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Wagons Audi A3 Audi A3
2278 messages, Last post on Oct 30, 2009 at 11:18 AM
You are in the Audi A3 Forum. Your Host is kcram
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I am 18 and although i might sound like an extremely new driver to some, i am a skilled one and my mom is offering to buy me a new car. yesterday my mom and i took a visit to the audi dealer (she is also looking at a new car) and i noticed the A3 2.0T. i think it is a nice looking, fast, well equipped car. my other main choice is a VW GLI. i also wouldn't mind driving a nissan 350z or a honda s2000 either, just for fun though. my choice rests on driving feel, comfort, extras, and performance of the manual transmission. any ideas? Philip
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Replying to: mrroboto89 (Dec 29, 2007 7:14 am) I think the A3 is a good choice.. But, if you are looking at VWs, they have some good dealer cash incentives on the leftover '07 models. regards, kyfdx Host-Prices Paid Forums |
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Replying to: mrroboto89 (Dec 29, 2007 7:14 am)  The same day I also drove an 03 BMW 325 (non sport package) and the Jetta was FAR better in handling and acceleration. Probably not a fair comparison...the sportiest Jetta versus the 'old' 325 non-sport...just I wasn't expecting it. Worth a test drive anyway. BTW...the DSG has me converted...no manual for me when a DSG is available. |
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...the first had a 6-Speed with three pedals under the dash and the second had a 6-Speed with two pedals and two paddles (wifey has been having left hip probems and is considering an automatic). To be sure the DSG is the best Automatic transmission I've ever driven, however, IMHO, it seriously detracted from the otherwise wonderful driving experience that can be had from that well thought out car. Funny thing, there's a possibility that our garage is going to be housing two A3s in the near future, the only question is, how many pedals and how many paddles.  Best Regards, Shipo |
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Replying to: shipo (Jan 10, 2008 3:40 pm) How so? Please elaborate...
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Replying to: ivan_99 (Jan 10, 2008 5:41 pm) I much prefer to be able to not only tell the car when to shif but how hard or soft and how fast or how slow to affect said shift. That cannot be done with a DSG. Suffice to say, if Wifey opts for the DSG version (I'm kind of betting she won't once she's driven them back-to-back), I won't be driving her car very often.  Best Regards, Shipo |
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I continue to be surprised that none of the specs available anywhere in the Internet or in print show the rear seat room for the A3. I keep wondering if that is because it is actually more spacious than the A4. Today (errr, yesterday now) while I was strolling through the dealership I got into an A3 and set the driver's seat perfectly for my frame, and then climbed into the left side rear seat. Ingress and egress were quite easy and while seated I easily had over two inches between my knees and shins and the front-seat seatback. I repeated the experiment in the A4 and came up with the exact same results as I did two years ago, namely that the rear seat legroom in the A4 is an easy two inches shorter than in the A3. Not only was I forced to press my right leg in behind the front seat while entering the A4, once I was seated there was barely a quarter of an inch between my knees and the front seat. Hmmm, apparently the next generation A4 is supposed to be a tad longer than the current model. Maybe once the A4 can boast more room than the A3, Audi will start publishing rear seat space for the latter. Best Regards, Shipo |
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Replying to: shipo (Jan 10, 2008 3:40 pm) One thing... if you don't like to put your hands where they are "supposed" to be on the steering wheel (where the paddles work just great in their current placement), then just use the up/down DSG shifter handle where your "stick shift" is always located (it's similar to constantly shifting between 1 and 2 manually, only w/o the 3rd pedal). Second thing... I believe the DSG has "learned programming" to learn your style of driving and conform to it, whether that be hard or soft, although it obviously can't know what your current mood is and whether that changes often. However, I believe the DSG is generally aggressive (medium hard but smooth) and ultra fast with it's shifts in D mode, but in S mode it goes into madman lightning fast mode (seems to me; maybe subjective). On another note, I think you and others had tested the GTI to compare it to the A3 when they both first came out in 2005/06, and noticed that the GTI had a higher riding height and was much softer with greater lean, roll, and all those other bad things. The suspension from VW just wasn't as sophisticated in tuning as the Audi. Did you know that VW has lowered the ride height of the 2008 GTI's by 10 mm? That might bring it into feeling more like the A3, but I haven't driven one yet; have you?
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Replying to: andres3 (Jan 11, 2008 12:03 pm) Already? Uhhh, my current car has 154,000 miles on it. While it has been the model of reliability, it is getting a little long in the tooth. "One thing... if you don't like to put your hands where they are "supposed" to be on the steering wheel (where the paddles work just great in their current placement), then just use the up/down DSG shifter handle where your "stick shift" is always located (it's similar to constantly shifting between 1 and 2 manually, only w/o the 3rd pedal)." Ain't nothing similar about it; with an extended "H" pattern shifter, I can "feel" what gear I'm in and I can "feel" what the tranny is doing, not so with a DSG. "Second thing... I believe the DSG has "learned programming" to learn your style of driving and conform to it, whether that be hard or soft, although it obviously can't know what your current mood is and whether that changes often. However, I believe the DSG is generally aggressive (medium hard but smooth) and ultra fast with it's shifts in D mode, but in S mode it goes into madman lightning fast mode (seems to me; maybe subjective)." Adaptive software not withstanding, the transmission simply cannot know how I want my shifts executed from one moment to the next, and until there is a neural pathway between my brain and the tranny, there's no way for it to be able to adjust on the fly like that. The fact is, the DSG is a very good automatic, but it is a very poor substitute for a manual gearbox. "On another note, I think you and others had tested the GTI to compare it to the A3 when they both first came out in 2005/06, and noticed that the GTI had a higher riding height and was much softer with greater lean, roll, and all those other bad things. The suspension from VW just wasn't as sophisticated in tuning as the Audi. Did you know that VW has lowered the ride height of the 2008 GTI's by 10 mm? That might bring it into feeling more like the A3, but I haven't driven one yet; have you?" Hmmm, you must have me confused with someone else; the last GTI that I was in was something like 1984. Best Regards, Shipo |
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My Audi A3 Sport Package with DSG has now been owned by me for just under 2 years. I have accumulated lots of mileage in these 23 months, and have reached past 33K miles already. I have to say, this car appears to be performing excellently, and flawlessly. The car seems bulletproof. I haven't discovered any problems, and have had no hassles or reliablility concerns. I haven't got my "warranties" monies worth, unless of course you consider getting a trouble-free car a "bonus." I haven't had to use the warranty since dealing with issues that occurred at delivery. This has been by far, the most flawless and reliable new car I have ever owned, and I've owned both Dodge and Honda. The Dodge was a POS lemon  all the way through and through; every part of it. The Honda was great and had stellar durability, but had it's share of warranty issues (none mechanical other than tranny). I'm still happy and loving the A3 I got. I'm still consistently getting 25 MPG in mixed driving with my lead foot and need to go 80+ when I can on the freeway. The only think I regret is settling for the light gray interior; I had wanted a beige interior. I think Audi should include those fancy adaptive Xenon lights as standard from now on to boost sales, and bring back free Audi Care Maintenance. Also, I think Audi should go ahead and bring on the S3 similar to the TTS's specs I hope. |
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