Instrumented Test
Audi has completely rebooted the A3 for 2015. When you think A3, stop channeling the five-door hatch that won a Car and Driver 10Best award in 2006. That old A3, a rebodied VW GTI designed primarily for the European market, is gone, and the U.S. gets a small four-door sedan that looks like an A4 that’s been tumbling in the dryer for a while.
The new A3 sedan is the second entry in a new segment of small German sedans with premium labels. The first player to arrive was the curvy Mercedes-Benz CLA250. With the Audi A4, BMW 3-series, and Benz’s C-class inching toward the next-larger segment, the A3 and the CLA are poised to become what those cars once were—affordable, attractive, small, and fun.
The A3 nails the attractive part. Clean and without affectation, the sheetmetal is creased in all the right places. Unlike the large wraparound units of the CLA, the A3’s headlights are slim and proportioned to the body. From an appearance standpoint, we don’t like the high beltline or the high-riding appearance of the A3, but the overall design is elegant. The new A3 looks like an Audi, not an Audi done on the cheap.
Inside and out, our A3 2.0T Quattro test car is about the same size as the original A4 that arrived in late 1995. The A3 has a longer wheelbase and is wider than the first-gen A4 but is a couple inches shorter. Interior space differs by only one cubic foot, with the advantage going to the A3. We mention this because we want to bring to light that the new A3 isn’t really all that small. Next to the CLA, the A3’s interior is remarkably spacious, especially in the rear seat. That’s because the Audi’s roofline doesn’t plunge like the CLA’s, so adults can actually sit comfortably in the back.
The A3 doesn’t drive small, either. The structure, borrowed from Volkswagen, is solid gold. This is the same MQB platform that underpins the new GTI, and even though the 3369-pound A3 isn’t as playful as that car, speed comes just as easily. Maturity has been tuned into the A3; it’s more laid back than you might expect. But don’t get the idea that the A3 isn’t willing to hustle along a canyon road. There’s plenty of grip from the Continental ContiSportContact 2 summer rubber—0.94 g on the skidpad—and the prevailing sense of stability makes probing the limit fun rather than scary. Ride quality is on the firm side, but there’s enough compliance to make you forget you’re in the smallest Audi sold stateside.
The maturity carries through to the interior of the A3, where high-quality plastics, large gauges, and metallic brightwork managed to make our test car’s black interior look exciting. Again, you never get the sense you’re in the least expensive Audi. The A3’s MMI controller is Audi’s latest version, something you won’t even find in an A8. As in the brand’s flagship, the navigation screen is motorized and rises dramatically from the instrument panel at startup. The A3 is quiet inside, too; at 70 mph, we measured only 67 decibels of noise.
We’d love to be able to drive a manual version of the A3, but for now, the sedan comes exclusively with a six-speed dual-clutch automatic. Aside from a lack of paddle shifters, we don’t have much to complain about. Upshifts are quick, and downshifts come without much delay. Should you want to override the transmission, just reach for the shifter. Even without an aggressive launch, the A3 managed a 0-to-60 time of 5.4 seconds. That’s 0.2 second quicker than an automatic A4 2.0T Quattro and a Euro-market GTI six-speed manual.
If you’re getting the idea that we’re impressed by the new A3, you’re right. Audi has built a refined and splendid sports sedan that happens to be small and affordable. Mercedes-Benz might have beaten Audi to the small-sedan punch, but Audi might have delivered the knockout.
