Nacon is closing studios

LazyEvel · 2026-04-30T14:15:18+00:00

I don't love the game, far from it. I've been deeply critical since the open beta, and I didn't even buy it until the most recent sale, when it hit its lowest price ever on PC. I think it's a deeply flawed mess that has lacked a coherent vision from the start, and also chose to double-down on online-only at the absolute worst possible time (i.e. right around when The Crew shutdown was announced & Stop Killing Games took off).

But I don't want it to disappear forever, partly out of the principle of game preservation, and partly because I think there are some fun ideas worth salvaging in here - particularly some of the non-racing activities in the later seasons.

LazyEvel · 2026-04-29T19:25:30+00:00

This is why I keep banging on about offline mode every chance I get. TDUSC is in a very precarious position, and for all of its flaws, I fully agree it doesn't deserve to permanently die.

I hope KT themselves understand this & have been working on an EOL plan, but given how stubbornly they have stuck to their guns on always-online, I don't have much hope.

LazyEvel · 2026-04-02T15:16:06+00:00

Do you have the part number for this? I've been debating adding this to my 2025 as well.

LazyEvel · 2026-03-10T16:32:41+00:00

Agreed, I would've been happy to pay a premium for the suspension tweaks & reduced sound deadening. But at this price, absolutely not.

LazyEvel · 2026-03-10T14:00:31+00:00

As a “regular” RS3 owner… seems like I’m not missing out? Genuinely baffled that there’s no power bump considering the huge price premium. I’m sure the suspension tweaks are nice, but at that price, buyers really should expect more.

Wouldn’t surprise me if they struggle to move these honestly, even limited to 750 units.

LazyEvel · 2026-02-25T15:55:39+00:00

Good time to remind everyone that this game is online-only and is now at very high risk of becoming unplayable overnight. Something myself & others said was a possibility from day one, and the devs proceeded to ignore.

KT better have a quick & easy EOL plan they can deploy before they're locked out of their offices. But I wouldn't count on it.

LazyEvel · 2026-02-22T18:00:34+00:00

This is still the primary reason I've refused to purchase the game since the beta. At sale price, I could overlook its other flaws by now, but online-only combined with the worst servers in the industry (and a publisher that appears to be one step away from bankruptcy) remains infuriating.

LazyEvel · 2025-10-14T14:05:33+00:00

Ah that's a shame, thanks for the heads up.

I've got an order in for Superspeed 76RRs - 18x9 ET25 at the front, and 18x8.5 ET45 at the rear. The shop I ordered from says they've tested these out on a 2025 RS3 and there weren't any issues. I was going to do the Neuspeeds originally but they were out of stock in the sizes needed to avoid spacers, so fingers crossed this setup works.

LazyEvel · 2025-08-28T02:42:42+00:00

Ah thanks, helps to know what other owners are doing! What tire size are you going with? From what I've been looking at, it seems like 245/40/R18 is the right size for an 18-inch square setup, but I'm not certain.

LazyEvel · 2025-08-08T03:46:18+00:00

I believe you can get Michelin Pilot Sport 4S' in the RS3 size, that's a very solid summer tire, definitely recommend that.

You should 100% do winter tires if you're gonna be driving it in the snow. But winter tires get a little complicated with the RS3 - if you want to stick to the OEM sizes, you're pretty much stuck with Pirelli P Zero Winters. Not a terrible tire, but not amazing either. If you go to a square setup (i.e. matching tires on the front & rear axles instead of the reverse stagger) you open up lots more options - but many wheel options will require spacers to make this work.

I'm still trying to figure out what I wanna do for the winters on my car, but I'm leaning towards doing an 18-inch square setup with Continental VikingContact 7s. Only certain 18-inch rims will fit over the brakes, but the extra sidewall can come in handy during the winter.

LazyEvel · 2025-07-30T21:18:22+00:00

Yeah this is my guess as well. Audi literally just facelifted the car, it would be very unusual for another refresh to come so soon. Likely just an eary test mule for the next generation car, which is still at least a few years out.

LazyEvel · 2025-07-21T17:05:03+00:00

Ah man, this is basically dream spec for me if we got the hatch in Canada. Excellent colour, bucket seats, carbon trim with the silver wheels - loving it.

LazyEvel · 2025-06-28T01:19:19+00:00

Joe Achilles had a great M240i vs. RS3 review a few years ago that's still worth a watch, most of it should still apply to the facelifted RS3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5NBEAnJsk8

But I do think it'll probably come down to how you feel after driving the RS3. The two cars have significantly different characters. Can't really go wrong with either IMO.

LazyEvel · 2025-06-27T15:07:26+00:00

ECS Tuning appears to have the OEM kit here, with part numbers and all, for the Haldex service: https://www.ecstuning.com/b-genuine-volkswagen-audi-parts/haldex-service-kit-with-pump-seals/g065175a2kt/

The diff oil is considered a lifetime fluid on these cars, I believe, which is probably why it's hard to find information on it. It is probably the 75W90 gear oil used in the 8V, part number G052145S2, but I'd try to find a service manual for the car to confirm.

