[dmboone25]

Originally Posted by shivaswrath

Direct competitor to the RS3 is an M3....oh wait.

So as a current owner, how do you like it? I know people here are biased towards the RWD setup, but how would you compare the feel of the RS3 to your E92?

I am honestly interested in your thoughts - I can't wait to see the car this weekend at the Chicago auto show. How are you liking the looks? I don't think it looks as understated as some do, but I wonder if the lack of fender flares would bother me or not.

It's a really pretty car to me, especially from the front and sides. The 3/4 view is where you lose some of that bulldog stance that you get with the M2/3...

[Zombie_Head]

Originally Posted by Em/1

Forget NAV, just a screen to connect to phone!

At the time, it seemed like a good idea, till you have ugly cables running across the dash, phone vibrating and shaking on the mount, constantly losing GPS signals here and there.

Id stick with a factory NAV and keep everything else manual and simple.

[brianeck]

Originally Posted by Zombie_Head

At the time, it seemed like a good idea, till you have ugly cables running across the dash, phone vibrating and shaking on the mount, constantly losing GPS signals here and there.

Id stick with a factory NAV and keep everything else manual and simple.

The thing in both cars (and all across the audi BMW, MB lineup really) right now is a completely wasted and tacky looking visual setup. I preferred my e90 3 series "hump screen" to the repurposed iPod - honestly everything you can do in the car can be done through the controls and the actual gauge display at this point. Why glue on a crappy old iPad?

Personally I'd much rather have my jb4 magnet phone mount it's way less invasive and at least there is a reason it looks "aftermarket" and stuck on.

There is no design element to the screens at all. MB is the worst culprit all around. But seriously you just dont need those middle screens at all if you have digital gauge cluster, and touch screen controls for heating/cooling don't even get me started in how frustrating and distracting that is while you're trying to look at the friggin road.

[M3 Adjuster]

Originally Posted by bLiTzKrG

Owned many BMW and (awd) Audi. If you want a fun factory setup - BMW hands down. You can tune an Audi to be more driver oriented (read: fun - less under steer) but it's not that way even in the RS from the factory in my opinion. Not saying they both are not fast from the factory though. You also have to adapt to the AWD in your driving style (slower in - faster off) which many people don't like / aren't used to - which again = less fun for most. Finally if you are only capable of driving at 90% - which most are or should be on public roads - both are great. I prefer the more aggressive styling and more engaging driving experience of the BMW's - but both have their merits.

@dmboone25 are you listening ?

[M3 Adjuster]

Originally Posted by akkando

Sand bags in the trunk and winter tires!

kitty litter is a better option than straight sand . Also can be transferred to the cat box later.

Rock salt also has dual uses but can be corrosive if left inside your trunk and a bag breaks open.

[M3 Adjuster]

Originally Posted by dmboone25

This could be an option if my better half didn't also park in the garage AND have a ton of shit that we store out there. I will never understand how ladies accumulate so much stuff.

The other issue is that we are renting, so I try not to put too many things into the walls for ease of moving on @ the end of lease time.

Problem found !!

Assuming you aren't going to ship the girl out .... you need to Stop looking at cars and start looking at homes.

Your rental lifestyle is cramping your car guy style. You need to have about 4 stacks of tires in the garage plus the M3.

A set of all seasons , summer only , and some track tires. Additional wheel and tire sets are CHEAP compared to selling off your depreciating, overly discounted lease M3.

I'm curious for you to get done with your window shopping... all you really need to do is head to your local audi dealer today and test drive an A3. The difference between an M240 and an M2 is large but it's an improvement of say 20-30 percent at best. It won't take long in any A3 in your normal environment, driving it like you would your M3 to determine if this is a driving style you will favor.

At any rate .. on to the auto show .. where you can sit in it and do everything BUT drive it.

[dmboone25]

Originally Posted by M3 Adjuster

@dmboone25 are you listening ?

Of course! We are all biased though.

[M3 Adjuster]

Originally Posted by dmboone25

Of course! We are all biased though.

Yes. And I would bet you would hear the same things from a prior merc owner driving a bmw if you were considering a CLA45.. it's a nice looking car ..

[///M2Seoul]

Originally Posted by dmboone25

So as a current owner, how do you like it? I know people here are biased towards the RWD setup, but how would you compare the feel of the RS3 to your E92?

