Is Audi RS3’s High Price Tag JUSTIFIED Over VW Golf R?

👋 So after owning the 8y Audi RS3 for a year and a half, we’ve really enjoy it! Seems like RS3 owners love these cars and most people agree this is one of the most performance focused sedans on the market without spending near 6 figures on the BMW M3. However there are some nah sayers who of course never have driven an RS3 who think it’s just an expensive Volkswagen Golf R. I will say the Audi S3, which is quite literally the Audi version of the Golf R, might be a bit of a streatch when it performs nearly the same as the Golf R. But when you drive the RS3 fast and full throttle, you really start to see the extra performance and thrill! Around town both of these cars are pretty similar to be honest. Both equally comfortable and drive like nice European luxury cars. Golf R does have heated back seats and vented front seats which I’m jealous of! But other then that they are similar. Golf R with it’s 4 cylinder turbo engine also has a bit better response in slow speeds and less lag with a more forgiving transmission tune. So arguable the Golf R is the better around town car. However when you push the Golf R to redline and shift full throttle, while it’s fun a fast for sure! It leaves a lot of fun to be desired. Not much drama and the steering is a bit vague. Still a great car overall but it doesn’t really get to the thrilling level. In the Audi RS3 once you go full throttle and scream to 7,000 RPM to shift, it wakes up and gets the hair standing up on the back of you neck! This car starts begging you to brake every road law and just keeps want ing more. So once driving hard that’s when the RS3 extra performance with the 5 cylinder turbo starts coming alive! Steering still isn’t my favorite, but’s much sharper the the Golf R and the overall driving dynamic is a whole new level worth every penny! So to those few people who think an RS3 is just an over priced Golf R, go drive one full throttle on a back road and tell me its the same. I’ll wait 😉
If you are looking for a really well rounded daily driver that’s still fun and won’t break the bank and you don’t plan on truly ripping on your car too crazy, buy the golf R. It’s a better all around daily driver. Install an intake, exhaust, lowering springs and wheel spacers and it will have a lot more fun factor. But if the extra $20,000 doesn’t phase you and you want something truly unique and filled with character, buy the RS3.

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Is Audi RS3’s High Price Tag JUSTIFIED Over VW Golf R?
Music By: www.epidemicsound.com
#2025vwgolfr #8yaudirs3 #audirs3vsgolfr

What’s up everybody and welcome to the channel. In today’s video, we’re going to be comparing the 2025 Volkswagen Golf R alongside the 8Y Audi RS3. Now, we’ve owned our RS3 for a year and a half or so, and I have seen the comments saying that an RS3 is just an overpriced Golf R. I know that’s not true. Owners know that’s not true, and most likely people who say that have never even driven one. With that said, we’re going to see how these cars stack up between the two. There’s about a $20,000 price difference between them. Now, I’ve owned an Audi S3 as well. The S3 is maybe the overpriced Golf R. It’s the same engine platform as this car. R3 obviously cranks it up a notch. So, let’s get right into it. See how these cars do compare and get right into it. So, getting the basics out of the way. Underneath the hood of a 2025 Volkswagen Golf R, you’re going to find a 2 L inline 4-cylinder turbocharged engine pumping out 328 horsepower with 310 pound- feet of torque. This car is only all-wheel drive, only paired to a seven-speed dual clutch transmission. Cur weight is 3,450 lbs and 0 to 60 is about 4.1 seconds. Over in the Audi RS3. Now, for 2025, they have done some slight updates. However, for our 8y, this is going to feature the 2 and 1/2 L inline 5cylinder turbocharged engine with 401 horsepower and 369 pound- feet of torque. only pair two all-wheel drive once again and only pair two a seven-speed dual clutch transmission. Curb weight on this is 3600 pounds and 0 to 60 can be as quick as 3.3 seconds. Moving on to the styling differences between a Golf R and an RS3. I’d say they definitely look pretty different. I don’t really see much similarities between the two. The Golf R is pretty understated. Has a really nice design. I like the gloss black in the front. It’s just a clean looking hot hatch. Really can’t complain. RS3 is definitely a bit more bold with the massive grill. They’re both going to get cool LED headlights. RS3 is going to get a little bit larger brakes with the six piston brake calipers. Both of them are going to be drilled and ventilated brakes. You just get floating calipers up front for the Volkswagen. This one is a hatchback, so you have that nice design for the side. For Europe, you can get an RS3 in a hatch. However, here in the USA, we only have this as a sedan. So, it still looks quite nice the way it’s designed. In back, we have a lip spoiler on the Audi. Just a clean look for any nice Audi sedan. And then for the Golf R, of course, you have that hatchback with a cool wing up above. You’re going to get a nice looking diffuser with a dual quad tip exhaust. And then just massive dual exhaust with a nice diffuser on the Audi. For the interior on the 2025 Volkswagen Golf R, you’re going