Photo: Audi
It's a case of out with the old and in with a copy of another car for Audi. The German company has just launched the online configurator for the A3 family with a facelift that strongly resembles the A4.
We've already talked about how copying the A4 headlights onto its smaller brother is strange, especially in the case of the hatchback. So let's just focus on the configurator, which has changed for the A3 3-door, A3 Sportback, A3 Sedan, and A3 Cabrio.
Several other models are listed and described in detail, including the four S3 body styles and the e-tron. But you can't order any of those yet. Nor can you ask for the RS3 with the new face or the 400 horsepower engine that will undoubtedly be part of the "performance model" upgrade.
The one major difference between last year's models and the new ones is that you can order different body "lines," just like on rival models from Mercedes and BMW. There's the standard A3, A3 Sport, and A3 Design, plus a revised version of the S line exterior package.
When Audi revealed the A3 facelift, it promised weight savings had been made by using aluminum. However, we checked a 3-door model with several versions of the 1.6 or 2.0 TDI engines, and they were 5 kg heavier or about the same as before. We thus believe that only some A3 versions will benefit from the new construction.
Only a handful of engines will be available at launch, starting with the 150 hp 1.4 TFSI and followed by the 1.6 TDI with 110 hp or the 2.0 TDI with 150 PS. All have S tronic gearbox options, but quattro is rare.
Prices are about the same as before, but there appear to be more options and colors. You can spend €2,600 on LED headlights with dynamic signals and tinted taillights or go wild with a Vegas Yellow paintjob. Inside, you can order a steering wheel that has absolutely no buttons and the €650 Virtual Cockpit dashboard... but not together, that would be impossible.
Have a play online and see how close you can get the configurator to €50,000.
Several other models are listed and described in detail, including the four S3 body styles and the e-tron. But you can't order any of those yet. Nor can you ask for the RS3 with the new face or the 400 horsepower engine that will undoubtedly be part of the "performance model" upgrade.
The one major difference between last year's models and the new ones is that you can order different body "lines," just like on rival models from Mercedes and BMW. There's the standard A3, A3 Sport, and A3 Design, plus a revised version of the S line exterior package.
When Audi revealed the A3 facelift, it promised weight savings had been made by using aluminum. However, we checked a 3-door model with several versions of the 1.6 or 2.0 TDI engines, and they were 5 kg heavier or about the same as before. We thus believe that only some A3 versions will benefit from the new construction.
Only a handful of engines will be available at launch, starting with the 150 hp 1.4 TFSI and followed by the 1.6 TDI with 110 hp or the 2.0 TDI with 150 PS. All have S tronic gearbox options, but quattro is rare.
Prices are about the same as before, but there appear to be more options and colors. You can spend €2,600 on LED headlights with dynamic signals and tinted taillights or go wild with a Vegas Yellow paintjob. Inside, you can order a steering wheel that has absolutely no buttons and the €650 Virtual Cockpit dashboard... but not together, that would be impossible.
Have a play online and see how close you can get the configurator to €50,000.
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