Well I took delivery of a new A3 on Friday.
It's a 2.0L TDI Sport Quattro (170ps) with the new common-rail diesel engine.
General thoughts.
The cabin
I like the car, it looks great. The dual-zone climate control is a treat and works very well and the chrome around the vents gives a nice, modern look to the cabin. I would have liked to have the option of LED DRL's but that's only an option on the S-line trim. The cabin is great, the Audi Concert audio system is adequate for my needs and the armrest is comfortable.
There are some small but significant problems however.
The engine/transmission/grunt
It's a lovely engine. The noise is well damped when you are inside the cabin but you'll still know it's a diesel. There's plenty of poke and power. There's still some power even in sixth gear, not a lot but enough so that you don't always have to shift down a gear when overtaking.
The power itself still comes in a rush but not a short sharp rush, there's still plenty of power in the mid-range of each gear and some left in the top range too (but it has petered out a bit at this stage).
There are some slight problems.
I'm sure I'll think of more but that's enough to get the ball rolling
It's a 2.0L TDI Sport Quattro (170ps) with the new common-rail diesel engine.
General thoughts.
The cabin
I like the car, it looks great. The dual-zone climate control is a treat and works very well and the chrome around the vents gives a nice, modern look to the cabin. I would have liked to have the option of LED DRL's but that's only an option on the S-line trim. The cabin is great, the Audi Concert audio system is adequate for my needs and the armrest is comfortable.
There are some small but significant problems however.
- Sun blinds - they aren't long enough and don't reach across far enough, allowing a lot of light gets into the sides of the eyes. I've not had this problem on other cars I've owned
- The handbrake - when you lift it to the top notch it hits the bottom of the armrest and causes it to lift slightly, that's poor design in my opinion!
- Steering wheel audio controls - it's not possible to jump radio pre-sets with these controls!! When you scroll the thumb-wheel you simply move up the waveband rather than jump to your next pre-set radio station.
- The glove-box - it is absolutely tiny, titchy, teeny-weeny...you get the idea. Not good!
The engine/transmission/grunt
It's a lovely engine. The noise is well damped when you are inside the cabin but you'll still know it's a diesel. There's plenty of poke and power. There's still some power even in sixth gear, not a lot but enough so that you don't always have to shift down a gear when overtaking.
The power itself still comes in a rush but not a short sharp rush, there's still plenty of power in the mid-range of each gear and some left in the top range too (but it has petered out a bit at this stage).
There are some slight problems.
- Fuelling - I was fuelling the car yesterday and found the pump handle difficult to get into and out of the diesel port. This may just be because I'm unfamiliar with the car.
- Noise - The engine is a bit noisier at 90 mph than I would like (not that I've done 90 mph, just from what I've heard...you understand )
- TDI - It's only a small thing but I would have liked to see Audi get rid of the standard TDI and add a C to indicate the common-rail engine has been installed.
I'm sure I'll think of more but that's enough to get the ball rolling