Test Drive - A3 2.0T DSG S-Line Sportback

I have just taken my own A3 2.0 TDI DSG SE to the dealers for it's first service and my courtesy car is a black A3 2.0T DSG S-Line Sportback.

I will spend some of today giving it a test drive and I'll post my comments later. It was first registered in May 2005. It surprising the number of small items that I've noticed already that are different to my own July 2004 3-door apart from the obvious of the extra doors and the fact that it's an S-Line.

Things like the door central locking switches are different, the wiper arms have holes in them, the actual wiper blades are different. I think the glass in the door mirrors is different. I like the new leather surround to the DSG lever. I wonder if it's possible to change mine. I must ask when I collect mine later in the day.

Before I bought my A3 I test drove both the SE and the Sport versions of the 2.0 FSI and 2.0 TDI , with and without DSG. I did not like the harsh ride of the Sport but this S-Line is defintely much better than the Sports I drove. Don't like the coffin effect of black exterior, black interior and black headlining - make the interior feel very small. I have light grey interior and it makes the car feel so much bigger and personally I think it looks better. But that's very much a personal view. I have had many dark interior cars in the past, often when there was no choice but black.

It may well be the case now, it was early 2004 when I did my series of test drives. Not even sure if the S-Line was available then.

Eeef, thanks for that information, perhaps I won't bother to ask !

Well I've now spend several hours out and about in my courtesey A3 2.0T DSG S-Line Sportback and these are my personal comments compared with my own A3 2.0 TDI DSG SE.

Firstly the ride - much better than the Sports I tried before I decided on my SE although still a liitle to hard for me personally. I must be getting old. The grip and steering are fine and a little sharper than the SE (which runs on 55 series tyres).

The petrol turbo is nice, much much better than the 2.0 FSI that I test drove before choosing the TDI. It still lacks a little of the torque when pulling out of a bend or corner and the DSG in D mode changes down more often than in the SE. One small poit I noticed, the paddles for the DSG are different and much quieter when used. Mine make quite a click but these are almost silent. I wonder if there interchangeable. A question for my dealer.

Still don't like the new steering wheel centre. I think I could live with the new front grille but the steering wheel is just plain ugly.

And I also still prefer the 3-door to the Sportback. Obviously if you need 4-doors for children etc then fine but I don't and I find the door gap a little on the small side and hit my shoulder several times getting in and out. Must be geeting large as well as old ! Another thing I found was that the B pillar was often just where I needed to look at some junctions. This combined with the passengers head restraint gave quite a large blind spot. On the 3-door the B pillar is obviously further back and tends to be at the same place as the head restraint so less overall space is blocked.

The car is a little quieter than my TDI but only really at slower speeds. At motorway speeds the TDI is quiet enough. I found I noticed the tyre noise much more in the 2.0T, maybe just the 225/40x18 tyres compared with the 205/55x16 on my SE. Maybe the TDI hides some of the tyre noise.

One thing I did try with the DSG - when in tiptronic mode does it change up automatically at the red-line. The answer is both No and Yes. It does not auto-up at the red-line which is about 6400 rpm but if you leave it, it does auto-up just below 7000 rpm. I tried it in both second and third and it behaved consistently. Sorry bowfer still changes up automatically - eventually. One thing I did notice an liked, the DSG display now tells you which gear your in even in D or S mode.

What more can I add apart from the question of fuel economy or not as the case may be. In general day-to-day driving I get around 49 mpg from my TDI and the overall for my time with the 2.0T was 27 mpg. As I have to buy all my own fuel there is no way I would consider the 2.0T.

I thoughly enjoyed the chance to drive one and I can see why it appeals to quite a number of 'younger' drivers. Basically all A3s are good cars - execpt perhaps the 2.0FSI - and its a matter of what's important to one driver may be less improtant to another.

Madvw - Yes I would agree with you. The changes did seem a little smoother when changing down but no different changing up except that it seem to change gear more often, especially down, that my TDI. This was in D mode. 95% of the time I use my DSG in tip-tronic mode so I'm not that familiar with the D mode.

Bowfer - hope your had a good holiday. Last week I spent the week in Wales, again driving a little more gently than normal on some roads and 'putting a little more pressure on the gas pedal' on some wonderful gentle sweeping roads and at the end of the week, including the drive there and back using the A14/M6/M6 toll and M54 the DIS reading was 58 mpg.

When I took my TDI to Austria earlier in the year I got an overall DIS reading for the whole holiday of 56 mpg, including some 110/120 mph driving on the French autoroutes and German autobahns. It does seem the smoother I drive the better mpg I get and speed does not necessarily come into it. Mind you I never let my TDI get to max revs before changing up !. Just accellerate quickly using each gear to say 3500 revs.