to get a pretty nice design overall. Got that massive tablet design, some softer touch plastics, some harder plastics as well. Door panel, just some soft and hard plastics with some vinyl padding. Seats are pretty nice with a leather material. They are heated and vented. They have perforations through them, single piece backs, blue accents, and some cool carbon fiber vinyl. On the screen, you’re going to get all of your typical information you would expect on any Volkswagen now. All sorts of tiles for different controls. Climate controls are integrated into the screen. You can either tap that to get to fan speed or go into the full climate control system with everything. You have your seat controls as well. You also have these touch sensitive icons for the temperature and volume. Shortcuts are down below. We have drive modes you can configure. When you go into race mode, you can even get a drift mode, which is for more of a rear bias system, and then even a Nerburging one, which is pretty cool to see. Gauge cluster has a nice design with a digital layout, massive tack in the center. If you configure it, you can get a pretty cool design here. More information will pop up in this one, and you can kind of cycle through a few different ones. I really like these large paddle shifters. You have the cruise control settings on the left side, heated steering wheel as well. more blue accents, some piano black trim all throughout the center. Little shifter storage. And then on the left side, we have defrost and a few other controls. So, I’d say for under 50 grand, honestly, it’s a pretty nice hot hatch. You have dome lights up above and a very nice sunroof with the same shin shade you’re going to see in the Audi. Moving on to the 8Y Audi RS3. You can tell this is a bit nicer interior. You’re still going to get some soft touch plastics up above. However, we have the genuine carbon fiber, more soft touch on the door with Alcantara and contrast stitching. You have the Napa leather seating with the honeycomb stitching. They are heated but no vented option. Nice single piece backs. A little bit nicer style. Of course, you have the exact same sunroof up above with that same cool sun shade. Of course, dome lights up above. Garage door buttons up on the mirror. For the multimedia screen, this is your typical Audi. You’re going to get all sorts of big tiles that are easy to operate. You can see couple things of information throughout it. Couple vitals as well. You can see shortcuts on the left side. And then I do like how you have physical climate controls. You can easily toggle fan speed in different zones, temperature, you can sync the heated seat icon. We’re going to get drive modes as well. If we toggle this one, you have your auto, comfort, and dynamic. However, on the steering wheel or on the touchcreen, you can tap the RS icon and go into individual and performance. And we also get basically a drift mode. This is the torque rear, which is going to be a rear bias system. So cool to see both cars kind of have the same drive modes, just obviously more aggressive on the Audi. For the gauge cluster, you’re going to get a nice style for the digital screen. You see all the configurations. You can make this larger, of course. And then, of course, going back into here, you have different designs as well. So, lots more information, I’d say, on this as far as performance information for the car. Steering wheel has a nice golf ball texture to the leather RS logo. Controls on the left side for that screen. Some audio on the right side. And then a much smaller set of paddle shifters with cruise control down here. You’re going to get a little bit less piano black throughout this. More of the carbon fiber headlight trim. And then throughout this center, we still have wireless charging and plugs. Piano black all through here. Stock. This will be piano black. However, I’ve upgraded it to carbon fiber. But you’re still going to get kind of the same shifter design. Same with all down below. And then once again, just a little bit nicer interior in here with the nicer materials. So, hopping into the back seat with the Audi RS3 at 5 foot 11. I do sit here with about an inch or so of headroom with a driver’s seat at my height. I still have nice knee room. There is a small cutout to give me a little bit of space. You’re going to get air vents back here with some plugs. Foot room is pretty good. Overall, it’s not bad. This is a little kind of in my view, so it makes it feel a little cramped in the center. This can seat three people. You can pull that down for an armrest with cup holders. So overall, it’s not a bad seat. I actually the recline’s good. And then moving on to the Volkswagen Golf R. So there is a bit more headroom given this is a hatchback. However, leg room is a little bit less. My knees are touching the seat now. You’re still going to get air vents, but we have heated seats back here, which definitely is a really cool touch. Same seating configuration with three. You can pull the center down for the armrest and cup holders. Both cars have ambient lighting back here. The Volkswagen, you do get some cheaper, harder plastics throughout the back. So, it’s a little bit cheaper feeling back here, a little bit more cramped, but you have the heated seats. So, kind of a toss up between the two. Better headroom in here. Better seat