From S3 to A3 2.0 tdi?

recomdos

recomdos

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Hi all,

Has anyone traded up their S3 to move down to an A3 Diesel? I'm considering it at the moment. Love my S3 to bits and wanted one for ages. It's got a great spec, no issues with it though I do more miles now, and think of getting something just a bit newer. I'm particular about what I want and in no rush really. The Mrs has a new A3 saloon petrol in auto and I drive it a lot. Become quite fond of it. So an auto, with more miles to the gallon sounds nice. Dropping over 100bhp may come as a shock.

Anyone done this, or any diesel fans want to chirp up?

It may be for a few years and be a daily driver until plans are in place for a nice weekend car, hopefully RS territory if I stick with Audi.

Tar! :)
 
Only ever drove one A3 derv 150bhp with the autobox and the two things together where like oil and water.
A 184 bhp derv maybe a better mix with auto
 
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Ps I've never thought a small derv engine car required a autobox.....3.0 litres upwards yeah maybe
 
I have a 1.6tdi S-tronic and its superb. Great low down torque and 55 mpg running about town. If mines is anything to go by the 184 will be excellent with the S-tronic.
 
Yip. Had it since March factory ordered. It won't be anywhere near an S3 and won't set your hair on fire but I love it. I've timed the 0-60 not to 62 in just under 9 seconds. In sport mode/dynamic mode it shifts nicely. No matter how hard I drive it, once warmed up it won't do under 45 mpg. Daily commute of 7 miles there and 7 back it does 57mpg. Mix of B, A and short Dual Carriageway.
 
I have one..... I love it... Got it due to my high mileage but I have to say it's great. If your looking for lightning performance etc it's no good, but the s- line looks great and is a lovely car to drive.
 
Audi diesels are poor IMO, also given the VAG scandal, not a great investment, but perhaps the same could be said about any VAG car.....
Wife's 2.0tdi 177 Q5 struggles to get above 30mpg combined, despite Audi claims.
She had a Q3 petrol before that and it was much better to drive.

We're swapping her Q5 out for a petrol car and don't expect to get any worse economy, but far greater performance.
The difference between petrol and diesel economy is vastly reduced nowadays and the pump price difference is negligible too, so if I were you I'd consider a petrol too and save yourself the premium for the diesel.
 
Just for your info..... I've done 3000 miles in mine.... Get 550 miles to a tank already which is pretty good imo.
 
I disagree about vag diesels being poor. We have recently swapped the wife's 2014 black edition tt tdi Quattro for a 230 s tronic Quattro mk3 tt. Granted it's only done 600 miles so far but it's averaging 20mpg less than the diesel tt that had 11k miles on it when we swapped it.

I have a 2011 170 black edition sport back a3 which does 600 miles to a tank and my car before was a golf Gti which did 300 miles to the same size tank.

The 170cr diesel (scandal engine) is brilliant imo, quiet, smooth and really quite rapid. The petrol engine is much more suited to the tt than the diesel but if you're doing more miles than my wife currently does I'd take the diesel every day. In fact we were forced into petrol as we wanted Quattro and s tronic.
 
CraigI said:
Audi diesels are poor IMO, also given the VAG scandal, not a great investment, but perhaps the same could be said about any VAG car.....
Wife's 2.0tdi 177 Q5 struggles to get above 30mpg combined, despite Audi claims.
She had a Q3 petrol before that and it was much better to drive.

We're swapping her Q5 out for a petrol car and don't expect to get any worse economy, but far greater performance.
The difference between petrol and diesel economy is vastly reduced nowadays and the pump price difference is negligible too, so if I were you I'd consider a petrol too and save yourself the premium for the diesel.
Click to expand...

Rediculous comparison Craig, the Q5 weighs 2000kg and the A3 weighs 1300kg.............................which will effect both performance and economy.
 
Simon L said:
Rediculous comparison Craig, the Q5 weighs 2000kg and the A3 weighs 1300kg.............................which will effect both performance and economy.
Click to expand...

Audi claimed combined 47mpg, we get 30mpg combined over 11,000 miles.
Diesel ain't as economic as some manufacturers lead you to believe was my point, apologies for not being clear enough for you Simon.
Petrol engines are definitely catching up economy wise.

From previous ownership of a A3 diesel (albeit 5 years ago), that wasn't a great car either.
 
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Hmmmm some interesting stuff. I may indeed consider a petrol. My Mrs' petrol saloon seems quite good on the juice. I could be going overboard and opening to petrol's will widen a search I think. Love my S3, and my old 18T before that. I may end up keeping it longer, but I do find myself looking to change - probably due to driving the Mrs new car as it's only 6 months old.
 
I had a manual 2010 2.0 (150) tdi A3 sport back which consistently averaged 55 mpg over the 4.5 years I had it, however I'm now replacing it with an A3 1.6 (110) tdi S-tronic.
 
