Top 5 features that make Audi’s A3 range stand out from the competition

By Stuart Johnston 

Audi’s A3 and S3 Quattro range is offered in five-door hatchback, four-door sedan and two-door cabriolet form. It’s a unique mix at this entry end of the premium car market. Here we pick out the A3’s stand-out features.

Audi’s A3 range remains pivotal to the brand’s success in South Africa as it remains the entry-portal to the four-ring nameplate for many budget-conscious buyers. A sampling of this smaller Audi will lead you to the conclusion that, in a market where the buzzwords are “SUVs and Cross Overs”.  sedans and sensibly-sized  hatchbacks still have a lot to offer.

For a review of the Audi A3 sedan, click here.

Here we pick out five aspects of the A3 and S3 Quattro range that make the compact Audi a standout choice.

Top 5 Standout features of the Audi A3 and S3

1. Model range. In its price category, the Audi A3 Sportback, Sedan and Cabriolet comprise the widest choice of model types that are integrated stylistically. The S3 Quattro versions add the performance dimension. Rival BMW offers either the hatchback format in its 1 Series or a coupe and cabriolet in the so called 2 Series, but there is no sedan variant at this level of BMW built on the 1 Series platform. Mercedes-Benz offers the new A Class in hatchback and sedan form, but you have to opt for the larger and more pricey  C-Class if you want a cabriolet.

2. Interior styling and fitment. Audi is still the acknowledged industry leader in interior design and fitment, and this applies equally to the excellently-rendered A3 and S3 models. Audi models manage to keep abreast of technology trends in the interior while integrating them into a harmonious whole that makes them the standout manufacturer in this aspect of car design.

3. Quattro all-wheel-drive. Audi introduced its Quattro all-wheel-drive system to mainstream sedan models back in the 1980s and have been refining their all-wheel-drive systems ever since. The current Quattro systems offer an excellent blend of stability and safety that is still a benchmark in this league of car. BMW ‘s  1 Series rear-wheel-drive performance model equivalents may be more exciting and edgy, but they don’t offer the easy assurance of an Audi S3 fitted with the Quattro system. Mercedes-Benz currently offers all-wheel-drive models in its CLA sedan range, but they are unresolved in terms of refinement, and they are considerably more expensive than the Audi S3 Quattro models.

For a review on the Audi S3, click here.

4. Chassis balance on the less expensive A3 Sedan models. The A3 sedan models are noted for their fine chassis balance, particularly in the entry-level Sedan model, priced at just over R400 000.

5. Bang for your buck. The S3 Quattro models in both Sportback and Sedan form are rated with a 0-100 km/h time of 4,6 seconds. Most test reports  feel that for the money spent, this makes the Audi S3 the performance bargain, when compared to similar performance offerings from BMW and Mercedes.