Hi and welcome to Talking Cars.
I'm Jennifer Stockburger.
I'm Alex Knizek.
And I'm John Linkov.
So today, we are beginning with our first impressions
of the 2022 Audi A3, the entry-level Audi, if you will.
And according to my source, John Linkov,
this is the fourth generation of the Audi A3,
but only the third generation available to us
here in the United States.
And John, as a former Audi owner,
I am going to go to you first.
First impressions of the 2022 A3.
I think it's a sporty--
sporty little car.
Automatic transmission only, which
like previous generations.
So having just come out of the Volkswagen GTI that we have,
kind of hoping it would be a stick, or the Audi
would have offered a stick in the country, but no.
Well I owned a 1996 Audi A4, which is, in Audi parlance,
the B5 body style or generation.
This is the almost in the previous generation
A3 as well, almost the exact same size as my A4 was.
So what's so interesting is that was
the A3 is a smaller one, the subcompact
or entry-level luxury versus the small to midsize.
It's a big car for what it is, being the introductory level
one.
You definitely see where the costs are cut.
And it's kind of that great poster
child whatever for entry-level luxury
doesn't do luxury particularly well.
The plastics are hard in spots.
Some features aren't there.
I mean--
It's not that quiet.
I mean, Alex thank you for saying that.
Engine has the typical Volkswagen Audi
agricultural sound for the four cylinders.
Definitely farm equipment-sounding.
It sounds diesel-like to me when you're on the throttle.
I said it-- I said to my husband it sounds more
like a diesel than some diesels.
Yeah and then they have it hooked up
to that DCT, which is a little clunky and kind of awkward,
so the whole thing is kind of not smoothness, quietness.
Some of these words that you think of with luxury,
and it's just not quite hitting that mark.
It's not sporty.
I like that word agricultural.
That's a great word.
Go ahead.
All that doesn't come with, like, super sportiness.
You'd have to move up to an S3 or RS 3 for super sportiness.
So you're just kind of like--
I mean, it's got the wireless CarPlay--
Apple CarPlay and such.
And very nice, it's got a lot of features.
But it's hard to make an argument for that over a very
high-level mid-size sedan.
That's in a more premium trim line, for me, at least.
And I like them.
I mean, look at the posters in the back and my ex-ownership.
I do enjoy the quality of the materials
in most Audis and the driving experience
and the cabin and the design.
This one's eh so far.
Yeah.
Alex?
Yeah, I struggle with this entry-level luxury
class a little bit.
Just like we were alluding to there and talking about--
I'm a little more convinced after driving
the A3 than the recent competition, the A-class
and the BMW 2 Series, which these are front-wheel drive
German luxury sedan.
So direct competitor to this.
And they're fine but I was definitely
underwhelmed by both of those.
And I think still a little underwhelmed here
with the Audi, but I liked it a little bit more than those,
I'll say that.
Just on first impression.
I liked how it drove, was probably the best thing.
I did enjoy driving it.
It turns well, it handles well.
Ours does have this sports suspension,
so it's a little bit lower than the standard car,
a little stiffer.
I don't think it compromises ride quality too, too much.
But you know I liked how it drove.
But it-- when you start really poking through things
and looking at the details that, yeah it doesn't quite
hold up to that luxury mindset that you might
have going for a car like this.
And let's just even look at the Golf R. Go
into VW's own portfolio, and I know
they're totally different cars, one's way faster,
but our Audi A3 that we're talking about
cost $43,000 with a couple of options.
It's not even the top level all-wheel drive.
You can get a Golf R for the same cost.
And even if you didn't care about the power,
it is more practical.
It has more features, like cooled seats and heated
steering wheel, which the Audi doesn't have, and you know,
it does some other things not as well.
But point being, can get a lot more car
if you go with a lower tier brand,
if you want to put it that way.
Yeah, and I agree.
We've always said, load up a lower, non-luxury nameplate
loaded, and get more car than you
would with this entry-level.
With that said, I really liked this car.
And I think I really like, as I go back in cars that I really
like, I really like the way Audi balances ride and handling
and power train.
Yeah, it's nice.
For me, I like it a little bit on the little bit sportier
side, but not to the BMW level.
I don't mind a little impact harshness, which this has,
to your suspension point.
You know I was on expansion joints on a bridge.
You know when you are hitting them.
