What do you think of the new B-Class ?

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All I've seen lately is how you whine A3 being crap, crap, crap. And I wonder if you've even driven one.

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Yes, I have driven the new A3, in TDI form as a demo, and FSi form as a loan car. I was unimpressed.

Jolty ride, nervous jittery handling, vague wooly numb steering, and rough noisy engines.

I will admit that my A4 is not much better in terms of ride (sports suspension), or steering (too numb), but handling and refinement are much better.

Perhaps the point of this thread has been lost. Until recently, if you wanted a premium hatch, the alternatives to the A3 were few and poor, but hopefully the new B class will improve the situation.
 
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refinement are much better.

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That's coz it's a saloon numb nuts. Saloons are always quieter due to better insulation of the boot space etc.
 
I don't see the merc upsetting sales of the A3 or 1 series to be honest. Yes, it's the same segment class, size wise anyway, but it's more of a premium scenic / zafira than proper hatch.
 
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I will admit that my A4 is not much better in terms of ride (sports suspension), or steering (too numb), but handling and refinement are much better.



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You're entitled to your opinion of course,even if it is wrong. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/lol.gif

I had an A4 tdi sport for 3 years.
The A3's handlg runs rings around it.
The A4 would be left wallowing and lurching while the A3 just gets on with it.

Much better suspension control on the A3 and I do know a bit about suspension.

I'm not saying the A3 is the best handling car in the world,or even the best handling car I've ever driven (which was an Alfa),but to say an A4 is better is just incorrect.
 
The new Pug sport club version!! lol

CHAV.jpg
 
Can any of you photoshop wizards put a big 'Mr.Whippy cone' on top of the car and 'Papa Luigi's ices' along the side ?

Or District nurse stickers ?
 
For having actually driven the B-class, I can testify that it has the most bizarre steering this side of a Citroën SM.

It should prove useful to commuters, but is completely wrong for a good thrashing.

Otherwise, it's an ok vehicle, and is better than an A3 in some ways (the doors shut with a much more satisfying sound). So if that's what you're after, go for it, but if it's a driver's car you want, stay away!
 
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I have driven the new A3, in TDI form as a demo, and FSi form as a loan car. I was unimpressed

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Well they're hardly the sporty models in the line up are they. Why doen't you take out a 3.2 Quattro or an FSI T before making a sweeping generalisation about the A3. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif
 
Do the 'Pal dog food' test as well.
park an A3 and a Focus in a shopping centre and ask 100 people what they'd rather have.
 
[ QUOTE ]
I had an A4 tdi sport for 3 years.
The A3's handlg runs rings around it.
The A4 would be left wallowing and lurching while the A3 just gets on with it.

[/ QUOTE ]

That's very strange. All I can do is report my observations, which are contrary to yours.

Maybe they made some suspension revisions to my car since you bought yours - it is the B6 platform just before they changed to the B7 (June 2004).
 
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[ QUOTE ]
All I've seen lately is how you whine A3 being crap, crap, crap. And I wonder if you've even driven one.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes, I have driven the new A3, in TDI form as a demo, and FSi form as a loan car. I was unimpressed.

Jolty ride, nervous jittery handling, vague wooly numb steering, and rough noisy engines.

I will admit that my A4 is not much better in terms of ride (sports suspension), or steering (too numb), but handling and refinement are much better.

Perhaps the point of this thread has been lost. Until recently, if you wanted a premium hatch, the alternatives to the A3 were few and poor, but hopefully the new B class will improve the situation.

[/ QUOTE ]

An A3 segment car is always going to feel more nervous and have a harsher ride than a bigger A4 class. The longer wheelbase for one will help the A4 no end. The payback for the nervous ride though is that it actually turns into corners, rather than the A4, which tends to plough a straight line in comparison.

The focus while good, and I've owned one for a few years, did not have much outright grip and the steering feedback wasn't that good either. The new focus goes to electro-mechanical assistance, so is unlikely to have improved.

