2000 Audi A3 S3 review from UK and Ireland

Taking it in for a service shortly to have 2 jobs completed:-

1. The engine is making a strange noise and I believe it needs the distributor belt replaced (a friend's audi was making the same noise and it was this belt).

2. Anti-roll bar bushes. Common problem with all S3's which manifests itself as a load creaking noise from the suspension.

This is the 3rd Audi A3 variant I've had (previous 1.6 Sport and 1.8T Sport) and I have found them all to be reliable. Saying that, they do seem to have many design faults so when they go in for a service the bill is generally quite high. Audi dealers in my experience are very poor on service and charge extorniate rates...

The S3 is a great all-rounder in my opinion. I test drove a brand new subaru wrx and was going to get one, but just wasn't happy with the image or interior (isn't that bad actually) and after driving an S3 felt the performance was just the same. Although it's got the quattro 4-wheel drive system, the handling isn't that great when cornering at speed (lots of understeer) compared to a subaru, but is more than acceptable.

The S3 has understated looks, but still get's noticed especially by the girls! The interior is great, leather recaros, bose stereo (on certain models), electric sunroof, a great dash and other extras such as ESP.

The performance is excellent as well, my car is the 210bhp model, but what I like most is that the delivery is very linear and smooth. At low revs (under 3000) your often waiting for the boost to come in, but nothing like a Type-R which I test drove and felt slow until hitting the high band. Also, with it being a turbo they're are lots of specialist tuners out there (AMD, APR in particular) who can easily get 265bhp for around £600.

The problem with the S3 when new was the cost, but they have become much more reasonable now and should hold their value. I would recommend taking out the Audi extended warranty as I know some S3 owners have been hit with big bills (if the 4-wheel drive system is faulty). The insurance group is 17 which is not too bad for a car like this, and one great benefit is variable servicing by Audi on this model. Essentially, depending on how they are driven the service gaps can be as high as nearly 2 years or 20,000 miles. It is not unusual to find a 4 year old S3 that has had only 2 services. This keeps the costs down on pointless yearly services when the car is fine. Petrol consumption is not great, using Optimax a tank costs around £50 (90p per litre) and I'd expect to get 280 miles at best, 220 miles at worst.

In summary I am very happy with my car and would definitely recommend one to anyone wanting a understated, very comfortable fast car.