Audi A3 facelift review, test drive

The Audi A3 has just seen a facelift along with a whole host of updates. A first drive in Munich gave us an in-depth look at what’s new.

Published on May 26, 2016 03:13:00 PM

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Behind the wheel

The driving dynamics of the Audi A3 are pretty much unchanged and that’s a very good thing. The A3 is one of the best handling modern Audis and now with that new sporty steering wheel, things feel even better. Granted that the electro-mechanical power steering lacks the feedback of an all-mechanical unit, it still provides precise turn-ins and is very predictable. And even though two of the three cars we drove were front-wheel drive, they provided plenty of driving thrills around some winding roads outside of Munich. Nowhere did the grip feel like it was lacking, even as we encountered rainy weather and wet roads in the second half of the day. The 184hp 2.0-litre TDI that we drove came with Audi’s quattro all-wheel drive system which was grippier than a gecko on the wet roads. Now, we really can’t comment on ride quality at the moment, as we experienced nothing but great tarmac everywhere we drove. But considering that Audi went with the approach of “why fix it, if it ain’t broke?” in the suspension department, we figure that the new A3’s ability to handle Indian roads should be just as impressive as the current car.

Features galore

Audi has gone a long way in integrating a whole bunch of driver-assist features from its larger cars into the A3. The cars we drove featured Active Lane Assist and Pre Sense Front, which included predictive pedestrian protection to improve safety. A new feature for this segment included Traffic Jam Assist, which working in conjunction with the Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) and the Stop&Go feature can automatically maintain a safe distance from the vehicle in front and in sluggish traffic up to 65kph can even take over steering on smooth roads.

This system can safely bring the car to a stop if the driver takes to action even after the system has provided warnings. There’s also a Cross Traffic Assist rear system which warns the driver about traffic when backing out of a perpendicular parking space. In Europe, the company also offers the Audi Connect system where an LTE-enabled SIM card can be installed in the car when purchasing it, which not only allows the A3 to function as a Wi-Fi hotspot, but also integrate features such as Google Earth, Google Street View and real time traffic information into the on-board MMI system.

India scenes?

Now, while all the changes by themselves might not seem like a big deal, when put together, make this new A3 an even more attractive proposition than ever before. Granted that we might not get all the engine options and all the high-tech optional features in India, it still represents a big improvement. This facelift goes on sale in Germany in July 2016, and we’ve been told that it should land here before the end of 2016. As for how much it would cost, no exact figures have been quoted yet, but it’d be safe to expect that you’ll need to shell out a bit of a premium over the current car. Worth it? seems like it…