Help M3 coupe or S4 Avant

mike-payne · Post by **mike-payne** » Tue Jul 01, 2008 3:46 pm

Hi Guys,

Just a quick question and a piece of advice.
I'm looking at getting a more luxury car, that will also bridge the gap to my extreme scoob.
The car will be my everyday run around...

The choice is an M3 coupe, MY03 with 36k miles, Manual and the usual leather interior with the added feature of TV & Sat nav. Steel Grey, with Black and Imola red interior.
Second choice is an Audi S4 Avant, MY54 with 30k miles, Auto with tiptronic (paddle shift), again usual leather interior, bose sound system, no real extras as such. Pearl Black with silver grey interior.
Both up for the same money...

I reallly cant choose between them...
Both offer great performance, i don't need the practicality of the S4, but would i'm sure would come in handy with 2 kids (the wife has a practical car).
The S4 looks very underated from teh outside, wheer as the M3 doesn't. But the M3 interior is quite honestly pants compared the Audi.

I'm guessing teh Audi would have cheaper servicing, but not much....

So which ever way i look at it i can see pluses and minuses for both.

So can you let me know your experiences for and against either and this might help me decide... :?: :?:

ScoobieWRX · Post by **ScoobieWRX** » Tue Jul 01, 2008 4:18 pm

The uber quick Audi estate sounds good, and if you're doing the miles it would be my preference. I always found BMW's not as comfy as Audi's and i always seem to feel a cut above the rest in an audi although the M3 will be quicker and handle much better but then that's not what you're after really is it.

Audi plus point would be get a tow bar on it and buy a trailer so you can ferry the extreme scoob, tools and spares anywhere you like, and carry all the family in comfort as well. You can't do that in an M3!!

mike-payne · Post by **mike-payne** » Tue Jul 01, 2008 4:42 pm

Thats very true.... Although i think possibly i might need to think of it as a replacement to the scoob..

The Boy in me says M3, the Man says S4 :?

Grunty, rumbly V8
or Screamy, metalicy straigh 6

:?: :?: :?:

slarty bartfast · Post by **slarty bartfast** » Tue Jul 01, 2008 5:01 pm

The Audi is a very, very good car, if not a little dull to drive, very capable but almost too much grip.
The M3 is the best of both worlds

slarty bartfast · Post by **slarty bartfast** » Tue Jul 01, 2008 5:02 pm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzGBSvyuUwg

ScoobieWRX · Post by **ScoobieWRX** » Tue Jul 01, 2008 5:05 pm

Torquey....Rumby...Grunty...Burble Burble...Phwaww yessss please!! A home from home

Screaming wah wah wah....you've already got a Scooby for that kind of mad driving. Buy the bimmer and you'll wish you bought the Audi, a Q-Car if ever there was one

Be a Man......Go Audi my son

duncan · Post by **duncan** » Tue Jul 01, 2008 7:36 pm

M3

you arent old enough for an audi

neilK · Post by **neilK** » Tue Jul 01, 2008 8:54 pm

dynamix wrote:M3

you arent old enough for an audi

Strange thats pretty much what I said :-D

The Audi's lovely, but would have to be used to carry golf clubs

mike-payne · Post by **mike-payne** » Tue Jul 01, 2008 9:01 pm

Kee seems to favour the M3 too...
You'd think she'd know better than to encourage me to get a true drivers car.....
I'm still torn by the Q look...
and there is no way on this planet that it would ever have golf clubs in it!!!!

It would be quite good to pull up behind people in the big old estate and then smike them through the bends... lets face it most people in fast cars have no idea how top drive them properly... hell i chase people round the country lanes in my old shogun bus :-D

P20SPD · Post by **P20SPD** » Tue Jul 01, 2008 9:09 pm

Mike, it took me over 6 months to decide between the M3 and the RS4 (not the S4), and i eventually settled on the M3, from a drive perspective it was leaps and bounds ahead of the RS4.

I have done nigh on 40000 miles in my M3 in 19 months and i dont regret a single one. I do have the SMG option on a 55 plate, with all the extras, and quite simply it ticks every box i asked of it.

If i want to drive steady, whack it in auto, and have it on a mild setting, if i want to push on, turn the traction control off, switch to manual, max setting on SMG and off we go

From day one of owning it, the car has averaged 28mpg per the on board computer, so approx 24/25 in real world. I am not shy at driving it either, but do cruise sensibly on motorways and dual carriageways.

One of the biggest negatives of the RS4 to me was the driving postition, it just felt so remote to that of the classic scoob. More like i was sat on the car rather than in it.

We have two boys, 6 and 7, and we often go out on a weekend in the M3 rather than the pathfinder, and its never a problem.

The car is built like a brick sh1thouse, the interior is superb, and IMO is far better than the Audi, and far more comfortable. I did 700 miles in one day the other week, and felt totally relaxed at the end of it.

Granted, start and push it really hard over poor B roads or C roads, and you soon find the limits of the suspension travell, but that is the only bit i dislike about the M3, oh other than its entertaining in snow if you manage to get it moving

Steven