No more sleeps, Collected Amalfi Sportback Sport 1.6TDI today, 1st Day Review

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Flugel Hound

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Dealer: free keyring, non euro plates, half a tank n 15 mile on the clock no die-cast toy car or R8 Carbon Fibre Pen.Old Car Passat 1.6TDI Estate, comfy ride, comfy seat & economical (which im comparing to in the below text)


Today I collected my new company car (spec below, hopefully if signature thing works).
Quiet Smooth Solid Tight Sluggish are the first impression when driving the 8 mile back to work.
Then I drove Sunderland to Leeds for a Job, 200mile round trip, 56mpg there & 67.3mpg back. Long term average after tonight's round the houses 58.8mpg.
Sore **** when I arrived Leeds, the seats are not as comfy or as buckety, disappointing considering the extra £ spent on leather and Sport trim to have a wide backed seat and less comfy (may get used to it).
Performance, found it sluggish till I realised I had to use the gears more. Still not give it full beans yet, even then they'l just be baked and not chilli like you S guys. I best not judge performance till ive ran up 1000 mile. Twice today ive had to have two attempts to get into 1st!
Ride/Handling: firmer but not annoyingly so, pot holes are a solid 'thuck' not a 'crash' . Holds the road well and stays flat in corners. Go Cart in comparison to the Passat and that's in eco mode, the steering really tightens up in Dynamic mode, I found Dynamic mode no good for motorways, I tended to weave down the lane.


Lovin: The looks, Amalfi White, the interior, DAB Radio, Sat Nav, Dimming Rear Mirror, Hold Assist
Not lovin: Firm seat, Standard sound system, Small fuel tank


Wish I had: Audi Sound System £255 in place of Park Assist(£240)


Favourite Radio Stations are Absolute Radio 80's and 90's

Any questions please ask, photo's will be forthcoming

Fluges
 
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Sounds good.

Interested in the seat and sound system comments - are you quite thin/slight build? I just wondered as I have a BMI of 23 and when I sat in the sport seat of the S3 (same design as yours I believe) it felt nice and comfy to me?

Sound system - is the standard system poor then? I've never heard a standard system in the A3 - all the demo cars I've been in have had either B&O or ***

Thanks
 
Yes Im a thin as they come, 5ft11" 10 stone lanky bald type.
Re sound system, im no Phile, but I do appreciate a nice system.
Its just ok, no deep base rumbles and treble is a bit harsh not bright.
Im take it or leave it with sound systems, but its nice to have it there when you want a good listen.
 
I'm a similar height to the OP, and also lightly built. I find the seats in my A3 very comfortable, in fact the most comfortable of any car I've owned. What I would say though is that it wasn't like this at first and took some tweaking to get there. Have a play over the next few days and hopefully you'll solve the problem.
 
I'm a large bloke, but find the Alcantara/Leather sports seats in mine really comfortable - no complaints yet. I do have the electric lumbar support though, wonder if that helps?
 
Audi standard sound is a step down I'm told due to free dab in uk. In other markets Audi SS is standard . The base version is very poor! I much prefer sports seats but coming from a VW you will find the Audi firmer.

Only other thought? Why non EU plates the blue side swipe makes them look far more modern . After all the Audi comes from the EU!!
 
PilotAudi said:
Audi standard sound is a step down I'm told due to free dab in uk. In other markets Audi SS is standard . The base version is very poor! I much prefer sports seats but coming from a VW you will find the Audi firmer.
Click to expand...

You keep trotting out this rubbish but like I keep saying - the introduction of DAB as standard coincided with the price increase in July, which was exactly the cost of the DAB option. The base speakers have been in there since the model launched, including when DAB was a paid option.
 
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I requested the euro plates on mine, probably something you have to ask for. Means you don't need a massive GB sticker on your car if you travel abroad.
 
cemerson said:
You keep trotting out this rubbish but like I keep saying - the introduction of DAB as standard coincided with the price increase in July, which was exactly the cost of the DAB option. The base speakers have been in there since the model launched, including when DAB was a paid option.
Click to expand...

Dab was planned in Uk from beginning and announced as soon to be standard on all Audis. Supply delays caused initial cars not to have dab.
 
DAB as standard was announced around April time this year AFAIK, again long after the model was introduced. The price increase catered for the extra cost to Audi, not downgrading the sound.

I had an 8P as a company car for 6 months, and the Audi sound system upgrade in my car is far superior to the sound in that 8P.
 
We have had 8p with standard and Bose. Standard 8P is far better than standard 8V just look at brochure details . The 8V base music is significantly worse than mainstream 8P music and I am told was to encourage people to upgrade to *** at a cost equivalent to DaB. Interesting confirmation of this is with A5 where a year or so back B &O was £500 on top of a decent standard Audi system . On 8V A3 in my opinion a crap system is standard the *** better system is + c£250. Superb B&O is + £750 I.e 250 + 500. Whatever I'm getting bored of being challenged on this!!
 
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I have a Samsung Galaxy S2 Android phone. At the moment it is integrated with the car via Bluetooth, the 'Tel' function works great.
The dealer gave me the USB/Phone Box lead, ive added usb to phone lead. If I now go 'Media' I see the phone, but cant navigate to music files and or they are not auto located by the car.

Ive had a quick forum search expecting this to be a common issue but no joy.
Can someone point me down the right road

Cheers
Fluges
 
Flugel Hound said:
Yes Im a thin as they come, 5ft11" 10 stone lanky bald type.Re sound system, im no Phile, but I do appreciate a nice system.Its just ok, no deep base rumbles and treble is a bit harsh not bright. Im take it or leave it with sound systems, but its nice to have it there when you want a good listen.
Click to expand...
Hi, I got my A3 about 10 days ago, with Upgraded Audi sound system, and first day it did sound a bit flat, but remember the speakers need a bit of running in like an engine does. Now is run in and have tweaked the setting I think it is surprisingly good for the money and I have a very decent home sound system, so do appreciate a good set up and the Audi upgrade will more than do for most people.So I am sure it will grow on you as it runs in.
 
Fragup said:
, so do appreciate a good set up and the Audi upgrade will more than do for most people.So I am sure it will grow on you as it runs in.
Click to expand...

To clarify I have the bog standard system, not the basic upgrade or B&O upgrade.
Like 70's Cortina, I have LW/MW radio, not MW/Cassette, not MW/8 Track :(.
I think drivers that are into their music will be disappointed, upgrade to Audi Sound System will be high on my list next time.

Enjoy your Base Fragup

Fluges
 
Nice write up.I have the 1.6 TDI averaging about 59 mpg after 22k miles so don't expect your mpg to improve that much. I went for this engine as at the time I had to pay for fuel and claim back company mileage. I now have a fuel card so if choosing again I would either go for the bigger TDI engine or petrol with auto. Upgraded sound system is good and worth considering IMHO Chester
 
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This morning heading into work I experienced a bit of what the car can do. Impressive.
I became increasingly aware of the feeling 'trust the car luke it will go round' so I headed onto a roundabout at a fair lick and it just turned in, stayed level and I smiled :yes:

This car is class, I really love it.
Ive never driven a car that handles the road this well.

As long as it doesn't just let go suddenly and dump me in the bushes that is.
38mpg on the way home tonight.
Seats aren't being noticed now, so must be comfy.

Fluges
 
ItguySo far so good engine and trim wise.Only 3 issues for me , mpg a let down as I expected more than an average of 58mpg, wind noise from B pillar not great , I sit quite a way back being lanky and am disappointed by that and sat nav having an issue with TMC and being quite a few years out of date - no Hindehead tunnel on the A3 which opened in 2010 I think. Chester
 
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