Pocket Rocket

To break my six month sabbatical from the blog I wanted to talk about my new toy which arrived the day before my birthday in December. I have spoken about it before back in June last year and finally after a long wait the car finally arrived. Initially it was a bit touch and go as Audi UK notified me that due to unprecedented demand (and issues I believe in manufacturing the quantity of the new 2.5 aluminium engines they need for the RS3 saloon and sportback) they were only going to introduce 200 into the UK this year and customer orders would be delayed until October 2017.

The majority were earmarked for Audi’s driving experience team who tour the country putting on great events, one went to each dealer and the handful left went to a few lucky customers. I was one of those and although I didn’t get to choose my specification I was able to nab the obligatory blue one.

While I am not a fan of dark car interiors, the car is super comfortable and even though it runs on 20 inch wheels the ride is respectable. And while it may not get the kind of respect the R8 received it does get the occasional ‘in the know’ nod from a passer-by which suits me and means I can be less precious about where I drive and park it.

I have even managed to fit my wife, daughter and dog in the car – and while we were not all superbly comfortable it was possible, something I couldn’t achieve in the R8! They all were able to enjoy with me the superb acceleration and that amazing engine noise courtesy of some rather fat sport exhausts.

On reflection I think it was a great buy but it has left me hankering for something more exotic and surprisingly my mind has turned back to Ariel and the fabulous Nomad…