I am honestly interested in your thoughts - I can't wait to see the car this weekend at the Chicago auto show. How are you liking the looks? I don't think it looks as understated as some do, but I wonder if the lack of fender flares would bother me or not.

It's a really pretty car to me, especially from the front and sides. The 3/4 view is where you lose some of that bulldog stance that you get with the M2/3...

For what it's worth, I went back and forth and back and forth for months before finally deciding to buy the RS3. For me and my personal needs it was more practical, but in all honesty, I kinda regret it.

Don't get me wrong, the RS3 is nice, but it is rather boring. The car feels rather numb and unexciting. As a daily driver I love it though. It's comfy and really nice to be in especially with the weather we've had in the past week here in Chicago. My in-laws and friends all appreciate the fact it has four doors. And of course when you need the extra oomph, the car definitely has it.

As far as looks is concerned, hands down it is the M2. The RS3 is rather plain Jane. Unless you're an enthusiast it is really hard to distinguish from the A3 and S3.

In the end, I think if I had bought the M2 instead of the RS3, I wouldn't have this lingering feeling of regret. The M2 will pull at the heartstrings and will not disappoint, and this is coming from a current RS3 owner.

[Fear-Mongrel]

Originally Posted by ///M2Seoul

For what it's worth, I went back and forth and back and forth for months before finally deciding to buy the RS3. For me and my personal needs it was more practical, but in all honesty, I kinda regret it.

Don't get me wrong, the RS3 is nice, but it is rather boring. The car feels rather numb and unexciting. As a daily driver I love it though. It's comfy and really nice to be in especially with the weather we've had in the past week here in Chicago. My in-laws and friends all appreciate the fact it has four doors. And of course when you need the extra oomph, the car definitely has it.

As far as looks is concerned, hands down it is the M2. The RS3 is rather plain Jane. Unless you're an enthusiast it is really hard to distinguish from the A3 and S3.

In the end, I think if I had bought the M2 instead of the RS3, I wouldn't have this lingering feeling of regret. The M2 will pull at the heartstrings and will not disappoint, and this is coming from a current RS3 owner.

This kind of candor is pretty refreshing - it's not easy for people to get past the cognitive dissonance and tell it like it is, better or worse. I did see a Youtube video, I forget where it was done, maybe South Africa, really well done with high production quality, you may have seen it too. They compared the two cars, and while they were hot for the M2, they did concede that if they had to deal with traffic, and stop and go, and weather, etc. etc. they'd be happier living with the RS3. So while you may have regrets, at the end of the day you're driving a sweet machine that most people will never get to experience. And you've got build quality, interior materials and fit and finish that few other automakers can match. Have you ever looked closely at the shut lines and panel gaps on these new Audis? Good luck finding even the slightest variation. I think that's pretty cool...every time you walk up to it, you know that you're about to drive something that was put together right.

[akkando]

Originally Posted by brianeck

The thing in both cars (and all across the audi BMW, MB lineup really) right now is a completely wasted and tacky looking visual setup. I preferred my e90 3 series "hump screen" to the repurposed iPod - honestly everything you can do in the car can be done through the controls and the actual gauge display at this point. Why glue on a crappy old iPad?

Personally I'd much rather have my jb4 magnet phone mount it's way less invasive and at least there is a reason it looks "aftermarket" and stuck on.

There is no design element to the screens at all. MB is the worst culprit all around. But seriously you just dont need those middle screens at all if you have digital gauge cluster, and touch screen controls for heating/cooling don't even get me started in how frustrating and distracting that is while you're trying to look at the friggin road.

Hmm yea, if the digital gauge cluster duplicates pretty much all the functionality of the "nav" screen it's pretty redundant and it's in the wrong place. They all look tacked on, but I rather have them than nothing at all and no digital gauge cluster.

[akkando]

Originally Posted by M3 Adjuster

Yes. And I would bet you would hear the same things from a prior merc owner driving a bmw if you were considering a CLA45.. it's a nice looking car ..

The CLA45 is not a nice looking car.

[M3 Adjuster]

Originally Posted by akkando

The CLA45 is not a nice looking car.

I agree.. but that's about the best thing that can be said about it.. and actually.. specifically the issue that dmboone25 has is with regards to vehicle INTERIORS.


He feels the M2 is low rent..
The M3/M4 are acceptable.. but just barely..
He hopes to find Porsche interior at Audi pricing. but just hasn't realized that the Audi driving experience is low rent compared to BMW and Porsche.

