What model and spec to get?

[c2 muz]

Hi,
New to the forum, and im looking at trading in my Bmw for a A3 soon.
Only prob is im not clued up about A3's and was wondering what model and spec is best to buy?
I want it to be diesel and 3dr thou :/

 

[Sandra]

Hi, welcome to ASN. Read through the faqs thread, lots of info in there. Hope you enjoy the forum. x

 

[xs2man]

If its fuel economy your looking for, get another BMW. The Audi's show nice numbers, but rarely live up to them. I only get mid-late 30's out my 2.0TDI.

Thats said, they are a lovely looking motor.

For rarity / maximum residual value, you would ideally want to spec the Quattro. And I would personally go for the Black Edition too as it comes quite well spec'd as standard.

Beyond that, it's all personal preference what you want. Any extras, like sat-nav / xenons / leather, you put on wont necessarily make the car worth any more, but might make it easier to sell on privately at the other end.

 

[jasonc]

If it has to be diesel than the 2.0TDI 170 Quattro Black Edition would get my vote but it's a hard question to answer without knowing what your priorities are regarding performance and economy. What BMW are you currently driving?

 

[c2 muz]

320D 160 bhp model. The 170 Quattro Sounds about right in term of power and eco.
Ive seen them listing DPF on some advert's. They all dpf or only on some models/years?
Thanks

 

[jasonc]

320D 160 bhp model. The 170 Quattro Sounds about right in term of power and eco.
Ive seen them listing DPF on some advert's. They all dpf or only on some models/years?
Thanks

Yeah, the 170 is the only sensible choice coming from that car.
I'm pretty sure all the 2.0TDI's have a DPF but somebody on here can probably confirm that.

 

[xs2man]

Yeah, all 170's are DPF.

Don't be sucked in by the marketing on economy though. There is bound to be a post up here about what other A3 owners are ACTUALLY getting with their fuel consumption. I mean, my combined figure is meant to be 53.3 mpg, but if you look at my sig here, I'm only getting 37.2 mpg. And that was taking it really easy, with a couple long runs. The last tank was only 34.5, and before that 33.2. To me, with the way I was driving, they are petrol figures, not diesel.

Especially compared with the mpg I had on an extended test drive in a BMW 520d, where the ACTUAL mpg was 47.9, on a run absolutely similar to the ones where I'm lucky to get 35 in the Audi.

Before you put any money down, try to arrange an extended test drive first. I took that BMW out for a couple hours, and did about 140 miles, across motorway and country A-roads, as they are the roads I regularly drive. Then got a realistic figure from that run (I reset everything before I left, and drove as if I owned the car). I just wish I had done this before forking out on the Audi.

That said, there is no better looking, similar motor on the market than the Audi, so if you can live with the poor economy, it is a nice car to own.

 

[Brodster]

I would go for a 2.0 TDI 170 BE. Run it in for about a thousand miles then get it mapped. This will give you the added bonus of having both an increase in power approx 200bhp and slightly better MPG.

 

[c2 muz]

What kinda increse's do the 140 and 170ps models gain from just a remap?

 

[Sheikh]

I get 50mpg in my 140 all day long. 40 if i give it a proper thrashing.

 

[c2 muz]

Well been to have a look today and seen Audi TT Coupe 170 TDI quattro S-Line that caught my eye for nearly the same monie as a A3 black edition quattro. So gonna take that out for a spin tommorw instead :/

 

[audicruiser]

What kinda increse's do the 140 and 170ps models gain from just a remap?

Basically 140 goes to 170 and 170 goes to 200 approx....