New member, 2ltr 170PS advice please :)

[Richard Peters]

Hi all, new A3 owner in the making with some questions


With a recent move out of London mydrive to work has now gone from about a 12 mile round trip to about45 mile round trip, so my beloved 10 year old Focus ST170 that I'vehad from almost new needs to be retired for something a little moreeconomical. However, I still wanted something with a little grunt soa 2ltr 170ps engined diesel seemed the best choice.


With that in mind I'm heading to alocal Audi dealer to test drive a 2010 A3 Sportback Black Editionwith 31k on the clock.


Ahead of this I've been doing a littleresearch and read about the DPF in these cars, and hoping that mywork journey which includes a 15-20 minute motorway blast will meanthis isn't a deal breaker.


I have a couple of other questionsthough which I'd be hugely appreciative if anyone could answer.

1. I know opting for the 170ps engine will not be as economical as the lower power engines, but with my ST170 giving me roughly 280-300 miles on a full 50 litre tank I'm hoping I'm right in thinking the 170ps diesel engine will be a good improvement on this?

1. On the subject of the DPF, I've read this can be 'deleted', and it will not have any impact on the MOT. Is it a case that once this has been done, you can forget it was ever there or does something need to be done to the car before the MOT to ensure it won't flag up (especially if taken to an Audi garage).

1. One of the potential down falls of this car is the fact my Focus has full leather Recaros, which crucially offer an electric height adjustment that only lifts the base of the seat up and down, as apposed to what I presume will be the tilting seat height adjustment of the Audi which pushes oyu forward and up. I recently drove my wifes 52 plate Golf GTDi to Yorkshire and by the time we got there, both my ankles felt a little stiff, especially the left as the foot rest next to the clutch didn't allow me to stretch my leg out enough to compensate for how I had to position myself to counter the height of the chair as it moved forward – if that makes sense. Basically I found it very hard to get a good comfortable seating position with my long legs. With my Recaros, I have driven my ST to Scotland and not had any issues. So my long winded question here is, was electric height adjust an option on these models of the A3 and if so is it worth holding out for one to come along that has it?
   
   

Is there anything else I should know orlook out for with these cars. I've pretty much got my head set on a170ps Black Edition – although it doesn't 'have' to be a sportback and could be a hatchback,but it appears from searching the net there aren't a huge amount ofthem around that fit my budget/age/mileage requirements which makesme think holding off to find the perfect one with various extra'smight be a pointless task.


Anyhow, I'm looking forward to my testdrive coming up. Hopefully the seating position won't be an issue!


Thanks in advance for any tips,suggestions or thoughts

 

[A3Kent]

1. I think the A3 has a 60 litre tank. I have a 2009 170ps the same as what you are looking at and get 500miles out of a tank and that's without many motorway miles so I should be better for you.

2. Don't worry about the DPF, you are buying a relatively new car with low mileage. The DPF will only give you problems if you are doing short runs, which you are not.

3. I am 6ft 5. I have the S-Line full leathers which are very comfy. I have the seat near enough all the way back and as low as it can go and i'm pretty comfy. Only annoying thing is the plastic triangular shape thing that sticks out the center console which means your left leg rests on it the whole time and it can become annoying as the gap between your knee and the steering wheel is tight.

Anyway, welcome along.

 

[Richard Peters]

Many thanks for the welcome

Points 1 & 2, great stuff!
Point 3, I'm only 6ft but a lot of my height is in my legs, so I always feel like I'm sitting very low in cars - hence the need to raise the seat up. I expect the seats in general are comfortable, it's more about whether or not I'll be able to adjust it up enough and back enough to not feel like I'm sitting awkwardly. The test drive will confirm this though...fingers crossed it's ok!
Thanks for pointing out the triangle thingy, I'll probably notice it even more now you've said about it lol.

 

[Richard Peters]

Another quick question, what is the road tax on this engine? Currently paying £240 a year for my ST, or there about!

 

[Sandra]

Hi Richard, welcome to audi-sport.net. Hope you enjoy the forum, lots of helpful people in here. For local events/meets, just click the link below. x

Smaller (Local) Events

 

[percymon]

Welcome to the forum

I just swapped a Mk6 Golf for a Sport model - the most noticeable things for me are the low steering wheel (I'd estimate it to be 3" lower than the Golf when both set at max height) and the Audi floor feels higher and flatter - combine these two and I feel the steerign wheel is between my knees (and I'm only 6ft) - I'll get used to it but just worth being aware of

The centre console i was wary of, but to be honest I've not experienced it any worst than the golf and on that there was an annoying horizontal plastic trim panel joint at knee height.


I'd also suggest you try a 140bhp model too - you might be surprised at how sprightly that is , and not need the 170.

 

[A3Kent]

Another quick question, what is the road tax on this engine? Currently paying £240 a year for my ST, or there about!

