Photo: Audi
The thing about engines is some premium car buyers just don't know what they have. Even we are caught by surprise sometimes, as is the case with this 1.4-liter, 116 horsepower version of the 2017 A3 facelift we just discovered.
There's nothing about it in the press release, of course. But we found such an underpowered thing in the A3 Cabriolet configurator a couple of days ago. Like the Vikings in the 13th Warrior, we let the fog of yesterday's alcohol clear before deciding what's real or not.
And it is. The output is officially stated at 116 PS (85 kW) and 200 Nm of torque, which is exactly the same as the 1.0 TFSI. We presume that Audi had to replace the 1.2-liter engine from before with something new, but didn't want to test the 1-liter because A3 Cabrio sales volumes are very low.
So here is the tradeoff: Instead of 150 PS, you get 116. The 0 to 100 km/h sprint time goes from 8.9 to 10.6 seconds. Oddly, the less powerful version is a lot less economical, as it falls one efficiency class and produces about 10 more grams of CO2. But most of that is due to the lack of Cylinder on Demand technology, which can turn the powerful 1.4 into a two-cylinder under light loads.
The upside is that you "only" have to pay €30,950 instead of €32,700. And you can even get it as an automatic if you want. The thought of buying a 1.4-liter turbo engine with so little power is revolting. But so is the A3 Cabriolet.
In the past year, Volkswagen Group and a few other automakers have begun using much larger engines, creating uniform displacement. For example, the A-, B-, CLA and GLA 200 d all use the 2.2-liter turbodiesel now, just like the 220 d. The current Tiguan, Beetle and Golf Cabrio all employ a de-tuned 2.0 TDI that has even less power than the 1.6 TDI. Volvo and BMW do it as well, but to a lesser extent.
And it is. The output is officially stated at 116 PS (85 kW) and 200 Nm of torque, which is exactly the same as the 1.0 TFSI. We presume that Audi had to replace the 1.2-liter engine from before with something new, but didn't want to test the 1-liter because A3 Cabrio sales volumes are very low.
So here is the tradeoff: Instead of 150 PS, you get 116. The 0 to 100 km/h sprint time goes from 8.9 to 10.6 seconds. Oddly, the less powerful version is a lot less economical, as it falls one efficiency class and produces about 10 more grams of CO2. But most of that is due to the lack of Cylinder on Demand technology, which can turn the powerful 1.4 into a two-cylinder under light loads.
The upside is that you "only" have to pay €30,950 instead of €32,700. And you can even get it as an automatic if you want. The thought of buying a 1.4-liter turbo engine with so little power is revolting. But so is the A3 Cabriolet.
In the past year, Volkswagen Group and a few other automakers have begun using much larger engines, creating uniform displacement. For example, the A-, B-, CLA and GLA 200 d all use the 2.2-liter turbodiesel now, just like the 220 d. The current Tiguan, Beetle and Golf Cabrio all employ a de-tuned 2.0 TDI that has even less power than the 1.6 TDI. Volvo and BMW do it as well, but to a lesser extent.
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