Audi RS3 8V Buyers Guide By Fontain Motors - IMPORTANT info to know! 

Very helpful and useful video guys!

I didnt expect you guys to only be a "small channel", the quality of the video and information inside of it are amazing and truly helpful. Wish you all the best in growing on RU-vid, you'd deserve it imo.

Just to add to some of the points in the video for any prospective buyers from a 2016 owner; Brakes - the braking system is great in terms of capabilities, but esp on the pre-facelift, the front wavy discs are crap and overheat a lot under any extended spirited driving. Highly recommend you avoid them at all costs - they are a grand a set from Audi and you can get much much better ones for that money (I personally use Tarox, but there's plenty of others out there). Replace the discs and maybe the pads if you're really keen and the brakes are absolutely excellent. Suspension - generally no issue, same as any other car. Check dampers for leaks (mag ride dampers are 500 quid a corner) and for things like broken springs. Notable on RS3's are when going over ramps or larger bumps you hear a bit of a knocking, it could well be the top mounts! They are reasonably cheap and easy to fix but they are known to need replacing every say 50-60k miles Tyres - as mentioned the stock Pirelli's that came with the early cars especially are absolute crap, Michelin PS4s or as I have right now - Continental SportContact 7's are a great choice and are night and day better. DO check your tyre wear on the inside, it can creep on you... Exhaust - the 'spring retensioning' trick did not work for me, or only for a while. The bearings on my exhaust valves had completely degraded at ~70k miles and no amount of tension was going to resolve it. The best value option overall is a replacement Audi sport exhaust - my replacement was £1600 and seems to have revised bearings for the valves that are metal and not plastic. If you are in the mood for a little bit more 'spice' to the exhaust, a very common mod is to swap in secondary decat pipes. It sounds absolutely awesome but is strictly speaking not MOT compliant. it is however pretty easy to swap even yourself. Last point here, my primary catalytic converter was complete toast at 80k miles and throwing warning lights. I had to replace this - I went with an Armytrix one (AU8VR-ACD) over the Audi one as it was cheaper ($1600 imported) and seemed better made, and you have very few options otherwise without doing further exhaust changes as the primary cat on the RS3 downpipe is quite bespoke. If you like your pops and bangs, it's not uncommon for these to need changed well under 100k miles. Insurance - absolutely check your insurance rates beforehand - my insurance costs on this car (in northern ireland) have been all over the place. Some years barely more than my last A3, some years I struggled to find any insurers to cover it at all (with no changes in circumstances). The prices can and sometimes do swing wildly. I know some of those costs above may sound a bit scary, but generally as was mentioned in the video, the car has been excellent, very reliable and most services have been straightforward and perfectly reasonable.

I just bought an 8V 2016 RS3 yesterday. Relatively low kilometres, 2 years Audi warranty, 2 years servicing, 2 years roadside assist. Thanks for the tips!!

Fantastic production quality. Very helpful too! Thank you.

Extremely informative video. Your attention to detail is incredible. Ty.

The quality of this video is amazing! Packed with super detailed information, fantastic job!

Your videos are actually amazing. Very informative! Thank you for making these 🙏🏼

Great video, explaning everthing in detail

Very informative well put together video. Thank you!

Excellent upload! Very informative

Very informative video. Great work

I am on the train on the way to view a 2017 facelift RS3. Watching this video has given me a great idea of what to look for when I’m there. Thank you very much

Thanks

Great video I’m on the look out for one and came across your channel

great video!👏👏

Perfect summary, thx

Amazing video as always 🎉❤

Absolutely brilliant video. Such a shame I am based on the continent otherwise I'd be straight over you. I am looking at one of these for next year. Just a huge price hike from the S3 which is a point. I'd be looking at a 2015 model. Early versions of new models always give me the willies though...

Amazing video, nothing less than that

Enjoyed your presentation even if I drive a 2016 RSQ3, much the same and yes I agree with regular services including trans etc.. love it still

Great vid 👍🏼

8v all day. Personal experience: Brakes are weak for intense use, better look for aftermarket solutions. Exept that, the car is a timeless masterpiece allrounder. Epic lambo sound.

Great video

Just perfect

Thank you for the video, I almost sold my rs3 due to the fact that I can’t extent the motor warranty due to the fact that I was told that previous owner had installed software on the vehicle and flashing on the control unit. Thou everything else is still stock and zero modifications like decat or down pipes. Only issue I have the is the ABS control unit that’s faulty, TPMS forever on And grayedout on screen. Not sure if Audi is pulling one on me as they would usually fix it when TPMS pops up every now and then. 😅 keep the car or sell it? Seriously don’t see myself driving something else besides it

Good to know

Squealing pads especially in summer is a common issue, as is the squeally sunroof. Agree regarding tyres, Pirelli’s aren’t great, and Michelin ps4 are best