I'm OK with that, because it's very short-lived.
It's the impact.
You know you hit it.
But it doesn't unsettle the body.
It handles it in a premium way, right?
It handles it well.
It doesn't crash over bumps like a cheaper car or something
like that.
It transmits it a little.
Yes.
Right.
But not overly.
Yeah, I totally agree.
Yeah so, I like that.
And I think if you want that luxury nameplate, again,
$40,000, you're going to be happy in this A3,
both in size, powertrain, handling.
The big stuff this car does really well.
The diesel-like sound I noted.
One of the changes to this model was in the infotainment.
You know, I go back to audi's original MMI,
that multimedia interface knob, they've come a long way.
I found even the mono-stable little lever
gear selector straightforward, more straightforward.
So I have I have two old people comments.
So be ready.
One is you talked about the lower stance.
Getting in and out, it has a very high cushion
bolster to kind of settle your butt in that cushion.
To get out-- and then a wide sill--
it can be-- my husband's a little older than I am,
and he was like, "This is a young person's car."
That was his grumpy voice.
But he was like this.
And the other young person thing is,
it seems to be a VW Audi thing, that the infotainment
selections are just all very tiny.
And there's a lot of real estate there.
There's a lot of blank space.
The clock-- very tiny, very tiny little selections, but then
all of this space around it.
Even the gear selector area in the console--
there's a lot of real estate there
that I feel like they could have accommodated my old eyes
and made those buttons a little bigger.
I wonder if some of that is, it just doesn't quite
look as premium, if you will.
If they make like the icons huge,
and the text-- even though everybody
that would agree, most likely, that it's easier
to read, easier to touch while you're driving around.
But it just looks more sleek if you kind of make things
slim and small and discreet.
Not a Jitterbug cell phone version of buttons.
You want something sleek.
Am I getting there?
I don't have a Jitterbug yet, but it's coming.
Kind of like what I mean, it's funny.
The point you made about getting in and out,
but also Alex talking about the competitors from BMW, Mercedes.
What is nice is that, while it's sleek
it's not a coupe-ified car.
It does have headroom.
In the front.
In the front, yeah.
And the rear is the rear is small.
It's again, my 10 and 12-year-old children fit fine.
I wouldn't want to put myself back there.
You're not going to sit behind me.
My wife's not going to sit behind me for a while.
That's like the interesting thing also
at the infotainment system, is that you
said Audi finally got it right.
And then across the hall at Volkswagen,
they're like, "Oh hold my beer.
Let me show you bad," with their system, which
is just all over the place.
So yeah.
Hopefully we stay with this Audi infotainment
system for a while, and they don't get the other one forced
down on them.
Yes, Definitely a plus.
They did take one thing.
They did take one thing from that Volkswagen system.
Is it does have physical climate controls, thankfully.
But for some reason these toggles in the middle row,
they have no backlighting.
There is a little screen above them.
So you can see the numbers, but still, the toggles themselves
have no symbols, nothing.
And there's no lights.
You can see where they are, but you've got to go by feel.
Yeah you'll figure it out, but it's just why?
You set it and forget it.
It's like the Ronco or something.
Hit the auto button, forget.
And you don't touch it ever again,
because you're supposed to be focused on driving.
Yeah the other thing, too, and I think
we'd be remiss in saying it, because I always
try to apply it to my world, is this time of year,
I need all-wheel drive.
You think about that quattro, if you're
looking for a fun sedan for the other nine months of the year,
but you need that quattro.
It's really well done.
Like they've been doing it for a long time.
You think of the Subarus and the Audis
that have had that all-wheel drive
system for a long, long time.
And it's a nice sedan if you need an all-wheel drive
vehicle in the winter months.
That's a great point.
Yeah, it is optional on the A3, too,
so just if you are looking at one keep that in mind.
Most Audis are coming standard with all-wheel drive,
but you've got to make sure you tick that box with the A3.
And there's not wheel slip with this.
I mean, I've been driving our Pathfinder for a week or so,
and just pulling out in traffic, or even on dry-ish pavement,
you can tell it's front-wheel drive
and then it kicks it to the rear when there's slip.
You don't feel a slip with this system.
To my point, I think Audi does quattro very, very well.
I have a styling question for you guys.
This has, again, not rated, but I really
like the black emblem dark car.