recline in the Audi. Onto the trunk space. The Audi RS3 gets about 11 1/2 cubic feet of cargo volume with the trunk. You can, of course, fold the seats down nice and flat to maximize space. So, a little on the cramp side for the trunk. Being a sedan, this is going to have closer to 20 cubic feet, which I would assume is similar to the hatchback RS3. But obviously, you get a lot more space in the hatchback, you can easily grab these seats from right here, fold them flat to get that flat folding design, and then for the Audi, you’re going to go into the interior and pull them down to get them to fold nice and flat. Starting off the test drive in the Volkswagen Golf R, I’m just in the normal comfort mode, and to be honest, this car is pretty refined. The seats are nice and comfortable. I have a really good view around. Great visibility. It’s pretty roomy up here as well. And the suspension does a good job absorbing bumps. This honestly is a nice car at least for the price point. Sub 50 grand. I mean, you’re getting a pretty refined car. You got the vented seats, heated back seats, which the Audi doesn’t even have. Not sure if 2025 is going to have that or not for the RS3, but it drives really good. It’s just a smooth This would be a fantastic daily. The transmission is very forgiving. It’s nice and normal to get up to speed. It doesn’t feel like anything weird or hard to drive. It’s just a good smooth to drive car. So, if we play with the drive modes, we can go into race mode and go right into the special one, the Nurburgring drive mode. That apparently is the top one in this. And we can take manual control with the paddle shifters. So, with this steering is a little bit stiffer, suspension sharper, engine tuning, engine sound, all that good stuff has been sharpened up. Boy, does this thing hook. You can rip it around a turn. The traction is very confidence inspiring. It handles really good. It stays flat in the turns. It really does do a great job just blisteringly fast going through anything. You can throw a lot at the Golf R and it’s simply going to do it all. It is a fast car. For a four-cylinder, especially, this thing starts to move. My one complaint, I’m not a fan of the steering. It does feel a bit vague. There’s a little bit of a delay when I first make the turn in. And it I don’t know, the steering kind of reminds me of like a crossover. It’s not really anything impressive. Even in the race mode, there’s just a little delay. Not really any feedback between the car and me as I take the sharp turns left to right. So, I wish the steering was better. There’s kind of a rubberness feeling to it as well. Overall though, I mean, it’s definitely a good performance car. There’s not really any drama to it, which kind of takes the fun factor out of it. It’s fast. It handles great. It does everything really well. There’s not really any character, though. And I know that might upset some people, but there’s not character. It’s just a really good car. It’s almost too perfect. There’s nothing about it that isn’t perfect, basically. Therefore, the character is kind of gone because it’s too refined almost. So, that’s my one complaint is steering’s a little vague and as far as character goes, you know, not the most character-filled car. A Honda Civic Type Type Type Type Type Type Type Type Type Type Type R. Same price as this, is more character fililled. Not gonna be as fast or capable or nice, but it is a lot more fun and exciting. GR Corolla, same sort of deal, not as nice as this, but it’s a bit more characterfilled. So, those are kind of things you got to weigh. Do you want a lot of character in a car? something that just is thrilling or do you want something that is ultra confident to drive and can literally just do everything you throw its way and go in a straight line very very fast and still take turns really well. So is a great car overall. Like no complaints, just wouldn’t mind a bit more character and sharper steering. So moving on to the Audi RS3. So normal driving around town, I wouldn’t say they’re drastically different. I do think these seats are a little bit more comfortable. You also have a leg rest to them. Crazy to see no ventilated seats, no heated steering wheel, and no heated back seats. So cool to see the Golf R having those extra features. Again, not sure if 2025 has that in the RS3, but these seats are a bit more comfortable. It does feel a little more open on this interior. And the interior does feel a bit nicer. Not drastically, but it is a step up. I would say it feels just a little more high quality in here. Overall ride quality, I mean, just in normal comfort mode. Not really much different. All right. Now, I also have aftermarket springs on this car. So, this might be a bit stiffer than it was stock, but overall ride quality pretty similar. Visibility all around kind of the same. So, around town, I would argue that they’re pretty much the same car. Also, being this is a larger engine, there is a bit more turbo lag. If I’m giving it half throttle now, I got to kind of wait for boost to build it to downshift in comfort mode. It’s not exactly that punchy and zippy in the slow speeds. The Golf R with a smaller engine is a bit more punchy and zippy. So, if honestly you’re just driving this more for an around town city kind of car, the Golf R is a better way to go. It truly is a better