My S3 bought through NCD coming up to its first 5k miles is going fantastically.

Best decision adding in the rear camera, way more useful than I expected.

Averaging 53 mpg with a best commute 74mpg. Not sure what is holding the average back, but guessing my overuse of ACC and its later breaking than I would probably do myself does not help.

ACC is pretty unbelievable I get on the motorway set it at 65-70 and off we go. Just have to remember that I still need to steer from time to time! Lane control , i wonder what the limits are at times.

The car is super quiet most of the time there is one bit of the M25 J9 to J8 where the combination of concrete not Tarmac road and the Pirelli P7s make an absolute racket. Noticeably more than my S2 and Goodyear combination.

All the little bits about the cabin are great from the extra space in the glasses cubbyhole to secret compartment in the door side pockets.

Self parking um it has proved to be excellent so far in bays but temperamental when parallel parking and often gives up before finishing. Perhaps I am at fault as being too cautious with the brakes.

Perhaps the biggest um is whether the ventilated front seats were worth the extra money. I really can hardly notice anything when they are on but perhaps need a really hot day to get any benefit but right now I am disappointed. They do look good but wary of dropping crumbs or spelling drink .

One last thing and don't know if it has anything to do with the slightly fatter tyres but not had any kerb touching incidents.

I love my S3 the Petrol Blue and Beige was a good choice and in the bright sunshine the car looks sorted,

Any one want to know my thoughts on anything else just shout.

Waiting for my NCD order to arrive. Deposit paid Feb 22 and told maybe July 4 at the dealer. Encouraged by your report. In the meantime my current S2 has transported us and bikes to the south of France. Just hope the S3 will be as good as this has been.

Enjoy your car

Interesting about the camera and where has this been most benefit and it is any good in the dark?

Interesting about the camera and where has this been most benefit and it is any good in the dark?

If its anything like camera in the Octy, its surprisingly good in the dark. Reversing lights gives of enough light for camera to give a clear view of whatever is behind the car.

I would demostrate with a picture, but it wont be dark here for another 3 months :p

Edited 21 May, 201610 yr by Gromle

Please with my 150 DSG SE Bus. Interesting you mention tyre noise.  I have Continentals on mine and if you are not on the smoothest of surfaces they are bloody noisy.  Had them on the E-Class as well.  Supposedly a good tyre but spoils the car IMHO.

Can I ask about the traffic jam assist please? how does it work and how efficient is it?

 

For efficient read effective!!

Edited 21 May, 201610 yr by azAZ9@

If its anything like camera in the Octy, its surprisingly good in the dark. Reversing lights gives of enough light for camera to give a clear view of whatever is behind the car.

I would demostrate with a picture, but it wont be dark here for another 3 months :p

I agree about the camera in the dark. The one on my Yeti with an AmundsenII unit is amazing... Far better than the one I had on my 2013 Tiguan. It feels as if the reversing light is ultra bright. I have had reversing cameras on my last 4 cars and this is the best yet.

The camera gives load more confidence with reversing and parking over just the varied tone sensors. I have to parallel park in marked bays at work and the big S3 is almost the same size as the bay. I can now always put it just within the bay lines. You also just come out of the bays ar shopping centres with an excellent view of what is around you.

Another view is down facing angle not yet made practical use of it but I am sure I find reason for it at some point :-)

Can I ask about the traffic jam assist please? how does it work and how efficient is it?

 

For efficient read effective!!

Tom toms "live" traffic can be very very effective. It is quite different from standard RDS that you get over FM band available to most sat naps including in car versions. As I understand it TT get real time data from vodaphone mobile network of their users travelling down roads and measures speeds. Then I presume when users stop moving or just slow down they calculate the travel delay versus a presumption of travelling at the speed limit. Many time live has alerted me to,major incidents on my m25 commute to work and let me decide if the very precise location of the traffic jam and current delay is worth a rerouting by myself. A few instances have saved many hours avoiding full m25 road closures.

I must add there appear to be a few black spots linked to no mobile signals. Also,on some days it just does not pick up the traffic, but on the whole has been worth it up to now. The things is the subscription is about £50 per year so not cheap and have to decide how,much my time sitting in traffic is worth and how often will it really save me.