I really like black on black on black.
Black wheels, black emblems, dark paint.
We have a navy-blue A3 with that black Audi symbol.
Do you guys like that?
I very much like that.
It works for me.
I'm just definitely not a I'm not
a chrome, overly chrome person.
And people know that I grew up with Corvettes and stuff
like that.
And there is a trend with Corvette
to have like chrome wheels or chrome.
And people chrome their engine.
And ugh.
Too much shiny.
So I'm good with the black optics.
Yeah, I'm into it.
I do wonder, though, if you are springing
for the entry-level Audi, would you
want to black out the badges or keep them more prominent?
But I think visually, it looks pretty nice.
I think it looks nice too, like that understated elegance
type of thing.
Yeah, I really like it.
So anyway, we, of course, will fully evaluating this car
over the next few months.
We'll have all nitty-gritty details coming up,
but that is our first take on the 2022 Audi A3.
So going to your question of the week.
We always enjoy them talkingcars@icloud.com.
Be it written, text, video, we happen
to have a video this week.
From Kyle in Raytown, Missouri.
Kyle, what do you got?
Hey, Talking Cars, I had a question about tire pressure.
I've heard-- I'm not really sure where from, but I've
heard that in the winter when you're driving in the snow
or whatever, that you can lower your tire pressure a pound
or two, and that'll give you better traction.
I feel like that makes sense, but I also
don't know if that's a good idea or not.
So I just wanted to hear your thoughts.
So just, I'm putting on my tire hat for a minute
to answer Kyle.
I don't know about you.
The only thing I could think of where
Kyle may have seen that you would want to reduce inflation
pressure for snow is very similar to what you would do
if you were going through sand.
If you are in deep, soft snow, and you want to stay up on it,
the word they use is flotation, much
like you would want to do if you're going over a beach,
or off-roading in a sandy area.
You would lower inflation pressure
to kind of spread that contact patch out,
so you float up on top.
That is not, Kyle, what people typically want to do. in snow.
What you want to do in snow is kind of dig in,
get to the grippier surface underneath, typically allow--
particularly with winter tires, the edges of the tread
elements to bite.
So digging and biting are mostly what you want to do in snow.
And for that, you should be leaving inflation pressure
right where the vehicle manufacturer put it.
They are designing the mass of that vehicle
around that tire size, optimizing that contact patch,
and you think of lowering inflation pressure,
you're probably sacrificing handling.
You're hurting fuel economy.
If you continue to drive around like that in an area
that isn't nice, soft snow that you're
trying not to dig through to get to the body.
I don't know Alex or John if you had any other thoughts,
but my answer was, Kyle, leave it alone where it should be.
You're spot on.
I mean, lowering the tire pressure, regardless
of your scenario, is going to enlarge that contact patch.
But like you said, that's not advantageous most
of the time on a road where there might be snow,
but underneath is the surface that you truly want
to be grabbing with the tire.
Plus if you did that, you, like to your second point
there about sacrificing other things,
you would theoretically want to re-inflate your tires
after you've gone over whatever challenge you have there.
So that's not really practical.
But something I want to add is that in cold temperatures,
your tire pressure will drop on its own, just due to--
So the rule of thumb is 1 to 2 pounds
or sorry, 1% for every 10 degrees Fahrenheit
that the temperature drops.
One PSI.
One PSI for every 10 degrees.
Yep, so one PSI for every 10 degrees.
So you dropping it only one to two like you
suggest, you might be having a more effect just due
to the ambient temperature alone.
And you'll actually see, and I dug one up today.
I just opened the first owner's manual
that I found my downloads folder on my computer.
And sure enough, if you go in there,
some manufacturers recommend actually
adding a couple of pounds if it's cold enough
outside to compensate for that.
So yeah, just keep that mind and check your tire pressure.
Yeah and and again, Kyle, you may
have heard it if someone was hooting around
in some deeper snow.
But typically, leave it alone.
You know, I think of when we go to Martha's Vineyard,
they have the lower your inflation here
as-- because you can do an over-sand permit.
But they also have air stations for when you come off the beach
to put them back to your point.
So great question, Kyle.
We love everybody's questions.
Keep them coming.
TalkingCars@icloud.com.
And hope you enjoyed the show.
Thanks for listening.
Thanks for watching.
And we'll see you next week.