It rides rather well, feels tight and composed. It's upmarket without being snobby, practical without being boring, sporty without being obnoxious. At home almost anywhere. I like it a lot.


DSG:
Left to it's own, does a very good job in everyday driving. Nearly imperceptible and fast shifts, and it does shift often.

In manual mode, it will still downshift if you hit the "kick down" switch, sometimes by 2-3 gears. I do not like this at all. It also obviously downshifts if you're about to stall (dropping below 1100rpm or so). It's not very smooth if you tell it to go from 6th to 3rd in a hurry, nor very fast at shifting under that scenario. It also upshifts if you hit redline, again even in manual mode. It's easy to write this off as a "good automatic" transmission.

That said, if you do drive it like a manual transmission, and take the time to learn what it's doing, it does a fantastic job. Downshift into the appropriate gear for a given corner while keeping both hands on the wheel, the shift is executed perfectly with a good rev match and you're in the meat of the power band for corner-exit. You can shift to the next gear under full power and the shift is very smooth, very fast, all without a break in power delivery and sounds sweet doing it. Surprisingly to excel using this transmission, the learning curve is steeper than I would've thought, but strangely rewarding none the less.

12/25/2011 3:18:18 PM

nice grass

12/25/2011 3:23:30 PM

nice house

12/25/2011 6:10:46 PM

12/25/2011 6:35:35 PM

Short update on the tranny, sport mode is rather pointless. It's way too eager to shift and keeps it in gears much too long under "normal" driving. Also, odd that you can't access locked full manual control from sport, you have to be under "D" first. I like leaving it in D, as you can click through to lock it into the gear you want and as long as you keep using manual controls (or driving like an idiot), it stays in the gear(s) you want. Pretty nifty.

12/26/2011 6:31:56 PM

Aftermarket software can make manual mode behave like an actual manual. I couldnt see owning one without that.

12/26/2011 8:45:35 PM

I smell Ahmet will own this all of two weeks LOL

12/26/2011 9:40:24 PM

I don't see the point?

12/27/2011 7:35:08 AM

What is "DSG"?

12/27/2011 7:41:33 AM

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=what+is+a+dsg

12/27/2011 7:58:43 AM

"direct shift" and "electronically controlled" don't belong together in the same sentence.

12/27/2011 9:09:20 AM

^

12/27/2011 10:31:11 AM

I don't know how anybody could go from a 911 to an A3.

That's just insane. Not RS3, not S3, just plain Jane A3.

12/27/2011 2:16:14 PM

He's had worse

12/27/2011 3:44:51 PM

Well I still have the 911, it just... well it looks like this right now:


The A3 is a great second car and that would be the case if it were an S3, but there is no other car as far as I'm concerned, I want my 911 back.

12/27/2011 6:07:08 PM

keep an eye on that hpfp cam follower.

like slut said, the dsg software will remove "manual mode upshifts" and kickdowns.
and engine performance software will give you 45-50 bhp and 70-85 btq

12/29/2011 3:03:19 PM

they would certainly make a good D.D.

12/30/2011 2:03:51 PM

chip it now.

12/30/2011 5:08:06 PM

When I said i couldn't live with one without the DSG reflash what I meant was that I wouldn't leave the lot without aftermarket engine software, transmission software shortly thereafter.

12/30/2011 7:17:42 PM

I already put in a new fuel pump and lifter. Just flushed the engine even though it's been religiously maintained. Also did timing belt/all rollers and water pump.

As far as the chip... Maybe, anybody care to recommend a particular brand/tuner?

12/31/2011 10:27:41 AM

Apr's off the shelf maps seem to be some of the best compensated for different weather conditions/ altitudes i've seen if i were going to travel far with the car i'd use theirs.

12/31/2011 12:05:59 PM

we sell unitronic software

12/31/2011 4:34:07 PM

Update:
The chassis is surprisingly stable and even tail happy on trail braking, is a lot more comfortable at higher speeds. Annoyingly the stability control even when disabled will intervene if you hit the brakes (just as Porsche's less manly cars do -not the beloved 911 thank you very much). Surprisingly it also gets out of the way if you step back off the brakes. I suppose it's not fair to expect an ABS equipped modern vehicle with yaw sensors to keep the car pointed forward if there's slip and you're on the brakes...

