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22/05/2009
By EWAN KENNEDY
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The smallest Audi sold in Australia, the A3 is a prestigious German machine that has since been joined by competitors such as the BMW Compact and Mercedes-Benz Coupe. Unlike them the Audi is aimed at practicality rather than full-on style, though doesn’t do too badly in the fashion stakes.
 This is a small car by Australian standards but in Europe it’s considered suitable as a family car. The A3 is fully capable of carting mum and dad and three kids without any real squeezing. Four adults are more comfortable than you might expect given the relatively small size of the car. There’s plenty of stowage space inside, including big slide-out drawers under the front seats.
Though this appears to be a small car it’s surprisingly voluminous and two good sized suitcases can be carried in the boot. Due to the usual German emphasis on practical safety, tie-down clips secure the load in a crash or even under heavy braking.
Audi A3 sales were reasonably good from the May 1997 launch of the three-door, but didn’t really get up to full speed until the introduction of the five-door models in October 1999.
Rear-seat access in the three-door is better than in just about any other car of its type with front seats that move right out of the way in an ingenious fashion.
Having said that, the five-door is a lot more practical. The standard three-door A3 was discontinued with the introduction of the five-door, but sports models in the range continued to use three-door bodies.
 Much the same process was initiated with the arrival of the latest Audi A3 in Australia in July 2004. Again the three-doors were the first to be introduced, followed by the five-doors seven months later, but this time the three- and five-door remained side by side on the showroom floor. A fair number of the second-generation A3s are starting to appear in used-car yards.
The Audi A3 has the solid feel that’s very much part of the marque and this has shown up in good durability as the years have gone by.
Handling is very good, though there is perhaps just a little too much understeer at the limit to suit the full-on driving enthusiast.
Engine choices in the original A3 were a 1.6-litre single-cam unit with two valves per cylinder and two 1.8-litre twin-cam models with the Audi trademark of five valves per cylinder (three intakes and two exhausts). The 1.8 came with or without a turbocharger, with the turbo engine tuned to give flexible torque and economy at low to mid-range engine speeds, rather than flat-out sports performance.
The second-gen cars retained the 1.6-litre in the entry level models, but also offer a 2.0-litre FSI petrol unit, with our without a turbo, as well as a 2.0-litre turbo-diesel. Best of all is a 3.2-litre V6 petrol engine that gives a huge amount of get-up-and-go in a relatively small car like this one.
Power in Audi A3 models is transmitted to the front wheels, the 2.0 turbo-petrol can be specified with Audi’s famed quattro all-wheel-drive system. It comes as no surprise that quattro is mandatory with the big V6 engine.
Audi S3 is the high-performance variant. Considerably more expensive than the others, it arrived here in December 1999. The S3 has a sporting three-door body and uses a turbo engine driving through a six-speed manual gearbox.
 The Audi dealer network in Australia is a relatively small one, but it works efficiently and we have heard of very few complaints about dealers. Spare parts and servicing are reasonably priced for a prestige car but fairly expensive for a machine of this size in comparison with cars from Asia.
Check your insurance company’s policy on turbo-petrol engines as some charge very high premiums that can add significantly to the purchase price of a used car.
WHAT TO LOOK FOR
Make sure the engine starts quickly and idles smoothly even when it’s cold. If there’s any hesitation from the engine under hard acceleration there could be computer problems.
Check that a manual gearbox changes smoothly and quietly and that an automatic transmission doesn't hunt up and down the gears when climbing moderate hills with light to medium throttle openings.
Uneven front tyre wear probably means the car has been the subject of some hard driving, so is more likely in one of the high-performance models.
Uneven tyre wear may also mean one of the wheels is out of alignment as the result of a crash, though that crash may have simply been a hard thump against a kerb.
Some A3s have been used as upmarket rep cars and could have done a fair bit of work. Be suspicious of an interior that’s showing signs of rough use that may indicate it has had a rough life.
HOW MUCH?
Expect to spend from $9000 to $13,000 for a 1997 Audi A3 1.8-litre three-door hatch; $12,000 to $18,000 for a 1999 1.8-litre turbo five-door; $16,000 to $24,000 for a 2002 1.6-litre five-door; $18,000 to $26,000 for a 2004 1.6-litre Attraction three-door; $19,000 to $26,000 for a 1999 S3 1.8-litre three-door; $23,000 to $32,000 for a 2004 2.0-litre FSI Ambition three-door; $30,000 to $42,000 for a 2005 2.0-litre TSFI quattro five-door; and $39,000 to $54,000 for a 2005 S3 1.8-litre three-door.
CAR BUYING TIP
Shop around for insurance in cars that are a bit out of the ordinary as there may be more than the normal spread of premium charges. |
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