Very informative videos on your channel, thanks for that. Especially for me as an Audi aficionado (I have owned or own an R8 LMX, RS3 8V Facelift, RS4 B5, S4 B7 Cabriolet, RS6 C7). I have my RS3 facelift now since Jan. 2018 and while it is a very nice car (power, sound, handling), it has a lot of downfalls and quite honestly, I am not sure I’d buy own new again (knowing that it’s of course no longer available). The biggest two disappointments is the gearbox/engine „cooperation“ - the gearbox is jerky, slow, has issues finding the right gear and when taking off standing still, it has had problems since the first kilometre and the ride comfort: even in comfort setting, the ride is much too harsh, on long highway kilometres the car starts „jumping“ on minor road bumps etc. The exhaust flap rattle is not a „minor“ but a huge annoyance as it not only rattles during cold starts but also when the engine and exhaust are warm. Audi dealerships were not able to help me so far, stating that I’d have to live with it. The climate control doesn’t really work perfectly either, it’s either too hot or too cold (which I’ve never experienced in any other car so far - especially as you just set the temperature and that should do it - but not in the RS3). It’s a nice little car, but for its downfalls much too expensive and overhyped.

Wish you done a video like this about the B5 RS4 !! I wouldn’t of bought my old B5 RS4 if I knew all the problems it was going to cause me ! Thankfully I sold it two weeks ago after my 16th year of ownership. Just need to find the replacement !

8v engine that’s in the 2017 model is about 30kg lighter than the previous gen. I know as I have one. Agree the 8p sounds the best, but the 2017 pre opf ones like the one I sound great. 2018 onward opf ones as diy sound a far too muted.

Hi, is it possible to replace the optional ceramic brake discs back to steel discs ? Would you be able to fit normal pads for steel discs into the silver grey calipers ?

Loving the amount of information shared. Very useful, thank you. I've seen quite a bit of chat online about gearboxes being prone to early and very costly failures. Not in RS3 in particular but also in other models (B8 RS4, older S4). One can also observe a shift back to a torque converted tiptronic boxes in more recent RS4 and S4. Any thoughts on that? I am shopping for 2017-2019 RS3 right now, but a bit paralyzed by a possible 10-15k surprise lurking in the shadows. What would I do to just have such a car with a simple manual :)

Should do a buyers guide for AMG & M cars next!

Not that I have an RS3, however I do own a 2021 TTRS with 7K miles. I’ve had the ECU and TCU tune. If I had my choice I’d buy an RS3 5 door, however that model is not available in the US.😢

New colours for the 8v facelift were ara blue and nardo….nardo or as I call it primer was very popular , as was ara blue

Thanks. I actually changing now 2011 ttrs to 2018 rs3 due to options and sound. I actually like daza sound much better with also legal ak-47 ;) and it has better stearing due to engine weight + more power :) stage 1 410 vs 480 HP isn't bad ;)

In Australia. I’m considering seriously getting one.

Brake discs definitely do not last 40k miles lol, I don’t drive my car hard much but I’ve just replaced the front discs and pads at 20k, £1300, which is cheap. I got stock discs as they are regarded as the best for the 2017 model and upgraded ferrodo ds2500 pads. Uses 8 pads in the front, 4 each side, lol.

Ive just bought a 2017 rs3 from a collector thats only got 5000 miles on so after watching this would you recomend i get the haldex oil done

So if a pre-face lift car has magride? Does that mean it has dynamic pack and as a result the sports exhaust?

I have had my 2016 RS3 from new and love it but it has two major faults in my view. As with my previous S3 I think the placing of the light switch is almost dangerous. In normal driving it is virtually invisible being hidden by your right arm. I know there is the automatic light function but if you want the all weather lights or rear fog buttons they are neither big enough nor tactile enough to find by touch alone in the dark so you have to look for them and the indicator lights on the buttons are not visible. There is also no indication in the dash that main beam is selected. I have not seen a single review that mentions this so maybe I am just a pedantic 73 year old who should be driving a Micra The second thing is the SatNav - it was a £500 option that I did not specify but between ordering it in June '15 and delivery in March '16 it became a standard fit and the car was renamed RS3 Navigation - it is a very poor system and I use a stand alone Garmin unit. Other than the above I think the car is superb and I prefer the front styling to the facelift model so I will be keeping it.

FL RS3 owner here. The interior and sunroof is really has many rattles and creaks. Not super refined.

I don't like the face-lift led lights they look less aggressive

It irks me that these don't come with adaptive cruise control as standard. Maybe that sounds stupid, but the RS3 is meant to be a "do it all" car, a super practical pocket rocket. Adaptive cruise IMO is a big part of that - its a big deal that you can drive for hundreds of miles with ease. Something that even fairly basic VW Golfs have as standard. It's totally dumb. The worst thing is, a lot of people don't spec it, because its fairly expensive, and I can imagine that a very large percentage of people even these days don't really know what it is, or don't care because they'll never use it. My dad has had it on his last two cars and never once dared to try it. I really hate Audi for this kind of thing. There are other worse examples, like how the TT mk3 didn't come with climate control as standard (or even sat nav). So basically it just means that the used market has loads of "meh" cars that only exist because Audi are dicks with their standard equipment. I'd much rather Audi charged more for their cars and included all the tech. Things like not having climate control is just plain ridiculous, and even now, not having adaptive cruise really dates a car IMO (to those who actually use it), especially when the car is meant to be high end.

The best advice is to buy a Honda Civic Type R 👍