12 April 2020 whatcar.com
probablywon’tsurpriseyoutohearthatmany
oftheengineshavealsobeencarriedover.
Initially,theonlypetroloptionwillbea 148bhp
turbocharged1.5-litreunit,while2.0-litrediesels
(with114bhpor148bhpoutputs)willalsobe
offered.A shortwhilelater,anentry-level1.0-litre
petrolmodelwith109bhpwilljointheline-up,
alongwitha mildhybridversionofthe1.5.
Thelatterhasa hefty48-voltbatterythatcan
powertheA3’ssteeringandbrakingsystems,
allowingthepetrolenginetobeswitched
offwhendeceleratingforperiodsofupto 40
seconds.Thepurpose?Tosavefuel,ofcourse,
andthere’salsoa smallelectricmotorthat
candeployanyremainingbatterypower
tohelppropelthecaralongatlowspeeds.
Furtherenginesandfour-wheeldrive(quattro)
modelswilljointherangeata laterdate,as
willa plug-inhybridmodelanda sportyS3.
We’llbegettingbehindthewheelofthe
regularA3on 30 March,sosetyourselfa
reminderandheadtowhatcar.comthenfor
ourrstreview.However,wehavemanaged
tosneaka quickdrivein a heavilydisguised
prototypeofthenewS3hothatch,andyou
canreadaboutthatin theaccompanying
story(seeright).
whereyouparkedit, orevenpreheat(orcool)
theinteriorsoit’s‘justso’whenyoujumpin.
If you’rewonderingaboutinteriorspace,
there’sverylittledifferencecomparedwiththe
outgoingmodel;Audisaysthere’sfractionally
moreshoulderroom,butyou’dhavetoget
yourtapemeasureouttorealise.Thatmeans
theA3cancarryfourtalladults(orveata
push)reasonablycomfortably– certainly
moresothana 1 Series.Thebootremains
analmostidenticalsize,too,soexpecttobe
abletocarrytheequivalentofvecarry-on
suitcasesbelowtheparcelshelf– thesameas
youwouldin a Golf.
Giventhesimilaritiesbetweenthenew
A3anditspredecessorundertheskin,it
‘With little change
in interior space, the
A3 can carry four tall
adults comfortably –
more so than a 1 Series’
FIRST LOOK
BEHINDTHEWHEELOFTHEHOTNEWAUDIS