[M3 Adjuster]

Originally Posted by ///M2Seoul

For what it's worth, I went back and forth and back and forth for months before finally deciding to buy the RS3. For me and my personal needs it was more practical, but in all honesty, I kinda regret it.

Don't get me wrong, the RS3 is nice, but it is rather boring. The car feels rather numb and unexciting. As a daily driver I love it though. It's comfy and really nice to be in especially with the weather we've had in the past week here in Chicago. My in-laws and friends all appreciate the fact it has four doors. And of course when you need the extra oomph, the car definitely has it.

As far as looks is concerned, hands down it is the M2. The RS3 is rather plain Jane. Unless you're an enthusiast it is really hard to distinguish from the A3 and S3.

In the end, I think if I had bought the M2 instead of the RS3, I wouldn't have this lingering feeling of regret. The M2 will pull at the heartstrings and will not disappoint, and this is coming from a current RS3 owner.


__________________

2014 Mercedes AMG CLA 45
2012 Golf R
2003 BMW ///M3

I just wanted to repost your comments and include your sig line..

you currently own an E46 M3.
you currently own an AMG CLA45
you previously owned an Audi RS3
and you currently wish you had purchased a BMW M2

I mean... wow.. throw a Cayman in there and you will have owned practically all of the perceived competitors to the M2.

Have you considered the F80 M3 ?

@dmboone25 appears to be going through the same list of cars..

[Teutonic]

Originally Posted by Em/1

Winter tires are better solution than AWD; of course, if really have to be serious, both would be even more effective.

Sorry to disagree with you, The X1 xDrive with Continental DWS tires is better than my M3 with winter tires.
as a side note, I am aware of the 50;50 distribution, yet, in the snow pulling is better than pushing.
But, I also strongly believe that the M2 will handle snow better than M3 and never had the chance to drive one in the winter with winter tires.
Still, I will keep an X1 kind of vehicle with AWD for winter hands down.

[akkando]

Originally Posted by ///M2Seoul

For what it's worth, I went back and forth and back and forth for months before finally deciding to buy the RS3. For me and my personal needs it was more practical, but in all honesty, I kinda regret it.

Don't get me wrong, the RS3 is nice, but it is rather boring. The car feels rather numb and unexciting. As a daily driver I love it though. It's comfy and really nice to be in especially with the weather we've had in the past week here in Chicago. My in-laws and friends all appreciate the fact it has four doors. And of course when you need the extra oomph, the car definitely has it.

As far as looks is concerned, hands down it is the M2. The RS3 is rather plain Jane. Unless you're an enthusiast it is really hard to distinguish from the A3 and S3.

In the end, I think if I had bought the M2 instead of the RS3, I wouldn't have this lingering feeling of regret. The M2 will pull at the heartstrings and will not disappoint, and this is coming from a current RS3 owner.

The RS3 seems really good for your use case though. It's good at what it's for. Practical, fast, AWD, sounds good, doesn't visually get you attention, and not a huge boat.

[Zombie_Head]

Originally Posted by brianeck

The thing in both cars (and all across the audi BMW, MB lineup really) right now is a completely wasted and tacky looking visual setup. I preferred my e90 3 series "hump screen" to the repurposed iPod - honestly everything you can do in the car can be done through the controls and the actual gauge display at this point. Why glue on a crappy old iPad?

Personally I'd much rather have my jb4 magnet phone mount it's way less invasive and at least there is a reason it looks "aftermarket" and stuck on.

There is no design element to the screens at all. MB is the worst culprit all around. But seriously you just dont need those middle screens at all if you have digital gauge cluster, and touch screen controls for heating/cooling don't even get me started in how frustrating and distracting that is while you're trying to look at the friggin road.

I owned a brand new 2018 Golf R for 6 months, it was all digital and it was nice, but after 2 weeks i missed the simple analog dials and a simple dash, and i returned the car and picking up an E82 instead.

[///M2Seoul]

Originally Posted by M3 Adjuster

I just wanted to repost your comments and include your sig line..

you currently own an E46 M3.
you currently own an AMG CLA45
you previously owned an Audi RS3
and you currently wish you had purchased a BMW M2

I mean... wow.. throw a Cayman in there and you will have owned practically all of the perceived competitors to the M2.

Have you considered the F80 M3 ?

@dmboone25 appears to be going through the same list of cars..

