RS2 - what are they like?

[marctwo]

I'm thinking about changing the S3 for something a little more practical (4 door) and suddenly thought of one of these.

Has anyone got/had one? What are they like to live with? Maintainance costs? MPG? I do mostly motorway miles (around 6000/year).

Head says diesel A2, but heart says RS2 (that 5pot sound is just pure group B )

[Robatr0n]

I'm sure Jeremy C will be along soon to let you know, if not head over to www.s2forum.com as there are plenty of people asking the same advice.

[darreni]

Go for it. They are brutally fast when on boost( +4k rpm). Full bore standing starts are like being fired from a gun. Will murder most things off the line.


Heavy on suspension bushes, no other major probs. LHD better spec.

Mine used to ave 15mpg.

Great cars.

[marctwo]

darreni said:

Mine used to ave 15mpg.

Currently getting 33mpg out of the S3. I take it you have lead shoes?

[darreni]

marctwo said:

darreni said:

Mine used to ave 15mpg.

Currently getting 33mpg out of the S3. I take it you have lead shoes?

Nope, that mahoosive turbo takes some spooling up. And if you get one, you will be demonstrating it to friends forever & a day. If you haven't driven one, the best way of describing it is like a 747 taking off, a sudden unrelenting thump in the back. It also makes any passengers go silent the same as a 747 does too.
Its even better if you get someone else to drive & you sit next to them.

The S3 is nice, the RS2 is a mental case made to look normal.

[marctwo]

I guess I'll start looking at diesel A2s again then until I get a massive pay rise

[pauls-f]

Don't let Darreni's 15mpg put you off. I'm currently getting around 23mpg but that climbs to around 28mpg when on long trips. The ECU settings for cold starts means the first 4 miles until warmed up are brutal on MPG. Other than that my car is great. Massive go when you want it and extremely docile when you don't. Some of the parts are very pricey but with a bit of digging you find that the Porsche sourced parts are cheaper from Porsche than Audi. Only spec difference LHD to RHD is the RHD is Aircon and the LHD is Climate Control. Neither are great though!!

Worth going to RS246.com, Audifans.net and the S2forum to get the full gen.

Edited by pauls-f on Friday 16th March 14:46

[JonRB]

I'll tell you what they're like....... in a moment..... any second now..... they're FAST

(but a bit laggy)

[clubsport]

Agree on the lag...dare I say it but I was a little disappointed when I drove one....impressive for a performance estate, but you may find it old compared to your S3....I would suggest a facelist '99-01 S4 Avant with MRC map giving similar bhp to Rs2...sorry JC

[S2Avant]

Buy an S2 Avant and then tune it. You can easily get rid of the turbo lag with a Garrett ball bearing turbo instead of the KKK.
More power - less spool up - less cost.
Very stealth.

[drewtastic]

Interesting vid clip:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=AaMsxHH4gyQ

RS2 stcok v chip tuned S3 toped out at just shy of 170mph!

Edited by drewtastic on Tuesday 20th March 16:51

[darreni]

We had ours up to mid 150's (err on a german motorway i think!) & it was still pulling like a train & planted to the road. In the above vid, the guy sounds like he short shifted through the first 3 gears, which may account for the s3 being close.

[jeremyc]

Robatr0n said:

I'm sure Jeremy C will be along soon to let you know ...

Sorry for the delay ...

I'll give it the biased 'fantastic' verdict ; at your annual mileages you'll be into one service a year. As has been mentioned the fuel economy can be startling, but you need to be realistic: by my calculation the annual fuel cost difference between 15mpg and 23mpg (assuming 6000 miles per year) is only about £600 (or a little over £10 per week).

[marctwo]

jeremyc said:

Robatr0n said:

I'm sure Jeremy C will be along soon to let you know ...

Sorry for the delay ...

I'll give it the biased 'fantastic' verdict ; at your annual mileages you'll be into one service a year. As has been mentioned the fuel economy can be startling, but you need to be realistic: by my calculation the annual fuel cost difference between 15mpg and 23mpg (assuming 6000 miles per year) is only about £600 (or a little over £10 per week).

Jeremy,

Thanks for the response. It was your car in Evo that got me thinking about one in the first place. Unfortunately the running costs are starting to sound like it's not quite as pactical as I first thought. Much as I would like to own a genuine piece of motoring history like the RS2, I might be better off with a cheap diesel for covering the miles and an Elise for fun.

Marc

[TEKNOPUG]

Get an S2 Avant as previously mentioned for a third of the price.

[marctwo]

TEKNOPUG said:

Get an S2 Avant as previously mentioned for a third of the price.

This is a good idea but it's not really the purchase price that's the issue, it's the running costs. I am sure the S2 is cheaper to run too but probably not by that much surely?

[quattro340]

go for it, just brought one can't stop using it. they don't make them like before!

[S2Avant]

marctwo said:

TEKNOPUG said:

Get an S2 Avant as previously mentioned for a third of the price.

This is a good idea but it's not really the purchase price that's the issue, it's the running costs. I am sure the S2 is cheaper to run too but probably not by that much surely?

An S2 with the same performance as an RS2 will cost the same to run.
Brakes are the only difference on these cars when considering the running costs.