Hello everyone and today I'm going to give you a review of my 2006 Audi A3
So the sportback was introduced in 2004 which is a whole year after the hatch.
Now, I must say that I much more prefer the looks of a 5 door.
While the front styling is identical, the rear has been designed to keep up with
the rest of Audi's lineup at the time. And the distinct tail light shape also appears
in A4, A6 Avant and Q7.
Anyways, with our very predictable Irish weather, on to the business.
This A3 is equipped with a 2-litre turbo diesel engine, pushing out 140hp and 320 NM of torque.
Four pot diesels are by far not the best sounding engines
but you simply can't beat all the low end torque, which comes in very handy
when towing or overtaking. Not mentioning their brilliant mileage- mine does about 40-45 mpg
in town, and achieves mid-50s on motorway. A little detail- the bonnet has a gas strut,
which makes opening it effortless. And I think more manufacturers should start implementing this.
Two litres come standard with a six-speed manual gearbox-
Extremely useful when cruising at motorway speeds, barely topping 2000 rpm
when doing 70 mph. Low rpms contribute to lower engine wear and better fuel consumption.
So these gearboxes, along with the 2.0 litre TDi engine are a truly bulletproof combination.
High mileage is not a bother to them. Mine has done over 190,000 miles and is still going strong.
Now, Volkswagen's diesels are renowned for their durability and looks like this one's not an exception.
Exterior colour is known as Brilliant Red and it gives the A3 a sporty
feel and makes it stand out when the roads are mostly dominated by boring shades of silver.
Although, there is a major drawback, that a right few red cars suffer from- peeling
clear coat, especially on the front bumper.
This, of course, heavily affects the aesthetics
of the car and I will be repairing it soon.
This car is equipped with Xenon headlights
and headlight washers, rather than usual halogen units. These provide a great visibility when
driving at night, although I do wish they were bi-xenon rather than single-beam.
Moving on to the interior.
This A3 was ordered in SE trim, which sits above the
base level but lacks a few bits and bobs that S-line offers. One thing I miss
from my previous car is leather seats, which do not only look better but are also much
easier to look after and are more resistible to spills and stains- something cloth seats
do not manage well. These ones are not electrically adjustable so things are done the good old
fashioned way. The basic SE package is topped with a few extras- the comfort and light and
rain packs which add dual-zone climate control, cruise control- which I find extremely useful
when cruising on motorways, also, auto-dimming rearview mirror which is awesome when you
have and idiot driving behind you with aftermarket HIDs, or simply high-beams. And you also have
your automatic headlights and rain-sensing wipers- more on that later. So, as you can
see, this car is equipped quite well for a family hatchback.
All four windows are automatic as well. The indicators are one-touch which is common nowadays
but it wasn't something that every car manufacturer was offering ten years ago.
The rear seats do offer a reasonable amount of legroom for a hatchback, although if your
driver is a little taller, it may get quite cramped. Round the back, the boot offers quite
a decent amount of space. Of course, it is by no means an estate but if you need that
extra cargo space, the rear seats fold down nicely and allow you to carry a washing machine,
or use it as a bed during a road trip.
It... It was alright,
Anyways, let's get to the front.
The seating position feels relatively low, almost sports-car-like, largely due to
a tall centre console. The interior is laid out very well, I mean, look at that cupholder!
To me it is one of the best pieces of the interior. It's the nice little things like that,
that make you fall in love with the car. All the controls are within a reach,
nice and clear, no cluttered buttons or knobs. The climate control is straightforward to
operate, everything's good with the exception of the handbrake. Funnily enough, it's positioned
on the opposite side of the centre console from the driver. I believe it's an overlook
of the German design- a country that drives on right. As well as that, the handbrake
cannot be fully applied unless it catches on the armrest and pushes it upwards. Maybe
it's a safety measure against the handbrake turns- after all it is one of the last Audi
vehicles to feature a mechanical handbrake lever
prior to being replaced by electronic units.
So, less chatting, more doing. Let's get her on the road.
So one of the things I love about driving
this A3 is that it has the Servotronic power assisted steering which is speed-sensitive.
Now, which means that when you're driving at low speeds, it's quite light, effortless
and whenever you gradually build up the speed it becomes heavier and it allows you to feel
the road much better. Also, this nice big leather steering wheel gives the car a
premium sort of feel.
So, as mentioned earlier, this car is equipped
with automatic wipers and headlights. Now, the headlights do a great job at coming in
when required, when the evening approaches, or, for example, when you enter a tunnel.
The wipers though, they are much more temperamental- sometimes they do work, sometimes they don't
come on as required and sometimes they just go full bananas even when the rain is really light
Now, flicking through the four sensitivity settings does sometimes solve the issue, sometimes
it's only temporary. Now in my opinion it a system that is yet to be perfected.
It is little nice touch though, if the wipers are set to automatic and if you begin reversing,
the rear wiper comes on just to make reversing nice and clear.
I think it's really nice, in my opinion.
The suspension in this A3, it is quite firm but if you're going over some
ramps, over some bumps or if the road is simply like a lunar surface it does a great job at
filtering these out. Now, speaking of filtering, this car does a remarkable job at noise isolation
for its class. It's not perfect, you can hear some tyre noise but as I was saying, for example,
if you compare it to my dad's Mazda 3 or my old Peugeot 307 which are in the same class-
A family hatchback, this A3 does a brilliant job at filtering out the noise,
Which makes the ride nice and comfortable.
So, this car does a really good job in narrow country roads.
It weighs 1380kg and it sticks to the road quite well, and yeah, as mentioned the engine
produces 140hp, now, it may not seem like a lot on the paper but it does a really good
job not only when launching but when accelerating as well and it sometimes even spins the wheels
in third gear.
So if you're looking for a nice car that's
easy on fuel, has decent capacity and a nice set of equipment, and most importantly- is
durable and reliable, Audi A3 checks off every single one of these boxes. To me, it may not
be the flashiest car on the road, it may not be the quickest or the most impressive, but
over the half a year of ownership I grew to love this car to bits.
I look after it and it never failed me.