Audi A3 sedan delivers ride, drive of your life
THIS week World of Wheels took delivery of the new Audi A3 Sedan 2.0TDI SE S tronic for evaluation and came away impressed. First a bit of background.
The Audi A3 Sedan extends its product portfolio in this the fastest-growing segment. The A3 Sedan is the third instalment to the highly successful A3 range. Audi South Africa launched the new generation A3 in three-door guise in November 2012, and has since sold 1200 units of this particular model in its first 11 months.
The A3 Sportback followed in April last year and as the volume model in the range, has sold 1 739 units as at the end of October. The S3 three-door was launched in October with the S3 Sportback following closely behind, adding a sporty halo model to the A3 range.
The addition of the A3 and S3 Sedan allows the brand to extend its offering in the highly competitive A-segment of the market, and will further enhance this offering with the launch of the new A3 Cabriolet soon.
Under the bonnet of the test vehicle is a 2.0TDI engine with 110kW of power and 350Nm of torque coupled to an S tronic gearbox.
Ride and drive is what we expect from Audi – very good!
The sedan, like the hatchback, behaves well in the handling and general driving stakes. Braking and handling are also tops and leaves one feeling satisfied and safe, no matter the road conditions.
Inside is typical Audi high quality fit and finish.The instrument panel with its curved front is slender, and the centre console is slightly turned towards the driver. The standard colour display of the driver information system shows images in detailed graphics.
There's enough space for four passengers and their luggage to travel in comfort.
Due to the long wheelbase, rear passengers also enjoy ample space and comfortable entry. The cargo capacity measures 425l which can be increased to 880l by folding down the rear seats. Folding rear seats are available as standard across the range.
The sedan makes use of the new modular infotainment system (MIB). The top system is MMI Navigation plus with an SSD hard drive offering 64 GB of storage, a DVD drive and whole-word voice control.
A high-resolution 7-inch-screen shows the map image in detailed 3D graphics. The MMI Navigation plus system interfaces to cell- phones and mobile players via Bluetooth.
The user terminal has a turn/push control designed as a "touchwheel" with MMI touch – the touchwheel's top surface is a touchsensitive pad for inputting letters, symbols and numbers.
The Audi A3 Sedan 2.0TDI SE S tronic is priced at R372500 and includes all taxes and the standard five year/100000km Audi freeway plan. - Bobby Cheetham
Engine 1968cc
Power 110kW Torque 340Nm Transmission seven- speed S tronic Performance: 0-100 km/h 8.4 seconds Top speed 224km/h Fuel consumption (urban/extra-urban/ combined) 5.5/3.6/4.5l CO2(combined cycle) 118g/km