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• Multifunction steering wheel with flat bottom, in 3-spoke design with S badge - $700 (it would have been nice to see this as standard kit but that aside – it’s a piece of automotive art and a must have item in a tuned up car like the S3).
• Multi-stack CD changer – glove box mounted - $950 – (don’t bother, the standard Bose 8 speaker unit is superb and glove box mounted CD changers are more of a nuisance than in dash changers. No direct MP3 jack is sorely missing.
• Adaptive lights with dynamic cornering lights - $800 (go for this if you regularly drive at night)

Where it sits: Entry level into Audi’s high performance “S” world of cars, the S3 offers buyers a complete package of blistering all round pace, and a truly bespoke interior fit out, more akin to higher priced Euro offerings.

I don’t need to tell you that Volkswagen’s Golf R32 is great performance buy, if you like it comfortably “hot”. The V6 powered Golf has notched up enough awards from motoring media around that tell us so.

But if you happen to read somewhere that the R32 represents more bang for your buck than an Audi S3, you can dismiss that publication outright.

The S3 is a far more serious machine than the V6 powered Golf and plays in an altogether higher league. But don’t take my word for it, go directly to your nearest Audi dealer and take the car for a proper test drive and I guarantee you’ll come up with the extra dollars. If you can’t, I’ll lend you the balance!

It’s not just the additional power and torque although, that certainly helps. But against the R32, the increase is only slight. The S3 has a far more potent weapon – weight or lack of it!

Too often, we forget to mention the power to weight ratio – that’s the real secret to the kind of punch you get from behind the wheel of the S3.

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