Fizzboy7

First, I was impressed with the extent my dealership, Auto Gallery (or Audi?), went through. The entire showroom and parking area was transformed. I also noticed a local city councilman was there, along with some other entertainers. Valet parking, a raffle, and bar were a nice touch. Anyway, it was quite crowded so my wait to drive took about 40 minutes. No problem, with good food to be had.

My test car had the 1.8T motor (FWD). I did not find it to be underpowered at all. In fact, it felt downright peppy, with more than enough power for everyday driving. It did make some buzzy four cylinder noises, but nothing offensive or excessive. From a stop, I detected a medium amount of lag or hesitation, which just seems to be a longtime Audi/VW trait. Once the turbo got going, it moved quickly. I did feel the steering wheel tug a bit, something I don't miss at all with my former FWD A4. And to my surprise, it was easy to chirp the front tires with moderate throttle from a stop. I guess I just don't remember all the follies of having a front-wheel drive car.

The ride itself was Germanic solid, but stiff- worse than my sport package IS250. S-Tronic shift quality was mixed. Shifts were pretty much instant, but not as smooth as with my IS or with other Toyota/Honda products. But at least it defaults back to first gear at a stop. Speaking of shifts, the gear lever was unusually stiff to flick up and down. I don't recall my older A4 being that way nor does my IS protest with such friction. For those like myself who like to do the shifting, this would become tiresome. Overall, I felt it to be a sporty experience on the road, with adequate power, a stiff ride, and sharp handling. The sporting intentions are readily apparent.

Inside, it's easy getting comfy. Seat comfort was top-notch, with nicely shaped bolsters and firm support. The steering wheel had just the right amount of rake, unlike many competitors. Sightlines were good to the side, but the rear view is compromised due to the high trunk. Also, the rearview mirror is shaped like an oval, which seems odd (I guess you get used to that). Trim pieces inside appeared to be of high quality and the doors shut with a very secure and solid thunk.

Unfortunately, I have not warmed up to the retro and stark center stack design. The center air vents take up precious real estate, and the pop-up info/nav screen would be better positioned in that spot. Not just for looks, but the screen blocks the horizon over the dash and about 5-10% of the view through the windshield. This may be because I like my seat low, but Audi should take into account some people are short or like their seating position lower. I call this design a safety hazard and major annoyance (also noticed it in the Lexus CT). One other nitpick- my left foot could not find a comfortable place to rest. The dead pedal is positioned too far right and is not reset deep enough. This left my foot hanging on the edge of the resting area.

What the interior serves in overall comfort, it lacks in luxury. For $39k, there needs to be some wood trim and more contrast with colors. The center console leading to the cupholder area lacks eye candy. I can foresee people and the media beating up the interior as not high-end enough. (Interestingly, the salesguy spent a lot of time bashing the CLA's dash.) Another negative with the oversized air vents taking up all the central space is there are few lights to be seen at night. While this is purely psychological, it looks strange seeing nothing lit up where there has been lights for decades on dashboards. At night, that area looks like a dead spot, or like a car lacking features.

Exterior design would best be desribed as tidy, modern, conservative, classy, and progressive- typical Audi traits. This would be the best part of the new A3 in my opinion. Some people do not want to make a huge visual statement when driving a luxury automobile, and I think Audi has the perfect recipe for fulfilling that desire. Where it does fall short with aesthetics is the silly wheel gap, that hopefully the sport package option will rectify. As of now, the Audi website does not list a lowered suspension with the sport package, and no one there was able to answer if it would.

A car with a decent-sized trunk is important to me, as I like to take my bike with me at times. After folding both seats down, the trunk's length really swells to a nice size. However, the cut-out to lift things in is low and I think it would be very tight squeezing a bike through the opening w/o having to take it apart. Bummer. At least for rear passengers, there was good legroom.

The new A3 was very likable, but I was not in love with it as I hoped I would be. I found the base motor and FWD to be competent, but the ride a bit stiff and the torquesteer/tire chirp a turn-off. If there was any big disappointment or surprise, it would be the lower fuel mileage numbers with the smaller engine and FWD. Usually, it's the more powerful motor and AWD that has the lower numbers, but it's strangely opposite here. For that alone, I'd go with the 2.0T. I didn't get a chance to drive that model. But from what everyone else has written, it sounds like a rocket. The AWD would also cure the hyper active front wheels.

Overall, I predict this car will sell very well for Audi, and bring in a new layer of customers who will naturally graduate to higher models. Mission accomplished.

bagwell

There's an A3 "reveal party" thing I was invited to as well....was wondering if its worth going to or just a waste of time.

Could you not have chosen a 2.0 to drive? Any good freebies besides the food/drinks?

also even though I hate wood trim it should be an option....altho I'd prefer cf

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

thanks for the review! really sharp rims on them as always too.

corradoMR2

A3 is a nice car but if ride is too stiff, it will be a rough ride on our rough roads.

bagwell

I only like these wheels on it...19s



or these on the S3...

Hoovey689

iTrader: (16)

Good little review. Basics are a pint sized space the A4 originally fit, a peppy powertrain, decent interior but could use more "pizazz" ie woodtrim for the price.

It really is a cute car. Just too small for me these days.

bagwell

rather have....

mmarshall

Thanks for the review, Fizzboy....and well-done. I'll be reviewing this car myself shortly.

One mistake, right off the bat, that I think Audi may be making with this car is not offering more of the A3 hatchbacks in the U.S. The only 2015 hatchback offered, as of right now, is the extended-range, plug-in hybrid. Not everyone who wants the added utility of the hatchback design is going to be ready to pay the extra money that the advanced hybrid drivetrain will cost. It seems to be based on the (outdated) idea that hatchbacks/wagons don't sell in the U.S. On the other hand, you can't sell what you don't offer.

Hoovey689

iTrader: (16)

I would too. OP mentioned wood which is why I wrote that. Even a nice piano black or aluminium trim or basically just more nice material inside the little fella for the price

Fizzboy7

Wood would be my first trim choice, but piano black would have also worked well. They have a classy, but skimpy piece of striated aluminum running along the glovebox and door handles. It's just not enough to liven up the dark interior.

Fizzboy7

The S-Line and S3 rims are also my favorite. Those, couple with the different front air intakes, gives the entire car a sportier look.

Another detail I didn't cover were the tailpipes. I have a fetish for these on all cars, so I was on it closely. The tips themselves could be a bit bigger. As they are, they look a bit undersized. And I've always been a fan of tips on both sides of the car. With the tips being smaller, it actually looked better grouping the two together on one side, as the base car had. If they were bigger, then having one on each side would have looked better.

Fizzboy7

Thanks! It's been a while, but the A3 has my interest due to it's size and price. Look forward to your review.

High-end hatchbacks have not and still do not sell well in America. It's a simple numbers game, which I'm sure Audi, Mercedes, and BMW study and look at very closely. Audi's last and first U.S. A3 is a good example of that. Even the Lexus CT is not setting the world on fire. My personal take on why (4-door) hatches are not accepted here is because they look too much like a station wagon and minivan- both of which are nerdy and down-market bodystyles.

tex2670

If they made a hatch version in the A7 style, I'd be interested in that. Audi doesn't seem to have any problems selling that hatch.

Hoovey689

iTrader: (16)

Because it's a niche hatch and not a traditional hatch which has never been well received here

mmarshall

There are a number of hatches which have sold very well in the U.S. I agree that, overall, in passenger-car lines, the public prefers sedans...but the idea that hatches/wagons won't sell here has been way oversold. Just look at the success of wagons like the Outback, Forester, Venza, Volvo XC-70, etc....