mar_k that is unbeliveable ! i best check out the lcr prices ! ... red is tempting me, my girlfreinds uncle has a grey cupra so cant realy get that colour, black looks ok but iv had so many black cars, fancy something bright and for it to stand out
 
S3 Pros - 3 door looks, interior is nicer, red lit up vent dials, leather seats, better plastics, nicer place to sit. Quattro (well, haldex at least) big advantage if upgrading engine

S3 Cons - 3 door impractical, front end looks **** compared to an LCR, brakes are poorer,

LCR pros - front end looks loads better, brembo brakes, some have recaro seats, handling is supposedly better (have not driven S3 personally), cheaper to buy, MPG should be slightly better as lower transmission losses (although haldex system is supposed to be FWD up to loss of traction so not entirely sure about this one) 5 door practicality

LCR cons - back end is fugly, doesnt have the audi prestige, no option of leather interior as standard, traction can be an issue unless road is smooth and bone dry.

Both cars are pretty much the same and parts are pretty interchangeable - i.e. you can drop leather interior from S3 into an LCR... For this reason buying an LCR and upgrading interior to S3 level is cheaper than buying an S3 and trying to fit brembos...

I ummed and ah'ed a lot between the two before going back to another LCR. Had an A6 inbetween and gotta say Audi interiors are much nicer, but hard to justify the extra price tag. Main thing that swung getting another LCR was lack of 5dr option on an S3.

Hope this helps

Ben
 
thanks ben, and yes im preety sure the quattro system only kicks on once traction is lost. not sure if its just an unnecessary extra that will be a pricey fix if it goes wrong, iv driven an s3 and mk4 golf. not sure how similar the mk4 golf and lcr are handling wise but the s3 was alot better handling, but i only had the s3 for a couple hours before the engine seized, but on the roundabouts, it just went round like it was on rails, i personally quite like the rear end of a lcr, but like you said the rear of an s3 probably looks nicer, but the front end of a lcr is definitely nicer
 
thats good to no as i didnt rate either one of my mk4 golfs much on handling. one had coilovers one didnt... either way it loved to understeer
 
Engines are identical in S3 and LCR. Quattro going wrong was another thing that put me off the S3 to be honest, forgot to include in list above tho. On this age of car it's always going to be a worry....
 
i think ill go for the lcr option, sounds like less to go wrong... i have been wondering about the price of disks and pads when they need changing though ? is it just the calipers that are brembo or what ?
 
Factory the whole lot will have been brembo, but you dont have to stick with it. On my last one I replaced with EBC Ultimax discs and Ferrodo DS2500 pads after rave reviews on here, cost £350 for fronts alone, but they weren't far off ripping your eyeballs out their sockets if you slammed on hard so well worth the cash... Current discs are warped so looking at doing same again if I've got the cash lying around...
 
its affordable then, i remember having a stripped out 106 gti when i was younger with 306 gti-6 brakes on, that was the same with nearly ripping your eyeballs out lol. well need to do the clutch on my 320d then it will be up for sale :) looking forward to getting a cupra r :D think red is the colour for me, ithink ill wait and save up and get a decent low mileage one too
 
just because i seen one called liquid yellow, and it looked alot nicer than the other ones
 
it looked similar to one i seen that was resprayed in a labourghini yellow... maybe it was resprayed aswell and is the same colour, looked nice though, my girlfreinds uncle has a grey one so cant realy get a grey one lol. im not a fan of silver to be honest, even though my car at the moment is silver lol. i like the black but it doesnt stand out that much so think ill go for the red
 
its on swapz.com beastgtir ... type in bmw 320d and its on the first page, location is north devon