Cars have got heavier through legislation over the years, and so cars like the 306GTI-6 that I owned 6-7 years ago will never be the same. If this car had Audi build quality and was around now, then it would hammer all oposition. Ride was soft / compliant and yet it turned in / flowed / stopped / balanced on the throttle like no other front driver I've ever driven.
 
See I told you it looked like a 307, but a 307 Mr. Whippy even better!
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/bravo.gif
 
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That's very strange. All I can do is report my observations, which are contrary to yours.

Maybe they made some suspension revisions to my car since you bought yours - it is the B6 platform just before they changed to the B7 (June 2004).

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I'd like to know if you were comparing like for like.
You say you've driven a Tdi and Fsi A3,but you don't ( I think ) specify if they were fitted with sports suspension.

My A4 was fitted with sport suspenson,which was poorly damped.
Harsh ride but wallowy/floaty handling.
One 'seat of the pants' test I do is where I have to go over a nasty dip,then rise,in the road at about 80mph on a country road.My A4 did not react to that at all well.

My A3 is also fitted with sports suspension and the damping is infinitely better,It handles that dip/rise with aplomb.

As for turn-in,I've mentioned before on here that my A4 had to be asked in writing,three weeks in advance,before attempting to head for an apex.

The A4 was a 'chuck it in and hope for the best' handler.
The A3 actually 'tells' you what's happening.
 
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My A4 was fitted with sport suspenson,which was poorly damped.
Harsh ride but wallowy/floaty handling.

[/ QUOTE ]



_39662663_gal_bond.jpg
 
I used the term 'boaty' quite a lot to describe my A4,but I wasn't sure if that term would travel down to England too well !

Obviously it would have.
 
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I'd like to know if you were comparing like for like.
You say you've driven a Tdi and Fsi A3,but you don't ( I think ) specify if they were fitted with sports suspension.

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I'm fairly sure that both A3s had the sports suspension - they both felt as firm as my A4 anyway.

I had another A4 before my current 2.4V6 (but a 1.8T), still the B6 platform but about 2 years earlier. This was definitely worse in terms of turn-in and grip, so maybe there were some suspension tweaks towards the end of the B6's life.
 
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[ QUOTE ]
My A4 was fitted with sport suspenson,which was poorly damped.
Harsh ride but wallowy/floaty handling.

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_39662663_gal_bond.jpg


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Those things are great, had a go in one(passenger) at Cowes Week last year. Fekin expensive though (circa £100k iirc)
 
The only thing I miss from my A4 is the damped card holder.

I was so glad to get rid of that car.
It just bored the hell out of me.
 
My A4 certainly bored the pants off me too. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/snore.gif
 
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Jolty ride, nervous jittery handling, vague wooly numb steering, and rough noisy engines.

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I'm willing to bet that 2,0FSI is quieter in A3 than 1,8T in A4, in idling or when under load. I've driven both a lot, and while A4 has much less road noise, the engine noise is much worse in A4. As for 2,0TDI it's noisy.

As for jolty ride, nervous jittery handling, I can't agree. Are you sure corners were properly adjusted? Mine goes straigth in the road, even at the Finnish roads, but in this case my 16" tyres may help. Goes well in sand roads as well. Could maybe have a bit more feedback, but otherwise I think A3's handling & steering is pretty good, compared to BMW Compact/Mini/Focus.

[ QUOTE ]
Perhaps the point of this thread has been lost. Until recently, if you wanted a premium hatch, the alternatives to the A3 were few and poor, but hopefully the new B class will improve the situation.

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B-class doesn't in my opinion look like an alternative, it's meant to be somekind of Touran-like bigger "hatchback".

- Yak
 
A4_2point4, actually the basic suspension in A3 is pretty firm as well (the 3-door one, apparently Sportback has a bit softer), so it can be mistaked to normal sport suspension pretty easily, and it's not that comfort compared to A4's sport suspension (hey...).

- Yak
 
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