Audi A3 2005 News

Hot on the heels of the Australian government's mandatory Takata airbag recall, Ford, Audi and Tesla have joined the list of carmakers to detail which of it's models are affected.

A vote by 75 motoring journalists from 22 countries has awarded the compact prestige car the World Car of the Year award for 2015.It finished on top of a 24-car field and eventually beat the two other finalists, the Ford Mustang and Volkswagen Passat.The other big prizes for 2015, Green Car of the Year and Performance Car of the Year, went to the plug-in hybrid BMW i8 and the Mercedes-AMG GT coupe.The winners were announced at the New York Motor Show today at an event hosted by Bridgestone Corporation and Autoneum at the culmination of a six-month voting process.The C-Class delivers levels of refinement, luxury, safety, ride and handling that challenge best-in-class.The awards are in their 11th year and previous winners include the Audi A6, BMW 3 Series, Lexus LS460 and Volkswagen Golf, Polo and Up.To be eligible for the overall World Car award, candidate cars must have become available for sale on at least two continents between January 1, 2014 and May 31, 2015.The WCOTY wins by Mercedes-Benz follow its victories in the Green Car contest in 2007 with the E320 Bluetec and 2012 with the S 250 CDI BlueEFFICIENCY and its Luxury Car success with the S Class in 2014.“We are extremely delighted of winning the honour of World Car of the Year,” says the chairman of Daimler, Dr Dieter Zetsche.The WCOTY victory follows a similar success for the C-Class in the CarsGuide Car of the Year award.The WCOTY judging panel says: “Taking its design and technological cues from the S-Class, the C-Class employs an all-new aluminium/steel hybrid platform and updated rear-drive powertrains that delivers levels of refinement, luxury, safety, ride and handling that challenge best-in-class.” WORLD CAR OF THE YEAR AWARDS 2015Overall winner: Mercedes-Benz C-ClassGreen Car: BMW i8Performance Car: Mercedes-AMG GTLuxury Car: Mercedes-Benz S CoupeDesign: Citroen CactusPREVIOUS WORLD COTY WINNERS:2014: Audi A32013: Volkswagen Golf2012: Volkswagen Up2011: Nissan Leaf2010: Volkswagen Polo2009: Volkswagen Golf2008: Mazda22007: Lexus LS4602006: BMW 3 Series2005: Audi A6

THE Audi A3 small car -- which owes much of its DNA to the Volkswagen Golf -- has won the 2014 World Car of the Year, as voted by 69 jurors from 22 countries. The luxury hatch toppled the widely-tipped favourite, the Mazda3 from Japan, in the awards announced at the New York motor show today.The Audi A3 was among five German cars that took out a cleansweep of the 2014 World Car of the Year categories, and it was Audi’s second win in 10 years, having won the inaugural award. Indeed, German cars have won seven of the past 10 World Car of the Year awards, Japanese brands have won the remaining three.Accepting the award on behalf of the company, Audi's North America president Scott Keogh said: “The Audi A3 has only been on sale three weeks and already it’s off to a flying start.”Rupert Stadler, Chairman of the Board of Management of Audi, said: “This major award win is an achievement that the whole company can celebrate.”The Audi A3 was among 24 finalists that included the BMW i3 electric car, which won the Green Car of the Year and the Car Design of the Year. The Mercedes-Benz S-Class was the Luxury Car of the Year while the Porsche 911 GT3 was awarded top performance car honours.But the Mazda3 had emerged as an early favourite for the outright World Car of the Year award following rave reviews globally since it went on sale late last year. The previous generation Mazda3 has been Australia’s top selling car for two of the past three years, and was the vehicle that ended the Holden Commodore’s record 15-years as the market leader, in 2011.The Mazda3 is returned to the top of the sales charts so far this year -- after being overtaken by the Toyota Corolla in 2013 -- and is likely to take out top-seller status this year buoyed by the new model which went on sale in January.World car of the year winners2014 – Audi A32013 -- Volkswagen Golf Mk72012 -- Volkswagen Up2011 -- Nissan Leaf2010 -- Volkswagen Polo2009 -- Volkswagen Golf Mk62008 -- Mazda22007 -- Lexus LS4602006 -- BMW 3 Series2005 -- Audi A62014 World Car of The Year category winnersGreen car of the Year -- BMW i3 electric carCar Design of the Year -- BMW i3 electric carPerformance Car of the Year -- Porsche 911 GT3Luxury Car of the Year – Mercedes-Benz S-ClassThis reporter is on Twitter: @JoshuaDowling 

Do you know where your owner's manual is? Did you read it from cover to cover when you bought your car? Do you read it these days? Chances are, the answer to at least one of those questions is “no”. Maybe that's because you're a whiz at cars, or maybe you feel like you know everything there is to know about your current ride, but for the rest of us, owner's manuals come in awfully handy. Problem is, there's a lot of information contained in a well-written owner's manual, and finding the answer to a particular question can often be difficult. Wouldn't it be easier if you could just look at a particular element on your car and know everything there was to know about it? Well, now you can -- at least on the Audi A1 and A3. In a press release from Audi's tech partner, Metaio, the two companies have just unveiled the Audi A3 eKurzinfo Augmented Reality App, an interactive owner's manual, stored right on your smartphone. It's the second augmented reality manual from them, following the recent launch of one for the A1 -- and suggests more will spread across the Audi range. The apps work very simply: when users have questions about a particular element on their car, they simply crack open the app and aim their camera at the element in question. For example, in the video above, a passenger wants to know about the stop-start button in the middle of the A3's dash. He points his phone's camera at the button, the app recognises the gadget, and a description pops up. He can then tap that description for a bit more information. A concern about the temp gauge leads to information about what's happening, and then direction to find the coolant top-up point -- a blessing for those who open a bonnet to find a confusing jumble of engineering underneath. What's also interesting is that the app draws its information from the cloud, so the app itself rarely needs to be updated, if ever. Provided you're not scrambling for information in a location without cell service, that's a great thing. We're predisposed to like this sort of technology. It's convenient, it's intuitive, and it's constantly updated, making it especially useful in the case of recalls and other problems. It's not yet a substitute for a hard copy of the owner's manual, but it could be very soon. The Audi A3 eKurzinfo Augmented Reality App is slated to debut on iOS devices. (No word on when an Android equivalent might appear.) It hasn't arrived on iTunes just yet, but if you're curious, you can check out the similar app for the A1. www.thecarconnection.com  