£120 for the year

 

[Richard Peters]

Sandra, percymon thank you for the pointers

A3Kent, well that'll make up for my insurance company wanting an extra £100 for insurance
I see you also have Bluetooth. The one I'm looking at has this also. Does it allow you to listen to music from your phone through the stereo or is it just for making calls? Being able to access music from my phone is something I'd like to set up (without an aftermarket stereo).

 

[A3Kent]

To be honest, I've never tried playing music though my iPhone via the Bluetooth as I've got AMI (Audi Music Interface). This enables me to control the iPod I've got plugged in in the glovebox via the RNS-E unit/Multi Functional Steering Wheel and shows all the track names etc on the RNS-E and the DIS (Driver Information System)

The RNS-E, AMI and Bluetooth were all fitted after I bought the car by fellow forum member NHN. He also fitted Cruise Control too.
http://www.audi-sport.net/vb/a3-s3-sportback-8p-chassis/160065-big-thanks-nhn-nigel.html

 

[A3Kent]

There will probably be an AUX in located in the center console by the handbrake so you can hook your music player up to your sound system using this method although all control is done on your music player which obviously isn't ideal!!

 

[SPARTAN91]

£120 for the year

+£5 now mine will be £125 next month

 

[Richard Peters]

Thanks A3Kent, I'll have to look at getting an iPod connection installed afterwards then I expect as I'd like the ability to control it via the stereo/steering wheel.

And thanks to both you and Spartan for the tax info.

On a side note, anyone know of the foot rest can be removed from next to the clutch pedal and if that then free's up left leg, leg room? I think that's my main concern after sitting in my wifes Golf again. On my ST there is no foot rest so I can stretch my left leg right out if needed. With her Golf (and the Audi I expect) there is a rest which means my left leg can't straighten up as much as I've like.

Also, is it easy to get parking sensors fitted. I've an annoying feeling the one I'm looking at tomorrow doesn't have them, and I don't want something that small to be a deal breaker if the rest of the car is right.

Test drive is tomorrow though. Looking forward to it!

 

[A3Kent]

Parking sensors can be fitted afterwards. NHN can do this too I think.

 

[Richard Peters]

Thank you again!

I've tried to send NHN a private message but I don't think it's sending (after hitting send nothing appears in my sent messages folder?)

 

[A3Kent]

They don't go to your Sent Items automatically, there is a tick box somewhere in your profile settings that then stores your sent items in the sent items folder. Odds are, he's got it.

Enjoy the test drive, report back on your thoughts

 

[Richard Peters]

Oops, in that case I'll apologise that he will have had two messages from me now!

Many thanks, looking forward to this afternoon. I know I'm going to love the car from an appearance perspective, although it'll be interesting seeing how I find the whole 4 door vs hatchback thing and being used to huge side windows. Will of course pop back along with my impressions

 

[TDI140]

My advice dpf delete see if injectors have been done on recall then get milltek decat turbo back and map it to 205bhp you will love it

 

[Richard Peters]

Well, test drive is done!

Car was actually better spec than I had expected as it came with auto lights, wipers, mirror, parking sensors and a cable in the glove box to plug an iPod in - none of which were listed. The car itself is almost immaculate other than some quite nasty stone chips on the bonnet which have been poorly touched up but they've said the bonnet will be resprayed before being sold.

It also has the black, flat bottom wheel although I've seen pictures of a 'chunky' version with thumb grips, and it did not have that.

Drive was lovely, as to be expected. Solid, quiet with the windows up (more so than I expected given it's a diesel and I've driven petrol all my life). I didn't really plant my foot on pull aways but it felt nice nippy, and more free revving than expected.

I'd say power delivery is very smooth at speed as on dual carriage way I put my foot down in 4th and 5th although I didn't feel much of a surge in acceleration (unlike my wifes Gold GTDi which on the motorway always feels like its pulling even at fast lane speeds in top gears) a quick glance down at the speedo showed we were doing quite a pace, which surprised me as it felt like we were going maybe 30mph slower! So definitely a smooth delivery of power. I was quite aware of the turbo lag on the dual carriageway when putting my foot down, with a good second or more before the power kicked in (again, not something I'd noticed on my wife's which feels like it has a much more instant delivery). We were also three up as I had a friend along for the drive too, so should be even better when it's just me.

Part ex on my ST was pitiful as expected, but the deal we reached after about half an hour of going back and forth was £16700 with gap insurance plus my car, down from £17950. I haven't signed the deal yet as I wanted to sleep on it overnight as it's a little more than I wanted to part with and it's a lot of cash to hand over but have said I'll ring first thing tomorrow to confirm either way.

So that's where I'm at!

 

[Richard Peters]

Quick update. I've decided to go for it. So with any luck should be an official Audi owner in the very near future

 

[SPARTAN91]

Quick update. I've decided to go for it. So with any luck should be an official Audi owner in the very near future

:sign_welcome:All the best to you for your new purchases