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Audi A3 Sportback 2013 review

EXPERT RATING
8.5

Audi A3 has been a winner since its introduction when it changed the way people thought about small cars. Prior to the A3 the prestigious German marques were only selling cars built on medium to large bodies with high prices to match.

Audi showed it didn’t have to be like that and the company’s arch rivals Mercedes-Benz and BMW have since joined the (relatively) affordable small-car brigade.

Audi A3 Sportback will begin its life in Australia in April or May 2013. Only five-door models are being imported as Audi Australia believes buyers looking for three-door will opt for the smaller A1 instead.

VALUE

Price is yet to be confirmed though they are expected to remain about the same. Adding to the desirability of this small-medium car is a full range of information and audio systems. The topline versions of the Audi A3 will come close to the big Audi A8 in sophistication.

The most expensive A3 variants will have radar cruise control, automatic correction if the car wanders out of its lane and crash anticipation and passenger injury reduction.

TECHNOLOGY

Petrol and diesel engines are available with capacities ranging from 1.2 to 1.8 litres for the former, and 1.6 to 2.0 litres for the diesels. An LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) engine and a plug-in hybrid will be offered in years to come.

Australian specs for engines have yet to be announced, but it’s likely we will get the larger petrol and diesel units, with the hybrid being an outside possibility. Manual and automatic transmissions will be fitted, with a strong emphasis being on the the autos in Australia.

The latest engine design from Audi sees its engines using as little as 3.8 litres per hundred kilometres, with even the sportiest powerplants only consuming about 5.6 litres per hundred when measured on the combined European driving cycle.

DESIGN

The latest five-door A3 takes a new direction in styling to previous models; while those leant in the direction of practicality and common sense the new model takes a strong sporting stance in the styling field. It has a lean and low look, with a wheelbase longer than in the three-door A3 in order to minimise front and rear overhangs.

The lines from the now-traditional ‘single-frame’ grille back through the dual sweeping highlights on the doors give it a low appearance, and the shape of the rear hatch is aimed at visually emphasising the horizontal shape.

In an interesting move, there’s an adornment package that adds chromed strips around the side windows. It will be interesting to see if this blast from the automotive styling past is picked up by other makers. As someone who grew up with chromed cars in the 1960s and ‘70s we must admit to being suckers for this brightwork.

Cleverly, though the third generation Audi A3 is larger, more spacious and much better equipped than the original 1999 model it weighs virtually the same as that car. The engineers have managed to trim about 90 kilograms out of the body on the gen-two A3 by clever design that minimises the use of materials, without the need for expensive metals.

Despite the relatively steep slope of the hatchback the Audi A3 Sportback has decent headroom in the rear seat. The A3 is typical of this class of car in being aimed at the family unit of two adults and three children, but it’s possible to fit three adults in the rear provided they aren’t of the hulking variety. Indeed cars such as the Audi A3 are often used to carry four adults in their home markets in Europe.

SAFETY

The A3 will have a full range of crash avoidance features and if a crash becomes inevitable the car will attempt to have it occur at the lowest possible speed.

DRIVING

We have driven both petrol and diesel engines and manual and automatic A3s during the event in Monaco and found them to be tractable at low engine revs with the petrol powerplants happy to rev high into the scale. The turbo-diesels aren’t particularly willing to rev much over 4000 rpm, but that’s not their lot in life so that’s no big deal.

Ride comfort is very good and the nimble handling is so well balanced that it’s hard to realise this car is driven by the front wheels with all that means in the way of forward weight bias. Quattro models will be introduced shortly and be powered by big grunt turbo-petrol engines.

Noise levels are very low and more like those you would expect in the larger A4 and A6 Audi models. This will further enhance the willingness of Australian buyers to trade down from large cars into prestigious Audis and the like.

VERDICT

Our preview of the latest generation Audi A3 five-door Sportback at its global launch in Monaco leaves little doubt that the success story will continue in Australia and globally.

Audi A3 Sportback
Available: April, 2013
Price: est. from $42,000
Warranty: 3 years/unlimited km
Service interval: 12 months/15,000km
Safety: 6 airbags, ABS, EBD, EBA, TC CRASH
Engine: 1.4 and 1.8 4-cyl turbo-petrol or 2-litre turbo-diesel; 103kW/250Nm and 132kW/250Nm or 100kW/320Nm
Transmission: 6 or 7-spd dual-clutch auto or 6-spd manual; front drive or AWD
Thirst: 4.7L/100km/5.6L/100km or 4.2L/100km; 95RON; 110/130 or 108g/km CO2
Dimensions: 4.3m (L), 1.8m (W), 1.4m (H)
Weight: from 1205kg
Spare: Space-saver  

Pricing guides

$16,999
Based on 37 cars listed for sale in the last 6 months
Lowest Price
$8,500
Highest Price
$22,963

Range and Specs

VehicleSpecsPrice*
1.8 TFSI Attraction 1.8L, —, 7 SP AUTO $12,870 – 17,160 2013 Audi A3 2013 1.8 TFSI Attraction Pricing and Specs
Sportback 1.6 TDI Attraction 1.6L, Diesel, 7 SP AUTO $7,260 – 10,230 2013 Audi A3 2013 Sportback 1.6 TDI Attraction Pricing and Specs
Sportback 1.4 TFSI Attraction 1.4L, —, 7 SP AUTO $8,250 – 11,660 2013 Audi A3 2013 Sportback 1.4 TFSI Attraction Pricing and Specs
Sportback 1.8 TFSI Ambition 1.8L, —, 6 SP MAN $8,800 – 12,320 2013 Audi A3 2013 Sportback 1.8 TFSI Ambition Pricing and Specs
EXPERT RATING
8.5
Ewan Kennedy
Contributing Journalist

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