vs. RS3

[Blksnowflake]

Originally Posted by damnitBobby

RS3 definitely looks better, but the Golf R seems like a slightly better drive

Wow, surprising. I'd love a Golf R in 6 speed manual to keep around as a fun daily.

[Capt Crunch]

Originally Posted by mephiska

I daily drive an STI. It's a tough cross-shop, and given that the current STI is sedan only, that's reasonable. Were I to be shopping now, if I could afford the extra $6k I'd get the S3 for comfort alone.

Maybe I'm just too old for it, but the STI is a tough car to commute with on a daily basis, at least in my area with the freeway road quality. The road noise is just overwhelming, and I end up turning up the stereo too high to compensate leaving my ears buzzing when I arrive at work.

Coming from an ex-STI owner, add on the fact that the engine is literally more than 15 years old. I don't know how Subaru gets away with putting such old tech in a car and not raising the bar year after year. The STI has had 300 hp for 11 years. It's price has gone up from $30K to over $40K. It's never been a fantastic drive, with handfuls of understeer during it's entire life.

When it came out, the STIs ate mustangs for breakfast. Now, it competes with a stripper M235 on price :/.