I could've gone for the S3 when things were starting to get strung out on the R order (the GFV changes that made me decide for sure that I was going to pay for the R outright rather than see payments increase by £97 a month, the BW jumping 14 weeks around the time I added Prets), but I couldn't forgive the estate-like external looks enough to buy it for the interior. The dearth of standard equipment put me off too - I would have to spend close to £3k on it to get the stuff that is standard on the MK7 that I wouldn't be without.
Anything about the Audi that feels more premium is just a very thin veneer. If VW were allowed the free rein to spend another £100 on the car and charge £300 more accordingly, you would have your better door cards and half leather. Audi quality over and above the other VAG marques is all about perception (but they're good at it). Fancier door cards, slightly softer plastics, nicer switches (above Skoda and Seat), and half leather seats don't cost a lot, but add a lot to the RRP. Built to the same techniques and QA standards, painted the same, the functional parts being the same under the veneer. Surely the negligible price difference between the R and the S3 is the giveaway that they're built to the same standard. I'm sure there'll be a well hidden Achilles heel somewhere on the S3 that makes you think they cut a corner and ask yourself why the hell did they do it?
Just amazed that for the one area of the wing highlighted, VW didn't do something to make it more rigid - a clip or block behind it perhaps, for the sake of 2g weight and a couple of Euro cents per car, they probably thought no-one would notice, and if I hadn't been sealing the car and requiring some elbow grease to get the residue off then I wouldn't have noticed either.
From my experience, most Audi salesmen don't deserve your money.