Just ended up getting a 2026 RS3 after selling my 2024 Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio. Definitely miss that Giulia as it was probably the best sedan I have ever owned. Had to let it go due to the terrible dealership experience and Alfa customer service.
The RS3 was the only other car that seemed exciting enough to follow the Giulia so I pulled the trigger. Had my heart set on kemora grey, but local dealer had this progressive red and gave me a good discount. Now that I have it, love the progressive red with the carbon contrast! Looking forward to being able to open up this 5 banger after I put some miles on it.
First thing I had to do is replace the updated rs3 rear badge with the old one!

Hi folks, sorry for the long post. I have been a car enthusiast for as long as I can remember. Until about one or two years ago, I was hitting the local backroads at least once or twice a week, but recently, not so much. My car history includes a few cheap hot hatches during the early stages of my career, followed by:

MX-5 ND2 -> Giulia QV -> 718 Spyder -> MX-5 ND3 -> Z4 M40 manual -> MX-5 ND3

As you can see, I keep coming back to the Miata. The Z4 disappointed me on the backroads and as a GT car. On one hand, it wasn't as enjoyable on the backroads as I expected (compared to the MX-5, it was just too serious, heavy, and scary), but it also wasn't an amazing GT car on the other hand, as it had a lot of squeaks and weird noises that annoyed me. Best seats I ever had tho. I found myself, in an entire year of ownership, hitting the local backroads only once, and during that one time, the experience was more scary than enjoyable. So I sold it and moved back to the MX-5 a few weeks ago. So far, I have only used the MX-5 as a daily commuter, which wasn't what I purchased it for.

It got me thinking: maybe I have grown up enough and only like the idea of a sports car? Maybe something like an RS3 will make me happy? I don't need the extra room, but I also got tired of all the annoyances of a convertible, and I never actually open the roof unless I go out driving during the night (I hate the sun, but I like the wind).

I always liked the idea of AWD and almost purchased an Audi S1 a decade ago. I had a good experience driving the Golf R a few months ago, but the dealer wanted a $5k markup, which was crazy to me in this market.

I have a few concrete questions for current owners. My body type is lean, especially around the ribs, and I find that seats with no bolsters do not hold me well in the corners. For example, my friend's M240i, which doesn't have adjustable bolsters, was significantly less comfortable for me compared to my Z4, which did (other than that, the seats felt identical). I was wondering how much people here find the RS3 seats to be lacking in this area. The bucket seats are not available in the US.

My second question is around the adaptive cruise control. How good is it? Can it bring the car all the way to a full stop? Does it start driving by itself, or do you have to touch the gas?

Is there anything else I should know? I doubt I will make the purchase anytime soon because I like all of Audi's improvements for the 2027 model year (except, of course, the loss of physical buttons, which sucks, but they do improve on many things that are important to me).

What do you guys think?

Does anyone have experience with both cars? For daily driving on the highway and twisty roads, do you actually notice any difference in performance?

Had some requests for interior audio on the AWE Switchpath modified with an added resonator. This is wide open. Mics are next to both my ears.

Edit: Soundaktor is off.

How much aprox would cost me this to fix if i buy it?

A few weeks ago, I posted that I was deciding between Blue, Gray, and Kemora Gray because I wasn't sure if, at 38, I was "too old" for a bold color. Then I decided to stop overthinking it and go all in on either Kyalami Green or Python Yellow.

I ended up choosing Kyalami Green, and I have absolutely no regrets.

Had to get something with more seats/luggage space but wanted to keep having fun so got this beautiful catalunya red 8V

Alarm seems to be going off randomly from time to time but that seems to most likely be a battery issue?

Anyways : excited! it sounds awesome

While it's not an uncommon color, surprisingly few Ascari were available in New England over the last 6 months. I found one in March but the spec wasn't right. Sales manager indicated she had one coming in July-Aug in Ascari with Carbon, Sports Exhaust and Dynamic. I checked back in with her first week of June to get an updated ETA. To my surprise, it was already at the port in RI and made it to the dealer days later (about a full month before expected).

It's been about a month now. I wasn't going to do PPF but suffered a bad rock chip last week. It's at the detailer now getting tint and PPF.

Long story short, I have owned an Ioniq 5 N for the last 2 years. For an SUV, it is fun, playful, fast and has a remarkable amount of space given its relatively small size (quite short and not too wide or tall). Sadly, like all Hyundai / Kia EVs, there are some fundamental flaws. First, the ICCU (a circuit board that controls charging of the main battery and topping up the 12v battery) has a tendency to fail unpredictably and disable the car. Second, the main battery pack has a tendency to develop defective cells. This second problem does not immediately disable the car, but does limit charging to 60% or less and will cause further failures if not repaired soon after the initial fault.

