500 Mile Mini Review! A3 Sportback 1.6TDi S-line

[gjonesy51]

Hi All,

Up until now I’ve been silent just snooping on everyone else’s posts and doing research on my car which I’ve just taken delivery of yesterday! I got the car fom Coventry Audi and had the pleasure of a 7 hr drive back to Aberdeen where I live so feel that I’m fairly familiar with the car now and thought I'd post a little review for anyone thinking of taking the plunge and getting one of their own.

My spec:

A3 Sportback 1.6TDi S-line
Daytona Grey
Interior light pack
SE Suspension
Privacy Glass
Comfort Pack
Alu Roof Rails
ACC
Leather
Heated Seats
Auto High Beam
B&O Stero

First impressions of the car was that the interior is definitely a step up from the 8p. Felt more luxourious somehow and its noticeably really quiet inside once you shut the door – all outside noise blocked out. I previously had a 2009 S3 sportback, which was a nicely specced car, but this is definitely an improvement and feels more luxurious.

Pros:

• Quieter – less wind and engine noise than my s3. (Less engine noise to be expected!). The 1.6TDi is really quiet though, felt quieter than the 2.0TDi which I test drove before buying.
• More tech – found the MMI system really easy to get to grips with
• ACC – better than I could of imagined. Doesn’t get confused if someone cuts in front, worked perfectly and made the 400mile journey home much less tiring! Havent had chance to try it on a country road yet. I found it best to have it on the closest distance setting – like a typical audi driver!!
• Handling – I chose the SE suspension. It possibly sits a tiny bit higher than I’d of liked appearance wise, but the handling is amazing. I would say it’s more nimble than the S3 I had previously and is amazing at smoothing out bumps / potholes etc. Overall very pleased with it.
• The 1.6TDi engine – definitely adequate in terms of performance. Would even go as far as to say its nippy in town. Once you’re up to 60mph +, it isn’t what you’d call fast for overtaking, but it definitely has enough torque to get past someone easily. Seems to be a very smooth / quiet engine rather than giving you a big shove in the back. Did find it was quite easy to bit sitting at 90mph plus without noticing on motorway or feeling like the engine was struggling in any way.
• Economy. With the car being brand new I’ve found the following:
  • Averaged 53mpg on drive England – Scotland. Which was 80% motorways at between 70-90mph, and 20% country roads 50-70mph.
  • When driving 80mph plus, it was sitting at around 50mpg (indicated)
  • When driving at 70 mph it was easily reaching high 50’s.
  • When driving to work today (30 miles over mixed country / a-roads) I averaged 59mpg without really trying and even managed to squeeze in a few overtakes.
  • Overall – quite pleased. Would think car will average around 55mpg in real life over mixed driving.
  • Storage – boot seems bigger than my previous 8P, more nooks and crannies to keep stuff!

Cons:

• Havent found very many yet!
• Would have been nice to be able to turn on the interior lighting during day time
• Some tyre noise from the 18” alloys, but not worse than on my 8P
• More power would always be nice, but I spent the budget on a nicer spec instead which so far im not regretting!

 

[Sandra]

Welcome to audi-sport.net. Where in Scotland are you? Thanks for sharing the info with us all. Any pics? Enjoy the car and the forum. x

 

[TDI-line]

Hello and welcome, at last.

That is really nice spec and colour.

 

[snakehips]

Nice review. Interesting what you say about the SE suspension as I deleted sports suspension too, but does it really look a little high appearance-wise? Sports suspension only lowers it two thirds of an inch, and S-line only an inch. Is that really noticeable?
And how is the B&O stereo (the most important piece of kit)?

 

[gjonesy51]

Nice review. Interesting what you say about the SE suspension as I deleted sports suspension too, but does it really look a little high appearance-wise? Sports suspension only lowers it two thirds of an inch, and S-line only an inch. Is that really noticeable?
And how is the B&O stereo (the most important piece of kit)?

Hi thanks. Possibly looks slightly too high, definitely not rediculous by any means and it's not like it looks like its on stilts or anything. I was used to an S3 before which was really low so that's also possibly clouding my judgement a bit though! Will take a photo and stick it up when I get chance. Guess it just comes down to personal taste. To be honest would prob order the SE suspension again as ive been delighted with the handling and lack of roll!

Haha, definitely agree the b&o is the most important option! seems slightly excessive but have to admit the main reason for ordering for me was the LED light strips! Been really impressed with the b&o sound tho. Just been playing music off of an sd card ( copied all my iTunes library onto it). Had it up really loud and no sign of distortion or hissing of any sort. Seems to be great at drowning out pretty much all road / wind noise even at a moderate volume. Not had an upgraded stereo in the past but its night and day compared to the standard 8p s3 stereo. Had some dance tunes on for the drive north to keep me awake and it was handling the bass nicely!!

