When i was looking at the brochures for the A3 sportback there were the following options
1.6 Special edition £15,495
1.6 MPI Special edition £18,495
if i am wrong then i am very happy
i am frantically searching for the electronic brochure. be patient i have it somewhere
I've got a copy of the Sportback brochure from Sept 07 onwards. This includes the following
Sportback standard OTR
1.6 MPI 102PS 5-speed manual £16,040
1.6 Special Edition 102PS 5-speed manual £15,495
1.6 MPI 102PS 5-speed tiptronic £17,440
Sportback SE
1.6 MPI 102PS 5-speed manual £18,040
1.6 MPI 102PS 5-speed tiptronic £19,440
Sportback Sport
1.6 MPI 102PS 5-speed manual £18,040
1.6 MPI 102PS 5-speed tiptronic £19,440
I cant really fathom what your dealer actually told you but the price differential infers the lower is at the standard level and the higher was a SE (potentially using the SE incorrectly as special edition?)
On the engines - could it be that the A3 special edition uses the old non FSI 1.6 engine (i.e. the one from years back, hence it is not referred to as MPI) & the engine offered in the standard (not special edition), se and sport trim being the 1.6fsi engine (referred to now as MPI). Now obviously the 1.4 tfsi is an entry level option.