A quick double-take revealed that I was right: That jutting piece of plastic near my left hand — shaped like an eject handle and just as easily accessible — was how one moves the passenger seat back and forth in the new Audi A3. That’s odd.
Nondescript duct work is plainly visible through one of its dash-mounted air vents. There’s even a parts sticker in there, but I can’t read what it says. I guess we all leave the tags on our shirts every once in a while too.
I’m not taking aim at the new A3 or its motivation. The entry luxury market is still lucrative for automakers, and cars like these beg for attention in the sheer quantity they’ll make over the next few years. Audi says the new A3, with an entry price of around $29,000, was one of its top-selling models over the summer right up with its A4 (which the A3 could easily supplant) and the Q5.
That’s no coincidence. As the average new car sold in America races well above $30,000, coming barely under that mark has a significant mental appeal: “For what you’re already going to pay for a new car, you can buy an Audi, and isn’t that grand?” (Or perhaps worth a couple extra grand?)
And Audi has done its part by spending time and money exactly where it should be spent for the entry luxury class: sheet metal and technology. Mental appeal? Check. Physical appeal? Let’s find out.
From the outside, the new A3 looks like a much more refined product than the outgoing A3. That model, a very classy Golf, was aimed squarely at Europhiles in America; someone begging for a hatchback (even diesel) with Audi rings in the front. I liked it very much, I thought it was a very chic frump.
This version — Audi says designed for American tastes — sports cleaner lines, a higher belt line along its doors that makes the car seem taller, and a tidy, higher rear end that wraps up faster than a Friday sales meeting at 4:30 p.m. The svelte body wraps the same Golf skeleton underneath and it’s a chassis that has never been a slouch — and one that parent-company Volkswagen has exploited in several other models. The A3 is more than 8 inches longer than the Golf, but sports the exact same wheelbase.
That translates to a larger presence on the road for the A3, despite being firmly set in a compact class. When Audi designer Dany Garand drew the new A3 it’s clear he wanted something that punched heavier than a lightweight without handling like a heavyweight. In that attempt, he was successful. We’re rewarded with the A3’s nimble steering and excellent grip, especially in the all-wheel drive model.
And the A3’s other massive expense is inside, beyond the semi-exposed duct work. Audi’s newest generation of navigation/entertainment is here in its least-expensive car, contrary to conventional luxury car dogma. Usually, flagship sedans like the A8, Mercedes S-Class or BMW 7-series are the first to be packed with the newest gear, with touchscreens trickling down to the masses years later. Audi’s system, dubbed MMI, makes its appearance in the A3 for very practical reasons. First-time luxury buyers are notorious for “reaching first, affording second,” and the A3’s modular, upgradeable infotainment system can be installed by dealers later, presumably exchanging saved “night club” navigation presets with “Bed, Bath and Beyond” ones instead. Would you like Google Maps with your oil change today?
A thin, motorized display rises from the center of the dash, and a small rotary dial with handwriting recognition is mounted near the center armrest to control the sound, navigation and phone functions. The display is bright and easily readable, and Audi has paired with AT&T to offer 4G data for a fee after a six-month trial. ($99 for six months, or until the data runs out from hours of streaming Drake.)
Oh yeah, people will love the A3’s new system and for good reason. It’s better than anything else right now. Audi even says the screen is bright and crisp enough to stream clear teleconference video from a smart phone. Middle management is always on call these days.
After the exterior and infotainment additions, the rest of the A3’s vitals may appear to be afterthoughts. That’s only partly true.
The base engine, a 1.8-liter turbocharged four, appears only in front-wheel drive models. An optional ($3,000 more) 2.0-liter turbocharged four comes with all-wheel drive and is the better pick. The bigger mill is more potent, more efficient with fuel (24 mpg vs. 23 mpg in the 1.8T) and is the only option for buyers opting for Audi’s all-wheel drive system, a big selling point over competition like the Mercedes GLA and BMW 2 series.
My only gripe with the powertrain comes with the standard six-speed, S-Tronic dual-clutch automatic in the A3. Normally, Audi’s six-speed system is bulletproof, but in our tester A3 something felt off. In regular drive, upshifts were too quick and downshifts wouldn’t come quickly enough — something a dual-clutch system should fix. Tipping the shifter into sport mode wasn’t a remedy, the transmission held on to gears for too long — and in one instance, jarringly too long. It could be simple programming — it could have been just our car — but something wasn’t right. You can always row your own in manual mode, but without paddle shifters on the steering wheel, you might be reminded that the world used to have manual transmissions. (But how did they text and drive, grandpa?)
Beyond transmission gripes and duct work gremlins, the A3 is a very fine car. It’s one that’s befitting the Audi badge up front, and I suspect with money spent in the right places, it’ll attract a large crowd looking to get Audi badges for near-Volkswagen money. I don’t even mind the large, plastic handle in the passenger seat because even I know that fighter planes are built to hit a price too.