 

[gjonesy51]

Welcome to audi-sport.net. Where in Scotland are you? Thanks for sharing the info with us all. Any pics? Enjoy the car and the forum. x

hi Sandra, thanks! ...I'm from Aberdeen

yeah will definitely get a few photos taken and uploaded to forum next time I have a spare few mins!

 

[cemerson]

Good review - the ACC is definitely my favourite toy on the car! Had it going on the country roads in Wales this weekends and you'll be pleased to hear it works brilliantly - as long as the traffic in front of you stays there! Every time you come to a corner, the car in front obviously slows down, so your car does automatically as well, without having to touch a thing (other than change gear if needed). Obviously if the car in front is round the corner before you get there then it's not going to slow down so you have to be careful on that front

 

[Fragup]

Hi gjonesy
Nice spec, good to read another positive review.
i have gone for the Interior lights as well and is a shame you can't just turn on in day in MMI settings.
don't know if anyone knows a simple solution as a couple of people have said the same as you, hardly a important thing but nice if you could change.

 

[robcur]

Gjonsy51,
Great review of your first impressions. I'm driving up from the south coast to pick up a new 140COD S line Sportback from Coventry Audi in the next couple of weeks. Would appreciate your thoughts on the hand-over service you received from them and also whether you managed to extract/were offered any freebies.

 

[gjonesy51]

Hi Fragup / Cemerson / Robcur. Thanks

Fragup - yeah will definitely be keeping a look out for if someone works out how to enable them!

Robcur - have to say I was treated very well at Coventry Audi. The handover took about an hour the sales person (Max Nelson) spent quite a bit of time showing me how to work the various features of the car. I bought my car via a broker online (hence the trip all the way from Scotland - Coventry!), so would imagine I got a reasonable deal. Didn't get offered any freebies unfortunately - just the usual GAP insurance, Supaguard etc which I politely declined! I also was given the cables I needed to connect my iphone to the MMI system without asking which was good as have heard a few people on here needed to have them posted out later... Good luck with getting yours, im still delighted with mine!

 

[Sandra]

hi Sandra, thanks! ...I'm from Aberdeen

yeah will definitely get a few photos taken and uploaded to forum next time I have a spare few mins!

I have added you onto the Scottish Members List. For local meets, click the link below. x
Scotland

 

[robcur]

Thanks gjonsy51. We probably went through the same broker and achieved a similar discount, so perhaps a freebie or two is a bit optimistic. Might still try though! Max N is dealing with me too and seems an OK bloke. He's promised to send me the driver's manual etc as soon as the car arrives at the dealers, so that I can bone up on how everything works. I trust that the tyre pressures were correct when you picked yours up. Think that I might just ask for them to be checked before setting off for the south as another thread shows some confusion and seriously incorrect inflation pressures.

 

[viperfire]

Had the 1.6tdi courtesy car. Found it very slow compared to my 1.4tfsi. It must be some drop from an S3!

 

[dieseldoug]

Gjonesy51,

Did you not get a good deal from Aberdeen Audi or any other Scottish dealers you went down south? Or was a car readily available in the spec you were needing. Good to see another member from the area.

Doug

 

[Twizzler]

I just printed off the quote from the brokers and took it to my two nearest dealers. Both were prepared to match it so I ordered it from the nearest one.

 

[gjonesy51]

Nope - been into Aberdeen Audi before and found them very reluctant to offer any form of discount! To be fair they offered me a good trade in price for the S3 but that was about it. I was also looking at a Q3 before deciding on the A3 and tried the trick of asking them to match the broker's price, not only did they say they wouldn't match it they wouldn't offer any discount at all to even get close hence the journey to Coventry! Dundee audi is also fairly close, but they are owned by the same group (john clark) and so dont like to compete with Aberdeen. The 1.6TDi is definitely a fair step down in power, but my S3 was used and had no extras so the extra gadgets and feeling of having a brand new car is making up for it for now anyway!! Rob - we probably did - I used orangewheels and was pretty happy with the whole experience. Not noticed the tyres looking soft or anything but haven't checked either - maybe should!

 

[JohnM100]

Good review - the ACC is definitely my favourite toy on the car! Had it going on the country roads in Wales this weekends and you'll be pleased to hear it works brilliantly - as long as the traffic in front of you stays there! Every time you come to a corner, the car in front obviously slows down, so your car does automatically as well, without having to touch a thing (other than change gear if needed). Obviously if the car in front is round the corner before you get there then it's not going to slow down so you have to be careful on that front

Just hope the car in front doesn't miss the corner or sounds like you will follow it into the hedge?

 

[cemerson]

Indeed, it doesn't absolve you from monitoring the situation of course, as with anything!