Hi all, this is my first Audi in the 43 years I have been driving and wanted to share a few things in the few days I have been driving it. It came with no additional options fitted so it is as per the SE brochure.
1. Engine - without doubt it has to be the most refined 4 cylinder engine I have ever driven. I bought the car with this engine on the superb reviews I read earlier in the year and I have not been disappointed one bit. You do not know it is running at idle sometimes and unless, when driving, you put your foot down which brings in the turbo it is difficult to hear when the radio is playing. It moves with pace when you want it to and it is economical if you want it to be. When driving hard, and in this respect "hard" means 3500/4000 revs in any gear whilst running in, mpg can be quite low (36mpg) but if driven sedately as my advancing years prefer then I have mangaged 50mpg to and from work. My daily trips to and from work cover a distance of 17.5 miles and is on rural roads which to say the least are very twisty, bumpy, full of pot-holes and far from "open". I have yet to try it out on a lengthy motorway journey. I know the roads making up the journey like the back of my hand and have driven it with numerous cars over the past 10 years. Best mpg in any car I have driven in, over this journey has been a 2.2 deisel Turbo Primera @ 43mpg, worst my ex Merc CLK 320 @26mpg. This 1.4 engine rocks my boat full stop.
2. Gear Shifting - first noticeable thing is that the markings on top of the lever are slanted towards the passenger, as if it were designed for a left hand drive car and so far haven't found a way to turn it the "proper" way. Second thing is it feels a little (very slightly) notchy shifting through the gears. Nothing bad I would say but in a car of this quality, I would have expected silky smooth gear changing. Otherwise no issues so far.
3. Cabin - inside it is very well designed indeed. Everything is where it should be - especially the stalks for the indicators/lights and the windscreen wipers - both first class. Haven't sorted the courtesy lights out as yet but need to read the manual more. We went out last night and when the doors were opened they didn't come on. Rear leg room was very good indeed. I am 6 foot tall and so have my driving seat pushed back somewhat but my 5 foot eight daughter was more than comfortable. I suspect there are no footwell lights - disappointing.
4. Other miscellaneous items - Disappointed that paying over £20,000 for a car of this class, that there is/are no: -
a. rain-sensing wipers
b. "Auto" lighting so lights come on as needed
c. Navigation isn't activated/provided - Audi must be having a giraffe if they think I'm going to shell out over £500/600 quid for it, when all the hardware has been installed already!
d. No self-closing driver/passenger door mirrors when the ignition is turned off.
e. Expected keyless ignition
The overall build quality of the car is wonderful - shutting the doors can say a lot about this and they shut beautifully . My car was provided with Pirelli tyres a really nice suprise as, if I had received the poor and noisy continentals then I would have had them changed, given what I have read. I chose the SE mainly because of the suspension - best of the lot I believe - and the smaller 16" tyres. I truly have had a belly full of super-wide low profile tyres which in my experience do not add anything to normal driving but in freezing or wet weather can be lethal and just make the ride more uncomfortable. I also preferred the 10 spoke alloys too after seeing the whole compliment available. I have uploaded some pics in another thread and have taken a close-up of one of the wheels. The overall ride is more than comfortable over the roads to and from work. The CD-Player/SD Card slots are in the glove compartment - how is one supposed to change a CD when driving alone? OK a move towards SD cards is inevitable sadly (I say this because MP3's are c**p even at 320kbps which is the maximum the MMI will accept - god knows why it cannot play back flacs but hey-ho) so changing won't be as common place, if using a larger 64gb card. But a design flaw imho. On the other hand my existing Galaxy S2 has fallen in love with the MMI already and feel sure my new S5, coming this Friday will love it also. The DAB radio is, to me, a revalation - no more listening to the break up of Radio 5 Live in the mornings depending on the weather! Listening to the main radio stations on our back roads, in an area where no 3G exists, let alone 4G, I have yet to have any break up of signal - quite superb. That said this is my first expeience with Dab.
I am coming to this Audi after driving a top of the range Mercedes CLK 320 cabriolet vintage 2002, from new. This was my pride and joy and simply the best car I have ever driven so I am being critical in writing this. My other car is a 3 year old Mercedes B160 Sport, something more useful to compare against. So I won't compare against the CLK but as for a comparison between the A3 and the B-Class then the A3 takes most of the honours. Apart from those little things I have mentioned in 4. above, which the Merc excells in.
So in summary I am not suprised one little bit that Audi have sold so many units as they have in GB this past month - wonderful cars and so many engine variants to suit so many tastes/preferences/tax regimes etc. But nothing will ever take away my sheer driving pleasure I have had with my beloved CLK which I will always use as a yard stick when comparing cars.
For a four-cylinder car - this A3 model is breathtaking. If I can fix the the Gear Knob and a Dealer could fix the "notchiness" of gear-shifting then I will be over the moon.