Also consider diesel is more expensive than petrol to buy at the pumps.

I've gone from 170 tdi 8p to s3 8v.
Little more on fuel averaged 37 mpg on 500 round trip to Wales!

Only had 4 weeks still not sure If I've made the correct choice! Keeping this for 18 months where ad a3 had for 4 years. Still in 2 minds over s3!
 
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Depends what you want mate. We are all open to our preferences on here. I have mentioned that when I sell my TFSI I want a far quicker car. Diesels have the torque but never the fast red line experience. That's why I will be getting a Nissan GTR next...
By the way the now repaired TFSI engine is fantastic....
 
CraigI said:
Audi claimed combined 47mpg, we get 30mpg combined over 11,000 miles.
Diesel ain't as economic as some manufacturers lead you to believe was my point, apologies for not being clear enough for you Simon.
Petrol engines are definitely catching up economy wise.

From previous ownership of a A3 diesel (albeit 5 years ago), that wasn't a great car either.
Click to expand...

I'm not denying the exaggerated fuel economy claims but lets be honest it would be hard to find a manufacturer who doesn't. I just love the way Audi get slagged off for doing the exact same things as everyone else on this forum!! lol (and no not talking about emissions......................although that wouldn't surprise me either).

I just don't see the point in quoting 30mpg on a Q5 when clearly an A3 would return considerably better? It's not like I'm being biased either, never had a diesel and probably never will and I agree with you as far as Diesel v petrol.
 
Who in their right mind would want a 2.0/3.0 TDI anything?

Audi should have been making hydroelectric hybrids like the other manufacturers instead of pouring R&D into these ancient pollutant behemoths that has only cost them $Billions in the end.
 
Go for the 1.4TFSI. 150hp and TDI-torque from that engine size still blows my mind. Revo are working on map for it so might get even more power from it.

For long journeys @ 70mph I get about 54 miles per gallon. Also you won't burp out black smoke if you put your foot down :whistle2:
 
I have a a3 tdi 8p black edition
140 mapped to 180 great car very nice to drive 50mpg lovely car
But my s3 is like comparing chalk and cheese

I did have a bmw 120d m sport with full bmw performance pack Zafira Sri xp cdti and the Audi is by far the better car
 
recomdos said:
Anyone else got any feedback on the 2.0ltr 150 model.
Click to expand...

I have the S-Line 2.0 TDi (150) Cabriolet.
Have to say that the engine performs very well, although will never be a straight-line / fast beast - and was never intended as such.

I've had a 163 bhp diesel previously and that certainly had that little bit extra when you put your foot down.
With this one, you either have to change gear to speed up, or allow yourself plenty of time / gap if you remain in the same gear.
Also, when you're speeding up / changing up, the 150 really needs to "take a breath" before allowing you to accelerate again.
Think the 184 might alleivate the problem and be the better drive for this type of thing.

Being Cabriolet, I'm not bothered about straight-line speed / cornering anymore - been there / done that.
With the roof up, the MPG is really good - once down, you can literally see the fuel indicator lights clicking down as you travel along.

So, my view - unless Cabriolet, suggest try to find the 184 Version, as you'll really (really) miss that extra bit of oomph - particularly coming from the S3. I've come down in stages (bhp), so the 150 is fine for me now. If I'd gone straight from a T5 to this car, I would have been handing it back within weeks.
 
From memory I had the 1.6d A3 (think it was that engine) as a hire car. Gutless pile of doggy doo. Don't go with that option.
 
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Ignition1 said:
Go for the 1.4TFSI. 150hp and TDI-torque from that engine size still blows my mind. Revo are working on map for it so might get even more power from it.

For long journeys @ 70mph I get about 54 miles per gallon. Also you won't burp out black smoke if you put your foot down :whistle2:
Click to expand...

Is that real world calculated (fill up across a tank, litres put in to miles done) or from the trip computer? As the trip computer is a little liar :)

Also what is it like around town for mpg?

As my 2.0TDI (non scandal engine) does around 50mpg and i am fairly happy with that, but wouldn't be put off from a smaller capacity engine.
 
rrav3n said:
Is that real world calculated (fill up across a tank, litres put in to miles done) or from the trip computer? As the trip computer is a little liar :)

Also what is it like around town for mpg?

As my 2.0TDI (non scandal engine) does around 50mpg and i am fairly happy with that, but wouldn't be put off from a smaller capacity engine.
Click to expand...

It's a liar! The trip computer figure was 56mpg but I always take off 2mpg since it's too ambitious.

Around town (30mph, lots of traffic lights) the trip computer says 25 to 30mpg...but I'm heavy on the pedal. I'd say the 1.4TFSI and 2.0TDI are like-for-like - just depends if you want petrol or diesel really!
 