daily driver. The transmission in the Golf R is a bit more smooth. It just does everything fine. This car, there’s a bit more mechanical aspects to it, which translates to more character. Like I was saying, the Golf R doesn’t really have that much character. There’s nothing about it that’s like above and beyond wild. It’s just a very good car overall. This car starts to wake up when we play with the drive mode. So, this we’ll go right into the RS performance mode. That’s when it starts coming alive. Now, obviously, we have more sounds in this with the exhaust modifications, but even in the stock form, this 5cylinder starts sounding like a Mini V10. When you shift, it hits you in the back. And while it’s only like 60 to 70 more horsepower and torque, it feels like quite a lot. I would say steering feel. I think Volkswagen Adroup needs some work on steering. I’m not a big fan of the steering on the RS3 either. I think this does steer better in the RS performance mode. At least it is more direct. There’s not that like rubbery feeling from side to side. It still isn’t perfect. It’s not heavy and weighted like our old 2016 S3 was. But it definitely is a bit more responsive than the Golf R, which is nice to see. Brakes kind of feel similar between the two as well. Not really all too much different. And I got to say, the Golf R’s paddle shifters are cooler. They’re bigger. I don’t know why Audi gives you these little rinky ones. I would much prefer just having massive paddle shifters. Gosh. Yeah, there is a lot more character. It doesn’t necessarily feel that much faster than a straight line. Okay, I take that back. When you go to red line, this thing starts booking it. Shifting this closer to 5,000 RPM while I was hitting red line in the Golf R, this doesn’t feel that much faster. But when you bring this up to 7,000 RPM, oh my gosh, this thing starts ripping. As far as overall handling, they kind of handle similar. This is still really flat in the turns, but given it has a little bit better steering, more dramatic transmission as well as that top end. This is a lot more wild to drive. Like I feel like I am much more on my toes. The hairs on the back of my neck are standing up a bit more in this car. So this kind of has that character. Man, this car makes you want to keep pushing it faster and faster and start breaking some speed limits that you shouldn’t be doing on public roads. So, this definitely takes it up a big notch in the character in the kind of crazy factor of just fun to drive performance car that is really cool. And when you step on it and you hit the red line, I mean, this car starts booking it to where this is going to keep up with cars that are way more expensive. Even the launch control 3.3 seconds they’ve tested this car at. This is a lot faster under launch control when you compare the two cars due to that top end. So, this car starts becoming exhilarating when you step on it. If you’re just driving it around town though, honestly, I wouldn’t say they’re that much different. In fact, the Golf R is going to be a little bit better. Gosh, this thing starts making you go crazy. This car is This car is wild when you start pushing it. But around town, the Golf R I probably prefer, actually. All right, so after driving in the RS3 backto back with the Volkswagen Golf R to answer the question, is the RS3 just an expensive Golf R? The answer is no. And for those who think that you’ve never driven this car, and you’ve certainly never driven it back to back with the Golf R, redlinining it, shifting full throttle around twisty turns. When you start pushing these cars, the RS3 comes alive. If you’re crossopping these and you are just more looking for a daily around town fun car, get the Golf R. Honestly, it’s a better bang for the buck for that specific regard. However, if you are interested in pushing the car, maybe doing some track days, aggressive mountain driving, or you just like having higherend fast cars, the RS3 starts coming alive when you hit above 5,000 RPM. And honestly, this is my wife’s car. I don’t really drive this that much. I forget how riled up the RS3 can get when you drive it in the slow speed normal. It’s kind of a Golf R to be honest. when you start pushing it, it comes alive and completely changes its character and becomes a race car. I mean, this thing really has the above and beyond character that you don’t get in the Golf R. So, for the extra 20 grand, I think it is very well worth it because you just pack some performance once you go above 5,000 RPM and start driving this car fast. So, if you’re not really going to be driving it that fast, too crazy, Golf R is a great way to go. If you want the crazy extra performance, the RS3 really is quite awesome. If you’re going to go for the Golf R, I would say get an air intake and exhaust, maybe tune it, lowering springs, wheel spacers, and that might wake it up and give you the extra character that it’s definitely missing in the stock form. And you’re going to have a still sub 50,000 really fun, well-rounded car. And then if you can swing it, get the R3 if you want just the craziness that this 5-cylinder truly does pack. That is it for today’s video. If you enjoyed it, give it a thumbs up, hit that subscribe button, stay tuned for plenty more content, and I’ll see you all in the next video. Here we go. Here we go. Every day we go.