The three-door Audi A3 hatch on show in Geneva previews the vehicle due to go on sale in Australia early next year and is incrementally a smarter car in from the lightweight panels to the new multimedia interface. The body looks slightly more chiselled, there's more interior room and width despite overall length not increasing, and there are three new turbocharged direct-injection engines with idle stop/start helping with average fuel savings of 12 per cent. Options run from xenon headlamps to safety software such as adaptive cruise control, lane departure warning and blind spot assist. The new A3 will launch in Europe with a diesel and two petrol engines, though a hybrid system, engine with cylinder deactivation and performance quattro versions will soon follow. The base 1.4-litre petrol engine is good for 90kW/200Nm, with power transmitted via a six-speed gearbox to the front wheels.  The same configuration underpins the 110kW/32Nm 2.0-litre turbodiesel, while a seven-speed automated manual transmission is standard with the 132kW/250Nm 1.8-litre petrol engine. The diesel uses a claimed 4.1 litres/100km against 5.2 litres/100km for the smaller petrol and  5.6 litres/100km for the 1.8. The infotainment system combines telephone functions, voice control, navigation and media interfaces, with a pop-up screen from 5.8-7inches, depending on the car's specification - Attraction, Ambition or Ambiente. One tick for the 1.8-litre Ambition will be the standard inclusion of the "drive select vehicle dynamics system". It lets owners adjust the response of the accelerator pedal, power steering and auto transmission in five modes - comfort, auto, dynamic, individual or efficiency.

Spearheading the big comeback will be the A3 Sportback launched last week and the new A4 which is due to hit the deck in March.The medium-sized A4 accounts for 50 per cent of sales and is by far and away the German carmaker's most important model here.However, the company spent some face to face time last week extolling the virtues of its sexier, chopped- look A3 Sportback.The Sportback follows close on the heels of the more traditional A3 hatch which was released in June last year.Audi says the A3 Sportback is the first five-door in this segment with the sportiness of a coupe.Audi managing director Joerg Hoffman says the car combines functionality with sportiness."It's exactly the right combination we need for this market," he said.Audi has called on the services of swimmer Ian Thorpe to promote the new A3 Sportback who will feature heavily in advertising.Thorpe is the owner of one of 50 super high performance RS4s sold in Australia.Apart from styling the main difference between the two models is that the hatch is available with only three doors while the Sportback receives a full complement of five doors.Under the skin, however, the two cars share the same engines and running gear, that is apart from the yet to be released 2.0-litre FSi turbo which may not find its way into the hatch.This model does not arrive until the end of the month.The Sportback looks remarkably different from the three-door hatch with its stylish, plunging roofline, high waisted sides, narrow window glass and a larger, dominant A6 style grille.It has a 65mm longer wheelbase and is 10mm lower than the hatch and is also slightly longer and wider.This translates to 40mm more leg room for rear passengers, but in reality the elevated rear seat is just adequate.Scooped out sections in the rear of the front seats provide some breathing space for the cramped knees.Engines range from an entry level 75kW 1.6-litre four cylinder to a 184kW 3.2-litre V6 screamer, the same engine as in the recently released TT V6.There's also a 110kW 2.0-litre petrol, 147kW 2.0-litre turbocharged petrol and 103kW/320Nm 2.0-litre turbocharged diesel engine.The 2.0-litre FSi model is expected to account for the majority of sales.Transmissions range from a six-speed tiptronic change in the 1.6, to either a six-speed manual or six- speed tiptronic in the 2.0-litre car, to a the new DSG double clutch tranny in the turbo, diesel and V6.It is claimed to be faster than the manual change, taking just 0.2 seconds between changes with no loss of power.Standard equipment includes dual climate air, six airbags, front seats with active head restraint, electronic stability program and 17-inch alloy wheels with 225/45 profile tyres, plus a 140-watt sound system.A double "open sky" glass sunroof system is optional.We had the opportunity to sample the entire Sportback range and can report the cars are of the usual high quality that we have come to associated with Audi.The finish is first class and dynamically they are also very good, with the feel and ride of a much larger vehicle.All models except the 1.6 are fitted with sports suspension which lowers ride height 15mm.It provides a firm but fun ride that is at times choppy.The brakes are also excellent.However, at the end of the day, price could be the deciding factor.Not only does the A3 Sportback command a premium over the hatch, but is considerably more expensive than the Volkswagen Golf which is essentially the same car.Of the cars we drove, the manual 2.0-litre FSi delivered the most fun and was cheapest of the bunch at $40,850, without sacrificing performance for the 1.6.The same engine and transmission combination in the Golf equivalent will set you back $29,990 – $10,860 less.Sure, the all-wheel drive 184kW V6 is an exciting car to drive but at $73,990, it is almost $11,000 more than the R32 Golf.The A3 Sportback is priced from $36,800 before on- road costs.