What a Car - UK - (2020-04)

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