New Irish Sportback

Greetings from the Emerald Isle. I've been reading this forum with interest for the past month and found it both enjoyable and informative. Thanks especially to the posters who have published real world photos of their cars - It really helps to make up prospective purchaser's minds...as the brochure and promo pics are hard to relate to the actual car you end up ordering.

A little bit of background....Having had a succession of Vauxhalls as company cars the first new car bought with my own money was a 2004 Audi A3 1.6 with a long list of factory extras. I loved the car from very first test drive although always bemoaned the lack of rear doors. Anyway my problem was solved at a late night traffic junction when a 4X4 with bull cars ran a red light and T boned by beautiful shiny Audi. I was cut out of the car and watched the jaws of life destroy my pride and joy. Needing a replacement car quickly and being a bit miffed that the side airbags didn't deploy and help avoid permanent scarring to my forehead I elected to buy a VW Passat Highline. By the time that came due for replacement in 2009, the A3 was old and I decided to get another Passat but always with an eye open for the replacement A3! It's been a very long wait but boy is it worth it. I just love everything about it from its looks from every angle, the interior...and especially how it drives. I've had a test drive in a 1.4 TFSi Sport and 2.0TDi SE. Both were impressive performers. Very few petrol cars are now sold new in Ireland so although the 1.4 is a cracker I'm worried about resale and have plumped for the 2.0Tdi. I'd love the S line trim but as it costs €4000 over the base model I can't justify the outlay.

So where is all this leading? Today I finally placed my order for the following:

Audi A3 Sportback 2.0TDi SE (In Ireland there is a base model below SE spec - SE Spec here is quite generous).
Monsoon Grey (would love Daytona)
Black interior
Climate
Heated Seats
Audi Sound
Hill Hold
Light & Rain Sensor

It's another €950 for 17inch Kinetic wheels but they are so much nicer than the standard 16s. And Xenons are on special offer at €700.....so they may be added too.

I'm told that delivery could be in Feb although most of the UK deliveries seem to say March. Delighted that I've finally pulled the trigger. In reality I've been working towards this point for a few years now and although the car will be quite a bit smaller than the Passat, it will fly and handle like no car I've had before.

Just to update this I added the 17 inch wheels, Xenons and electric lumbar support. It's only money!!

The dealer has told me build week 5 (rather than 7) so I'm hoping for early delivery. Especially as a service, road tax and NCT (MOT) are all due on the trade in.... in Feb!!

Got a call from the supplying dealer today to say that my SB is sailing from Germany tomorrow (Friday 22nd Feb). It's too much to hope that it will ready for delivery the following weekend so it looks like two more weeks to wait.

Meantime at another dealer I spied this demo wearing the same boots mine will have - Am I soooo glad I invested in the 17 inchers - They look so much better than the standard 16 inch SE version. By the way, this is the same car featured on the Irish You Tube review.

Gee I hope not. I didn't actually check the size but the design looks like the 5 arm kinetic which is 17.

If they look like 18s...all the better...

The red car is a demo.

However, just had a call from my dealer - My SB will be ready to pick up......TODAY.....at 4pm. Four months of waiting are over!!

Picked the car up on schedule - In fact I was there early and was able to observe some of the preparation and valeting. In addition I was there in time to stop the car going through an automated car wash - I haven't used one of these in over 20 years & was surprised that this was part of the prep.

Anyway the drive home was uneventful while getting used to so many controls - Quite happy that I was able to figure out most of them on the go without a demo or a look at the manual - Credit to Audi for making so much of it intuitive although I'm sure there is loads to discover.

On the plus side, my worries that I would not like the colour were unfounded - I love it... especially with the wheels and chrome trim. The Audi sound system is fantastic and easily worth the upgrade - No distortion at quite high listening volumes. The interior at night is awesome and yes the reports are all correct - The quality of the cabin is unquestionable. It's my first car with xenons and a short spin on a back road impressed with the white light but I expected the range to be greater - I'll reserve judgement until I've done more night driving. Here are a couple of photos and I'll post some more tomorrow...after I've taken the manual to bed.