Can A Stock Audi S3 Sedan Take Down A 2015 Subaru WRX STI? The Answer May Surprise You!

Better interior? LoL! You definitely have no taste unless you like cheap plastics. Keep drinking that Hatorade. The WRX STi is indeed a great car but the interior is one of the main reasons I wouldn't purchase one. Too cheap!

@TheSteve most of these guys are not open minded, they are just biased. Don't waste your time.

Have you ever been in a Subaru? Interior is not their strong suit. Audi runs away in this category.

I'll take the Audi S3 in a heartbeat!

BOOOOO, i'd take a CLA 45 AMG, run rings around the Audi in EVERY performance test, then opt for the Subaru before I sit at an Audi service dealer allllll day for a VW S3

What's with all this "take down" dick-swaggering stuff, needing to be better than the other guy? In my view, it's borne of insecurities and low self-esteem.

I'm perfectly happy to get what I like, and I don't give a rip if someone else's numbers or reviews are "better". Like Mark Twain once said, "What others think of me is none of my business."

Love the quote!

xjug1987a if I were spending $30K on a car I'd drop it into a Fusion or an Optima. The Mercedes CLA at that price point is a pile of crap. The A3 is nice, but the Jetta GLI is nicer (lease do not buy).

Subie hands down...It'll also be waiving as it drives by the dealership when the Audi is in for an unscheduled repair.

That is most decidedly the truth. If Audi could match the Subaru to the penny for the performance and be as reliable, then this would be a knife fight. As it is, it's a "Gentlemen, start your engines!" kind of moment and the guy in the Audi hopes it starts.

@MattDarringer you are correct but in this country and around the world most will prefer to have the AUDI park in their driveways than a Subaru just because of the badge. It reflects "success and luxury" something the "reliable" Subaru will never give you.

@USNA1999 people are idiots for buying Audis but those idiots make me money so let their moronic championing of German superiority go unabated LOL

Matt: what do you drive? Seems you're not a VW/Audi fan, we all agree Japanese cars have no souls... so for $30K what would you recommend? Seriously.... An all around quality vehicle that has character, looks good and has a nice interior, with decent mileage? If you only get one car, what is that car?

@xjug1987a my most likely daily driver is a Kia Optima SXL but I also have a Boss 302 Laguna Seca. The wife drives a Mercedes GL. BUT I have access to vintage American muscle cars, 2 Jensen Interceptors, and TVRs

reviews - Don't think I was speaking with you "LOL".... grow up. I never said the WRX lacked soul, its a great piece, not for me, but the interior in most Subie's are junk.

Thanks Matt... I need to replace my wife's GLK in October and am a car nut but cannot decide on a new ride. Definitely not another GLK.

reviews - get a life... DB!

@xjug1987a Does it have to have the status of a Mercedes? If not, check out a loaded Ford Escape. It's an excellent vehicle that looks and drives like a premium should drive without the extra cost and the typical reliability issues of the Germans.

If you can get your head around a Lincoln, the MKC has all the goodness of the Escape--which it is--plus a few more goodies. The styling is quite nice in person UNLIKE the MKZ. But more importantly, Ford has given dealers the power to come well off list price and not have to eat their own profit.

Take a look at the MKC and if you like it, bargain hard and you'll get it for a good price.

You mean there are quicker cars in a drag race than a WRX? No way. The WRX is the quickest drag car ever invented, and 0-60 and 1/4 mile times are the only way to measure how good one car is versus another. Nothing else matters.

Oh come one, if the S3 lost you would have gone on about how the S3 is so slow and so on. With two cars with identical power on "paper" this comparison is quite interesting and highly relevant. The STI has had quite the reputation of performance a couple of notches above its price, or at least a few generations back. Of course things have changed and others have caught up and passed it.

If the Audi was slower than the Subie, Agent GermanNut009 wouldn't have posted the article in the first place. I commented because the article implies that a car out dragging the Subie is some miraculous unheard of achievement. MotorTrend did a comparison of the CLA45 AMG, M235i, and WRX STi recently, and the STi was the slowest of the three 0-60 and 1/4 mile. So the S3 beating it in the same metrics is neither surprising nor unique. Incidentally the Subie was the fastest around a track, which likely would also be the case against the S3.

The CLA45 AMG and the M235i beating the STI is far less interesting and more obvious. The price gap is bigger there and both have more power. Not hard to see that happening. The S3 and the STI are priced closer together and are quoted at the same power.

Audi? Please.

Subaru has the engineering that can beat out BMW M4, Lamborghini Aventador, LaFerrari, Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG, etc for that price.

Well NISSAN did it with the GTR but regardless of performance lots of people will always see the GTR as inferior and not until Subaru makes a car that can actually compete head to head with them (like LEXUS did with the LFA) Subaru is nothing more than another VW selling cars for a niche market.

The world will definitely much prefer Audi, since Audi is actually a status symbol itself.

And Subaru, I have seen a lot of people who say they know about Merc, BMW, Audi and such, but not really much about Subaru. Well, I guess I can not blame them.

Well, no matter. I'd still take WRX STI. I loved my old WRX, so this thing must be real good.

The Subaru has to be launched with a high-rev drop, which the video shows they did not do from the lack of smoke from the front tires. If you make a point of telling the audience that the car makes its torque up high, you have to build boost and launch it from there.

The Audi also seemed to have more "engine" sounds being piped into the cabin.

P.s.

Where was the on-track comparison of lap times?

The Audi S3 Sedan is a hugely capable vehicle given its price. Considering it starts at $41,995 or nearly $6K below the CLA45 AMG and offers a better interior, more standard equipment and just slightly slower performance, I think it should steal some sales from the CLA45 AMG.

Against the Subaru WRX STI, it's really comparing two cars with different purposes. The Subaru is meant to be a boy-racer with some hopped up performance. The Audi S3 is designed to be a quick and affordable Audi, which brings the status and interior quality buyers have come to expect from the Audi luxury brand.

@reviews we have a 2015 VW GTI in our allotment that will carry a $42K price tag and NO it is NOT a Golf R.

As a Subaru Dealer myself I feel like these are both great cars. I want to be a little bit unbiased. If my budget was 40000 after tax and fee's I would get a Subaru Sti, If my budget was 50000 I would get a Audi S3 although the audi S3 I would get with automatic or dual clutch and it would probably be a lease purchase. in the audi I see myself dressed in a dress shirt and tie going to work in the downtown financial area but in the Subaru sti I see myself carving through the back mountain roads in a trucker hat and some khaki shorts. So it really comes down to Apples or Oranges again?

For $50,000 I'd get myself a CLA 45 AMG. It would destroy a S3 and keep up with the STI on a race track.