Anyway, other things are annoying also. The car has a fair amount of storage but except for the center arm rest, nothing is lined with felt, and there's no netting to keep stuff put on the driver's side of the forward cabin. This is crappy because things like keys, sunglasses, etc. are loose. I can't stand that. The CD player can skip when cornering very hard. Just goes to show you that despite being a capable and fun car, it's not and shouldn't be your primary car if you actually drive hard every. day. all. the. time... It leaves me wanting more, it leaves me wanting more traction from the front end when wanting to accelerate in the rain, more power when passing, more more and more.

I will say though, my sister, female friends, mother all approve. This is THE perfect car for your wife to have! It's practical, "fun", "sporty", "sensible" enough for them, and not too boring for somebody who cares about driving. I still like it, a lot. It's just that... I miss a proper sports car.

[Edited on January 28, 2012 at 10:40 PM. Reason : details.]

1/28/2012 10:39:35 PM

I'm sure I missed it somewhere, but what happened to your 911, Ahmet?

1/29/2012 11:12:49 AM

8 posts up..

1/29/2012 12:13:04 PM

I can see what the fuck it looks like, but that doesn't explain WHY it's in pieces.

1/29/2012 1:19:55 PM

because 911s explode for no reason. it's all over the internet!

1/30/2012 10:48:26 AM

say you do a turbo upgrade one one of these... how well does the dsg hold extra power??

1/30/2012 12:40:26 PM

^ how much extra power?

^6 +50hp/+85 ftlb in 45 minutes... $600
dsg software also, which eliminates kickdowns and upshifts in manual mode...

http://unitronic-chipped.com

[Edited on January 30, 2012 at 1:15 PM. Reason : 30 day money back guarantee on the software]

1/30/2012 1:12:38 PM

i guess what i'm asking is how far can it be pushed before it lets go?

1/30/2012 2:08:12 PM

^^when did Yareka's 1.8 let go? 350whp?

1/30/2012 7:50:22 PM

The 911 (at 167k miles) had low oil pressure so I tore it down for a rebuild. I'm trying to figure out if I should make a special tool or buy/rent them. If I weren't working 50+hours/week, it'd come a lot faster.

Anyway, as for the dual clutch transaxle; I don't know what they're capable of but I have instructed in several cars with well over 400hp w/this transmission (paid by VW NA sponsored event no less) with students that were basically doing endurance testing for the trans. I don't know of one that failed across 2 days out of a few dozen modified cars. That of course does not mean they can't, or won't fail, but my limited experience paints a positive picture.

Also, this is the 2 liter direct injected motor, not the 1.8. It's got a very flat torque band stock, I could see how it would pick up quite a bit of midrange power from a chip but I don't know the wisdom of doing so when I'm basically looking to finish the 911 and swap that w/a 911 turbo or GT3 asap as my primary mode of transport. Holy mother of all that is awesome, I cannot wait for that day to come...

1/30/2012 10:44:31 PM

when the dsg first came out there was a lot of talk about how much power it could handle, but i haven't really heard much about them failing. i'm sure it has happened, but it doesn't seem very common. we've chipped a lot of them without issue.

the 2.0t is pretty stout. you should see what one will do with a 3076r on it.

1/30/2012 11:57:54 PM

EHH I thought i was having some crazy electrical gremlin in the subie and was looking for other options... turns out a cd stuck in the disk changer can cause a 1 amp draw on the battery when the car is off.... go figure...

I'll get a new climate control/head unit and be good to go!

Thanks.

1/31/2012 8:06:04 AM

It has gone and moved onto better things.

Transaxle was nice, the engine was OK, suspension and steering feel were pretty good. Practicality great, loved owning it overall but it didn't have enough power.

The breaking point was when I would pull out on a country road this weekend and everybody w/a minivan would see if they can do 90mph while I try to pass. I need a car where it's irrelevant if the average person wants to be a pain.

4/10/2012 5:06:19 PM

Yep. To be honest, driving a beastly car day-to-day is kinda fun, but I'd be perfectly happy driving a boring, efficient, appliance car to work and around town, assuming I had something nasty to use just as a toy--in terms of my own enjoyment or whatever.

The draw to daily driving the Z06 is that people can be douchebags however they want, and you can just smack them down ruthlessly. Don't want to let you merge? Don't want to let you pass? Attempt to muscle you around in traffic in any way? Get pissy because you passed them on a backroad and want to try to follow/chase you? Good fucking luck, chump.

4/10/2012 6:11:53 PM

You guys are so fuckin whiney

4/10/2012 9:22:18 PM