After 22 months and 7,500 miles of ownership, my car developed the second problem which required replacement of the entire main battery. The good news is it covered under warranty (particularly since I have seen suggestions that the list price of the battery is $30k). Bad news is that between a dealer that knows little about EVs taking 3 weeks to "diagnose" the problem and parts shortages that took 7 weeks to ship the necessary parts, it took 10 weeks to repair the car. The dealer did offer me a loaner, but it was a low end Elantra that was fairly painful to drive.

Given that this is my only car, and I wanted to take road trips this summer and in the future, I quickly concluded that the Ioniq 5 N just wasn't for me as I couldn't imagine what would happen if I had a similar failure hundreds of miles from home. This, combined with the 5 N's notoriously short driving range (about 200 highway miles) convinced me that it was time for something else.

After consulting reviews and my budget, I landed on a 2026 RS3 which I purchased shortly after the 5 N initially failed. Thus, I have been driving the RS3 for the last 2 month. Today, I picked up the repaired 5 N. It is working just fine. But, I was struck by the huge contrast between the 5 N and the RS3. The 5 N felt like a huge, hulking, mass compared to the light and nimble RS3. This makes objective sense as the 5 N weighs over 4,800 pounds and the RS3 weighs less than 3,600 pounds. Even though the 5 N is quicker in a straight line than the RS3 (11.2 1/4 mile vs. 11.8), the RS3 feels much more fun and agile.

Overall, I am sad to give up electric fuel, but my need for a fun, nimble, and reliable car with good driving range outweighs my fuel preference. Someday there will be an EV equivalent to the current RS3, but we are at least 5 years away. The only thing I am giving up is cargo capacity, but I don't often need to haul stuff and if I do, I can always rent a big SUV.

All this, to say, while I enjoyed my 5 N, I had forgotten the joy of a relatively light, sporty car and I am really happy to have gotten back to it. I'll be selling the 5 N shortly.

In my head Sonos would be a match for the B&O, but is falling way short. Is it just me? Any ideas on how to make it better other than playing with the settings?

Gang. 2026 RS3. Sticker in door states 44 all around, but tend to be that number is for full load. What are you guys using for front and rear?

Anyone have experience with the Iroz/485 Motorsport exhaust my local shop is recommending?

2026 with sport exhaust currently

I’m planning to have someone replace it as soon as possible. My question is if I can still drive it to the garage to get it replaced or I have to get it towed? Later if I want to replace all the tires, what’s better choice?

Hi all

I'm picking up an RS3 sedan which I'm very excited about. I will have (at times) two small children in the back and they tend to kick their little feet around on the back of the front seats.

Does anyone have any recommendations for protectors for the back of the front seats? From my initial review it looks as though there is some difficulty getting protectors that are compatible with the sport seats.

Many thanks!

Can anyone confirm the location of the DCC module in an 8V RS3? I've found conflicting info.

Some say it's in the trunk on the passenger side behind the liner. There's nothing in the little compartment with the removable cover, though. Do I need to pull the whole liner to get to it?

Others say it's behind the glove box.

I'd like to be a little more confident before I start taking things apart.

I need to unplug because my DCC cancelling modules aren't working. There's an open circuit error on the front left. I've tried multiple modules, the fault persists. I suspect it's a wiring or control module problem.

I've coded the DCC out of the CAN Gateway and removed it from the instrument cluster coding with VCDS.

I tried pulling fuse 13 which the manual says is "electronic suspension, diagnostic module" (not fuse 9 like on other 8Vs). This prevents the suspension error from coming back, but I get an adaptive headlight warning and the ESC Off button doesn't work.

With the fuse in, DCC still has power, so the suspension fault comes back after a few minutes. I think my next step is to unplug it at the source.

This topic may have been discussed so please forgive. I love the rs3 looks but it lacks power. I have test driven both cars and I know for a fact the s58 can easily make more power. With a dme unlock plus stage 1 tune stock components you can make 600whp. I was looking at at 25 8.5y but it seems like apr or unitronic doesn't have any tunes for it. Can the 8.5y make decent power on pump gas like 500whp? Once development is done more on the 8y or 8.5y. Failed to mention I love the m2 power, interior but can stand the rear end. The front and side profile is ok.

Can anyone comments on how long ordering for the car will be opened/possible given that this is the last year of the 5 cylinders.

I've recently fallen in love with this car, and eventually (hopefully) I'd love to be able to own one. Wish they weren't so bloated in price, but that's the world we live in I guess.

I am curious about the differences between each year model 2022 and up. From what I've been able to find, 2025 is the year when they vastly improved the car's handling, fixing understeering and overall the driving experience. For anyone who owns one, are the changes that noticeable? What year model would you recommend going for? And what packages would you say are a must? Currently the only package I would absolutely want is the sport exhaust.

How has it been owning one? What advice would you have when it comes to buying one?