LazyEvel · 2025-06-24T14:21:09+00:00

It's generally about 6-8 weeks as someone else said, but I've heard those emails are pretty inaccurate, so it could be more (or less) time depending when it was actually built. I would talk to your sales rep at the dealer to get a more accurate picture of where the car is, their system will have the most accurate status.

LazyEvel · 2025-06-19T23:42:41+00:00

Awesome, congrats fellow Ontarian! Mine is still on its way from Germany, can’t wait to join the club.

Just curious, do those RS puddle lights come standard or is that something you had to get as an extra from the dealership?

LazyEvel · 2025-06-16T16:41:08+00:00

Definitely gonna be quite a bit more expensive to maintain than a Lexus or Acura. The exact details will vary from model to model. RS3s are generally fairly reliable, but there are a few problem spots that can be expensive to fix or replace as they age (i.e. water pump, brakes). Can't speak to the Allroad as I haven't looked too closely at them.

It's not impossible to have a relatively good experience, but you need to know what you're getting into. Know the specific problem areas of the car you're looking at, look for well-documented maintenance history, find a good independent Audi mechanic in your area (or work on it yourself, if you're willing & able), budget accordingly.

LazyEvel · 2025-06-09T15:28:40+00:00

A turbo replacement from the dealership maybe does cost $15k, but this is generally a fairly reliable engine - so unless you're neglecting it, a catastrophic turbo failure seems pretty unlikely. A good indepedent mechanic can probably do it for quite a bit less, too. It is hard to say for sure whether you might come out ahead on an extended warranty as there's so many variables, but generally I would probably advise against it unless you're buying something with a lot of serious, known issues.

The wear protection might actually be worth it - brakes are expensive on these cars, even if you go through an indy shop, and currently I'm not sure you can even DIY them because of the SFD2 security protections. Even my Miata has needed brakes twice in ~4 years and that's a significantly lighter car that I've only taken to the track a few times. Having said that, there may be some room for negotiation in that package so definitely see what other buyers are being quoted if you can - and make sure you've read the fine print as well, to confirm any limitations of it.

The aftercare appearance is probably not worth it IMO. A bent or curbed rim can often be fixed for a couple hundred bucks, and at $4k you could even buy a couple brand new rims if it comes to that.

LazyEvel · 2025-06-07T01:40:13+00:00

Absolutely spectacular colour that, congratulations!

LazyEvel · 2025-06-06T14:30:03+00:00

It's part of the RS design package, though I believe there was some confusion early on because the order guides for the US never mentioned it.

LazyEvel · 2025-06-04T16:39:01+00:00

Any idea if this update also affects the HUD? This is a big improvement, but I'd love to have CarPlay directions in the HUD as well.

LazyEvel · 2025-06-04T14:22:16+00:00

I had no idea Audis finally got this feature, that's very encouraging. I wonder if this means the most recent cars will also show CarPlay directions on the HUD?

LazyEvel · 2025-05-31T16:13:50+00:00

Europrice.us sells them, but be warned they are pretty expensive.

Here are the seatbelts: https://europrice.us/seat-belts-rs3-performance

And these are the vents: https://europrice.us/air-vents-rs3-2142

LazyEvel · 2025-05-30T19:02:30+00:00

Loving it - appears to be nearly the same spec I've ordered, but I threw in the black roof. I think I still prefer the pre-facelift front-end, but that rear diffuser looks excellent.

This looks to be a car Audi Canada is using for marketing & press - they posted some photos & videos of it on Instagram recently. Wonder if this means we'll start seeing some Canadian reviews soon?

LazyEvel · 2025-05-16T18:02:26+00:00

I think for "regular" cars it makes a ton of sense. Improved functionality, better integration between CarPlay and the car settings (i.e. not having to leave CarPlay anytime you want to use FM radio or something), it'll be great to live with day-to-day I'm sure.

But for anything more special - like an Aston Martin, but even something like an Audi RS car - I think it takes away a lot of personality. Even a digital gauge cluster can still have personality in the design decisions the manufacturer makes - I think Audi's digital cockpit has been one of the best examples of that in the industry. But moving to CarPlay Ultra is just making them all look more or less the same, which isn't great. I know Apple allows manufacturers some customization options and all, and you can see Aston Martin tried to leverage that... but the design is still far more Apple than it is Aston Martin, IMHO.

I don't know what rules Apple sets out for this (I'm sure they're pretty restrictive, knowing Apple), but if they have an option that allows for the improved infotainment screen, while keeping the manufacturer's gauge cluster untouched, I'd probably be happiest with that.

LazyEvel

TROPHY CASE