LOL...nono, the E46 is the garage queen. The CLA45 is the wife's car and the Golf R was the previous car which the RS3 replaced.

If I had gone the M2 route, that would've meant selling the E46 M3 and keeping the Golf R. I just couldn't get rid of the M3 though.

[M3 Adjuster]

Originally Posted by ///M2Seoul

LOL...nono, the E46 is the garage queen. The CLA45 is the wife's car and the Golf R was the previous car which the RS3 replaced.

If I had gone the M2 route, that would've meant selling the E46 M3 and keeping the Golf R. I just couldn't get rid of the M3 though.

So what I hear you saying to my friend dmboone25 is that the CLA45 isn't special... and neither is the RS3... and those are both AWD vehicles.. and instead you sold the FRONT wheel drive Golf R and kept the RWD M3 for fun days... because the AWD machines are boring.

[dmboone25]

Originally Posted by M3 Adjuster

I agree.. but that's about the best thing that can be said about it.. and actually.. specifically the issue that dmboone25 has is with regards to vehicle INTERIORS.


He feels the M2 is low rent..
The M3/M4 are acceptable.. but just barely..
He hopes to find Porsche interior at Audi pricing. but just hasn't realized that the Audi driving experience is low rent compared to BMW and Porsche.

It's no fun to be in your crosshairs.

I am going to drive an M2 this weekend....will report back.

[dmboone25]

Originally Posted by M3 Adjuster

I just wanted to repost your comments and include your sig line..

you currently own an E46 M3.
you currently own an AMG CLA45
you previously owned an Audi RS3
and you currently wish you had purchased a BMW M2

I mean... wow.. throw a Cayman in there and you will have owned practically all of the perceived competitors to the M2.

Have you considered the F80 M3 ?

@dmboone25 appears to be going through the same list of cars..

That would be a great list of cars to go through.

[wknddrivr]

Originally Posted by Tracus

I had a large number of cars in my life and worked in the field for a while as well. Except town little driving or (some) cleared highway driving, there is no way that the M2 will be similar with an AWD vehicle regadless how much you and others are screaming “marketing”. How people will make ”extra bucks”, when the M2 is more money than a properly equiped AWD vehicle?
What are you talking about?

Where I am going with the AWD properly equiped, I wasn’t able to go with the M3 and M5 with winter tires. Please keep in mind I am running DWS all seasons, on my xDrive, I dont need two sets of rims and tires, and I dont take my vehicle to the dealership to switch tires; the less my car sees the dealership and the mechanic, the better. No dirty wheels in the trunk and back seats, no teared leather or sagging seats from waiting in the lot loaded with wheels, no bill, no smudges on my seats. Thank you. Plus, front wheels pulling have their benefits in poor traction environment.
Yes, the M’s are very nice vehicles but have their limits.

An AWD is an AWD. To say that 2 wheels equals 4 is not just mathematical wrong but logic too.
Stop fooling yourself, a tire and an LSD is not everything. If three wheels have no traction but the fourth one has, that alone might save the day.
I have all traction systems in my garage and none can handle my hill and snow like the xDrive. Not even a week ago, my neighbour could not PARK in the garage his M3 equiped with snow tires due to the sudden snowfall. He got his lesson I think.
Really, a manufacturer makes the SUV’s AWD beacuse of marketing? If RWD will be better, they wouldn’t bother with a four wheel traction system. C”mon guys, some technical common sense please.

I cant believe I am reading this in here. Is like me saying, Hey my X1 can tow that three ton fifth wheel too, I just need good tires...

I've been driving to ski resorts through mountain passes covered in snow for many years. I've never had an issue with a RWD car with winter tires other than ground clearance.

I'm not saying that x-drive wouldn't have added grip in those situation, but on public roads with good winter tires and a competent driver, its not necessary.

In some extremely steep/icy conditions then yeah I suppose you can make a case for it. But if your use case is that you're too lazy to switch to proper tires for the conditions than you're endangering yourself and everyone on the road because your stopping power is no better with x-drive than it is with RWD. Your tires are far more important.

And yes, most manufacturers make SUVs with AWD for marketing because fairies like you think AWD is necessary when its foggy or drizzly out. 95% of SUVs aren't going off the road. They're for soccer moms who think they're too trendy to drive a minivan. Nobody in the US is buying them for utility. Maybe elsewhere they are, but in the US, no way, people just think they look cool.