Long story short with the TL-S. Went through two clutches and rebuilt the tranny one and a half times in a year. Combination of too much power along with just...a bad chassis and that inherent understeer made it hell. No matter how much tuning we tried to do, it just drove like ****. Still, like you said, it looks damn nice.
The thing with Audi's is, at least for me, the base trim is sort of meh. In the A3, it's really not all that great and I'd rather jump into an Autobahn package GTi. Maybe I'm spoiled with my current A4 since it's literally loaded with every single option available (was a chance deal that I got really lucky on) but anything other than Prestige trim is missing some stuff for me. I know I wouldn't be satisfied. And the way the pricing works out, if I got an A3 that I would be happy with, I'm nearly there at an S3 at that point. I've already talked to a few dealerships about it and been crunching numbers. Unfortunately, I'm really picky and just have some specific boxes/options that I want ticked.
Whichever car I get, though, it'll get a stage one tune. That's why I have in my A4 now. Poly bushings, sways with S-Line and Sport, grippier tires, bolt ons, and tune. It's not bad by any stretch but at the end of the day, you can still tell that it's just a sedan, not even a sports sedan. That's really what I want - something already decently potent out of the factory. If money wasn't a concern, I'd just grab a Premium Plus S3 and call it a day. That car reminds me of a grown up Evo.