Feel free to comment or argue or agree with anything I have said and add some more of the wonderful support I have received already from these forums.
roz
1. Engine - without doubt it has to be the most refined 4 cylinder engine I have ever driven. I bought the car with this engine on the superb reviews I read earlier in the year and I have not been disappointed one bit. You do not know it is running at idle sometimes and unless, when driving, you put your foot down which brings in the turbo it is difficult to hear when the radio is playing. It moves with pace when you want it to and it is economical if you want it to be. When driving hard, and in this respect "hard" means 3500/4000 revs in any gear whilst running in, mpg can be quite low (36mpg) but if driven sedately as my advancing years prefer then I have mangaged 50mpg to and from work. My daily trips to and from work cover a distance of 17.5 miles and is on rural roads which to say the least are very twisty, bumpy, full of pot-holes and far from "open". I have yet to try it out on a lengthy motorway journey. I know the roads making up the journey like the back of my hand and have driven it with numerous cars over the past 10 years. Best mpg in any car I have driven in, over this journey has been a 2.2 deisel Turbo Primera @ 43mpg, worst my ex Merc CLK 320 @26mpg. This 1.4 engine rocks my boat full stop.
2. Gear Shifting - first noticeable thing is that the markings on top of the lever are slanted towards the passenger, as if it were designed for a left hand drive car and so far haven't found a way to turn it the "proper" way. Second thing is it feels a little (very slightly) notchy shifting through the gears. Nothing bad I would say but in a car of this quality, I would have expected silky smooth gear changing. Otherwise no issues so far.
3. Cabin - inside it is very well designed indeed. Everything is where it should be - especially the stalks for the indicators/lights and the windscreen wipers - both first class. Haven't sorted the courtesy lights out as yet but need to read the manual more. We went out last night and when the doors were opened they didn't come on. Rear leg room was very good indeed. I am 6 foot tall and so have my driving seat pushed back somewhat but my 5 foot eight daughter was more than comfortable. I suspect there are no footwell lights - disappointing.
4. Other miscellaneous items - Disappointed that paying over £20,000 for a car of this class, that there is/are no: -
a. rain-sensing wipers
b. "Auto" lighting so lights come on as needed
c. Navigation isn't activated/provided - Audi must be having a giraffe if they think I'm going to shell out over £500/600 quid for it, when all the hardware has been installed already!
d. No self-closing driver/passenger door mirrors when the ignition is turned off.
e. Expected keyless ignition
The overall build quality of the car is wonderful - shutting the doors can say a lot about this and they shut beautifully . My car was provided with Pirelli tyres a really nice suprise as, if I had received the poor and noisy continentals then I would have had them changed, given what I have read. I chose the SE mainly because of the suspension - best of the lot I believe - and the smaller 16" tyres. I truly have had a belly full of super-wide low profile tyres which in my experience do not add anything to normal driving but in freezing or wet weather can be lethal and just make the ride more uncomfortable. I also preferred the 10 spoke alloys too after seeing the whole compliment available. I have uploaded some pics in another thread and have taken a close-up of one of the wheels. The overall ride is more than comfortable over the roads to and from work. The CD-Player/SD Card slots are in the glove compartment - how is one supposed to change a CD when driving alone? OK a move towards SD cards is inevitable sadly (I say this because MP3's are c**p even at 320kbps which is the maximum the MMI will accept - god knows why it cannot play back flacs but hey-ho) so changing won't be as common place, if using a larger 64gb card. But a design flaw imho. On the other hand my existing Galaxy S2 has fallen in love with the MMI already and feel sure my new S5, coming this Friday will love it also. The DAB radio is, to me, a revalation - no more listening to the break up of Radio 5 Live in the mornings depending on the weather! Listening to the main radio stations on our back roads, in an area where no 3G exists, let alone 4G, I have yet to have any break up of signal - quite superb. That said this is my first expeience with Dab.
I am coming to this Audi after driving a top of the range Mercedes CLK 320 cabriolet vintage 2002, from new. This was my pride and joy and simply the best car I have ever driven so I am being critical in writing this. My other car is a 3 year old Mercedes B160 Sport, something more useful to compare against. So I won't compare against the CLK but as for a comparison between the A3 and the B-Class then the A3 takes most of the honours. Apart from those little things I have mentioned in 4. above, which the Merc excells in.
So in summary I am not suprised one little bit that Audi have sold so many units as they have in GB this past month - wonderful cars and so many engine variants to suit so many tastes/preferences/tax regimes etc. But nothing will ever take away my sheer driving pleasure I have had with my beloved CLK which I will always use as a yard stick when comparing cars.
For a four-cylinder car - this A3 model is breathtaking. If I can fix the the Gear Knob and a Dealer could fix the "notchiness" of gear-shifting then I will be over the moon.
Feel free to comment or argue or agree with anything I have said and add some more of the wonderful support I have received already from these forums.
roz
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