Filled up my 2.0tdi 184 manual sportback this evening.
490 miles, 40.52litres which I believe is approx 55mpg from daily commutes of 13 miles either way.
Lowest I've seen is 48 if pulling away hard at any opportunity and from long 3hour motorway runs usually see 57mpg.

Like others have said, looks great as very similar to an S3. I can't compare the feeling of performance as never have driven an S3 but both the 184 and S3 have the same torque 280lbs/ft.

Mine went in for a service last weekend and was given a courtesy manual 1.6tdi 110ps...it certainly didn't have the nice feeling of acceleration as the 184 offers when you want to make some progress or nip past slower moving traffic quickly.
 
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Some great posts in here gents. Rvtb101 my commute is the same (at the moment), and likely to open up to be bigger, but weekends I'm out n about a lot more, which surprisingly the S3 has been ok. On long journeys in getting 33mpg. Round the doors on daily commute obviously nowhere near that. I have found myself driving a lot more relaxed these days. I don't want to finance an 8V S3 at the moment, but keep thinking I want something newer than my 8P. I'd want loads of options on it too. Not seen many 184 engines when looking but agree that could be a good option to look for!
 
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I don't drive it as much as I'd like due to being in my van 6 days a week. But my 184bhp derv is a fantastic engine. Best diesel I've owned, such a smooth and powerful engine. Pulls like a petrol engine, while getting over 50mpg
 
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Mine is a 2015 US 2.0 184, and I'm at an average of 62.7mpg (UK) tracking through the fuelly site (trip lies, but I've lost that so many times from removing the negative off the battery from recent mods, I don't even look at that anymore). Even here in Florida with the AC running all the time. About 60/40 urban vs motorway driving. Great car. As said before, it still pulls like a petrol and response is great. Only thing I can't say is FWD vs Quattro. Just swap out the start button for a red one, get some metal pedal caps, and using vcds change the mmi logo to S3 and you'll feel at home :)
 
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I commute into London in my S3 and get 30mpg (mix of M1 and crap). I had an 8p 2.0 tdi before and got a bit over 40mpg on the same run. The fuel economy may have dropped by 25% but I'm 100% happier in my S3. I don't think I'll ever buy another diesel car, to Craig's point the difference in mpg is getting closer and the driving experience is so much more fun.

You get slagged off on here by mentioning economy and S3 in the same sentence, but I do almost 20,000 miles per year in mine and (according to the MMI) I've averaged 32.5mpg. And I drive it fast wherever I can. This makes it a great car in my opinion.

Do yourself a favour and stick with an S3.
 
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NickyF said:
I commute into London in my S3 and get 30mpg (mix of M1 and ****). I had an 8p 2.0 tdi before and got a bit over 40mpg on the same run. The fuel economy may have dropped by 25% but I'm 100% happier in my S3. I don't think I'll ever buy another diesel car, to Craig's point the difference in mpg is getting closer and the driving experience is so much more fun.

You get slagged off on here by mentioning economy and S3 in the same sentence, but I do almost 20,000 miles per year in mine and (according to the MMI) I've averaged 32.5mpg. And I drive it fast wherever I can. This makes it a great car in my opinion.

Do yourself a favour and stick with an S3.
Click to expand...

I've had similar experiences and came to exactly the same conclusion. Went down the sensible diesel route in the past but only ever managed about 40mpg compared to 30mpg in an S3. I do about 12k miles a year which means the difference between 30 and 40 mpg is about 500 quid a year which doesn't seem like a lot to be sitting in something you actually enjoy driving. If you can eek 50+mpg out of your diesel then it starts to make sense but if you've got a heavy right foot then stick with petrol.
 
jasonc said:
I've had similar experiences and came to exactly the same conclusion. Went down the sensible diesel route in the past but only ever managed about 40mpg compared to 30mpg in an S3. I do about 12k miles a year which means the difference between 30 and 40 mpg is about 500 quid a year which doesn't seem like a lot to be sitting in something you actually enjoy driving. If you can eek 50+mpg out of your diesel then it starts to make sense but if you've got a heavy right foot then stick with petrol.
Click to expand...

Bigger engines mean less effort to maintain higher speeds (especially in the 70 to 90mph range...and I know everyone drives at 90 on the M1 :D ).

Top Gear did that test a while ago - an M3 versus a Prius round the track. Essentially the Prius was driven as fast as possible, while the M3 was simply keeping up - in the end the M3 did better MPG.

If you have a 90HP town car, you'll be pushing it to maintain 80mph on a motorway - revving high and generally struggling. Whereas a 300HP engine will find it easy work - low revs, low effort = same or better MPG.

Hence the experiences above, I think. Not saying the 2.0 TDI is not powerful - it's 150HP - but even then it's not powerful enough to sit at 80 and not struggle a bit.
 
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