avant now lol.
3 Likes
Yeah I don’t get it. Why don’t they just ship a few our way? they’d fly off the lots
2 Likes
I believe this comes down to personal preference, but there is also the advantage of hatchback usability. I’ve crammed some strange items in my a3 8p hatchback that wouldn’t have been doable in a sedan.
Personally, I think hatchbacks look more cooler, but that is just my opinion. I simply believe they look slick for some reason. I would absolutely purchase an S3 Sportback/Avante. In reality, this is the one reason I will not purchase a current generation A3 or RS3.
3 Likes
All true statements.
There’s a reason I bought an SQ5. But I would have loved to own an S3/S4 Sportback instead
2 Likes
There is just something about a hatchback… I dont know exactly why I love them so much, but I do
1 Like
I am coming from a GTI and can’t wait to get mine. Should be an animal. I used to own a 2014 stage 2 STI, which I believe had equivalent power to an R. How much of a difference was there in raw acceleration from the seat feel between the R and the RS3?
2 Likes
From a GTI will be a massive step.
Stock to stock the RS3 is substantial over a Mk8 R, which is significantly faster than a stock mk7 R. By the numbers the Mk8 R will do a very low 4 second 0-60 and 12.5ish 1/4 mile at around 112mph. The RS3 will do a mid 3 second 0-60 with a 11.8ish 1/4 at 118 or so.
Seat of the pants the RS3 launch control hits much harder. They both are a touch soft for the first few feet, but the rs3 then digs in and goes where the R spends more time slipping the clutch out at nearly 5k rpm. The RS3 is much more dramatic.
The R engine and trans combo is more responsive which will make the day to day driving more engaging, but once the RS3 is opened up it’s a different ball game stock to stock.
The Mk8 R is pretty tunable however and a lot of the stock components are pretty capable so you can get pretty far without spending a ton of money as you don’t need to swap a lot of stuff out. A tune and intercooler will put the mk8 R as fast or a touch quicker than the RS3. And there are affordable turbo upgrades that put the R well over 500hp for only a few thousand bucks - APR stage three is ~445 wheel HP on 93 oct and 500 wheel hp on race gas - both of which are similar numbers or a touch higher than an RS3 with an ECU tune.
If money is not of concern, then the RS3 wins again, because there are lots of people tuning them to insane numbers, but the cost per hp is much much higher in general.
It should be said that there are road blocks. The RS3 controllers are currently still mostly locked down, with a ECU tune hopefully being possible soon, but the TCU being unknown. The R ECU is tunable, but TCU is only tunable on some mk8s - generally the newer mk8s are not yet tunable.
(came from a GTI, but currently own both a stock mk8 Golf R and a stock 8y RS3)
1 Like
My Golf R has been running IE stage 2 with a few bolt-ons for a while, so the butt dyno claims the RS3 has slightly less power from a dig. At highway speeds, it’s substantially more powerful, accelerating from 60 to 80 mph without strain or hesitation. I don’t think I’ll carry her beyond stage 1. I can already tell that there is a lot to be released from just a more aggressive ECU map and possibly a minor TCU tweak.