Product Reviews > Audi A3 (1.8 L, Petrol, SE)

"The most powerful diesel version of this latest A3 is one of Audi's best efforts yet?."

The rehabilitation of diesel just keeps on rolling. If you haven't driven a diesel car in the last few years, be prepared for a shock. Gone are the days of belching fumes, deafening clatter and vibrations so severe you felt you could feel the car disintegrate around you. Take a drive, for example, in the 140bhp 2.0-litre version of Audi's latest A3 TDI and you'll be a diesel convert. Guaranteed. In ...

How quickly things change. The first Audi A3 was hailed as a landmark in small car quality but seven years is a long time in this market and by 2003, things had changed. What was once deemed superior build quality had become rather run of the mill. Audi realised that if they wanted to preserve their pricing differential over the Mk V Volkswagen Golf, something special was required. That something special was the second generation A3 range. As a used buy, a compact car doesn't get much more bu...

How quickly things change. The first Audi A3 was hailed as a landmark in small car quality but seven years is a long time in this market and by 2003, things had changed. What was once deemed superior build quality had become rather run of the mill. Audi realised that if they wanted to preserve their pricing differential over the Mk V Volkswagen Golf, something special was required. That something special was the second generation A3 range. As a used buy, a compact car doesn't get much more bu...

"The A3 3.2 quattro is a car that's defined as much by what it lacks as what it features"

Without wishing to name any names, there are certain car manufacturers that just never seem to have got a handle on whipping up the crucial element of showroom desirability; the indefinable 'X' factor that separates a car that you admire from a car you'd hock yourself to the nines to own. Falling firmly into the latter category is the rather droolsome Audi A3 3.2 quattro, a car that presses all the...

"The S-Line pack does nothing to actually enhance the car's handling or performance but it makes the A3 look meaner from most of the angles that matter"

The criticism has been levelled at Audi's A3 that it isn't sporty enough. To some extent you can see what the snipers are getting at. This may be Audi's entry-level offering but when you get behind the wheel, that big car feel is very much in evidence. Even for drivers of the sportier derivatives in the range, the styling is understated...

"Of the current A3 range perhaps the most fascinating is this 2.0-litre FSI engined version"

The Audi A3 is a car with a lot to answer for. Responsible for popularising the premium hatch market sector, it was instrumental in lending its Volkswagen Group paymasters the notion that brands could be stretched in any specific direction. So it was that the company marketed Skodas that challenged Audis, Volkswagens that looked like Lamborghinis and sporty SEATs that were cheaper than Skodas. A...

How quickly things change. The first Audi A3 was hailed as a landmark in small car quality but seven years is a long time in this market and by 2003, things had changed. What was once deemed superior build quality had become rather run of the mill. Audi realised that if they wanted to preserve their pricing differential over the Mk V Volkswagen Golf, something special was required. That something special was the second generation A3 range. As a used buy, a compact car doesn't get much more bu...