My current TT unit is pretty much broken have to leave it on all the time to avoid it rebooting or traffic stops. Don't want another unit on the dash if can find alternative on phone . Not expecting Apple maps to be anywhere near as good,but will now try both at the same time and see how they go until forced to a decision .

I suppose I could buy new TT unit with lifetime subscription but £250 for one of those units seems too much.

Blue boy, not quite what I had in mind  I was thinking about the Traffic Jam Assistant that is discussed on page 179 of the owners manual. It seems to be a combination of ACC and lane assist but at low speeds. I wondered if you had had the need to use it or try it yet?

Blue boy, not quite what I had in mind  I was thinking about the Traffic Jam Assistant that is discussed on page 179 of the owners manual. It seems to be a combination of ACC and lane assist but at low speeds. I wondered if you had had the need to use it or try it yet?

You need a DSG box to get the use out of that. It will basically crawl in slow moving traffic for you, stopping the car as necessary and I gather a gentle press on the gas gets it moving again without you having to do anything else. Sounds like an amazing system to me but sadly the extra cost of the automatic put it out of my budget on this occasion, so I'll have to settle for my own footwork

That is correct, set the ACC to maximum roadworks speed, car speeds up or slows down depending on the car in front.

 

Then when the car stops so does mine, the car waits about 5 seconds and cuts the engine if nothing is moving.

 

When the traffic moves the engine starts and the car waits until I touch the accelerator before catching up with the car in front and crawling along.

 

Is great.

 

I do have the DSG box

Ahhh oh well I did not recognise a difference between ACC and traffic jam assistant. The ACC is pretty amazing as I said put it on when hit motorway and it only comes off when I brake on the slip road to leave otherwise it will just carry on going unless someone in front of me has to stop!

Can be a little scary for a couple of things, first if you don't actively steer yourself it will eventually assume you are asleep and hit the breaks with a quick on off and that will wake you up. The other is when you get cut up by others switching lanes into your faster movi lane. I have yet to brace enough to see if the system will actually react enough in time especially if they one just edge in half way so not clearly a whole car in front of you. It is deffo worth having and personally think anyone you can afford the DSG and chooses the relic of a manual gearbox Is really missing out .

Thanks for your comments. I pick my car up in a couple of weeks so I am just reading the owners manual at the moment. Hopefully everything will become clearer once I am driving the car.

 

The dealer did demonstrate the park assist function and that was scary; reversing towards another car without touching the wheel!

Tip for traffic jam assistant - if you turn off stop/start you don't even have to press the accelerator pedal to start moving again, does it all by itself, just monitors the car in front and sticks to the distance / speed set on ACC.

 

Switch on the lane assist and then soduko, crossword, ironing (in the back) - your choice!

Pity the UK spec does not include the 230V socket in the back. I don't think a 12v iron would work very well. Is there anything else that one can do in the back seat while in a jam?

Pity the UK spec does not include the 230V socket in the back. I don't think a 12v iron would work very well. Is there anything else that one can do in the back seat while in a jam?

...keep it clean people...

OK, so the washing before the ironing

I used ACC in a long traffic jam on the M25 the other day. First time I'd used it as traffic jam assist. It made my right ankle ache holding my foot poised above the brake pedal!

 

After half an hour I was trusting it a bit more and spending more time with my foot resting on the floor but it is hard to just let the car drive itself towards the car in front and believe it will always stop

 

it did make the jam more interesting though.

 

Does anyone trust it completely now?

It scares the hell out of me, but I have let it do it a couple of times now, Trust it, No way, always ready to brake but so far not once has it caused me to do it. As you say its a very strange feeling.

All the little bits about the cabin are great from the extra space in the glasses cubbyhole to secret compartment in the door side pockets.

Secret pockets? Do you mean the little pocket to the rear of the long door pocket?

 

Thought that they were for the brollys if you wanted to keep then inside the car.

I think I read somewhere that those pockets were for your hi-vis jacket.... Someone will no doubt be along to confirm or deny soon!!

I think I read somewhere that those pockets were for your hi-vis jacket.... Someone will no doubt be along to confirm or deny soon!!

 

You are indeed correct

You are indeed correct

Told you they would!!