Audi A3 2006 Review

The two-litre diesel in the A3 which is shared with the VW Golf is one of the sweetest performers around, while the three-litre diesel in the A6 is a robust weapon that has helped lift the diesel A6 share to more than a third of sales.

In danger of being overtaken by its German adversaries, Audi is hitting back with a two-litre A4 TDI, a three-litre A4 TDI, two six-cylinder (2.7 and three litres) in the Allroad, and a 4.2-litre V8 TDI A8 in the next few months.

But Audi should be careful not to get carried away with trying to lead the field in luxury diesels.

The quality of diesel product is starting to make itself known in the car-buying public, but a couple of under-performers could set back the rise of oil-burners.

While the 103kW 1968cc diesel is a gem in the A3, it seems a little underpowered and overworked in the bigger A4.

The engine feels coarse under foot, it sounds noisy and there is an annoying lag between idle at 900rpm and about 1800rpm.

If you could feed it some revs before dropping the clutch, it would launch just fine, but married to the standard-fit continuously variable multitronic gearbox, it is a bit of a traffic light slug.

It actually responds better to a gentle squeeze of the accelerator, rather than burying your foot in the firewall.

Thanks to that ponderous nature, the characteristic heavy Audi steering feels even heavier as you apply throttle from the apex of a corner.

Once past 1800rpm, there is immediate and strong urge in the engine with plenty of acceleration for safe highway passing.

Off idle, the coarseness filters out and the engine quietens down. It only comes back a little on full song.

Peak power is listed as 103kW, but the four-cylinder turbocharged diesel produces its peak torque of 320Nm from 1750rpm to 2500rpm.

The continuously variable multitronic transmission feels smooth, but is a little slow to kick down when in normal drive. Again, for best results, you have to squeeze rather than floor the throttle.

Otherwise, pull the lever down to "S" for sport changes. Here it responds quickly, although it does to tend to hold on to gears a little long, bringing the coarseness of the engine back into the cabin. You can also flick the lever to the left for sequential changes which are even faster than the sport shift mode.

And the flick left and down feels just like a manual selection of third to second to attack a rapidly approaching corner.

While sport mode is responsive, it cannot interpret that you want to drop a gear or two as you rush up to a corner.

So you need to push it up to drive (at which point it might even go up a gear and gain momentum), then flick it across to sequential, then tug it back once or twice to select the correct cog.

This all takes precious milliseconds.

I would prefer to have sequential accessible directly from sport mode than from drive.

But diesel buyers aren't just after torquey driving performance. They also want good fuel economy and low C02 emissions.

I can't vouch for the emission figures, but my rough estimate on fuel economy was a little over 6l/100km which included mainly city driving.

Inside, it is all business in the usual A4 style with comfortable seats, plenty of legroom and no-nonsense black leather trim and brushed aluminium, plus one of the nicest red-light instruments displays on wheels.

The sound system is a delight.

Standard safety features include electronic stability program incorporating ABS, eight airbags, active front head restraints, electronic differential lock, anti-slip regulation, a brake-disc wiping system and brake assist.

The A4 oil-burner will cost $56,990, which is less that the Mercedes-Benz C220 CDi which starts at $68,400.