# A3 Sedan deliveries begin



## Travis Grundke (May 26, 1999)

Dealers in Germany are beginning to receive their cars:

http://www.motor-talk.de/bilder/der...59075848/a3-limousine-schwarz-i206212332.html


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## Dan Halen (May 16, 2002)

Right on time.


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## MaX PL (Apr 10, 2006)

when do S3 sedan deliveries begin?


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## Dan Halen (May 16, 2002)

Februaryish, I believe.


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## Cyncris (Aug 12, 2012)

I like the wheel design on that car too.
I will be sooo glad when this wait is over.


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## Pat_McGroin (Oct 17, 2010)

Is this the base model? Me no likey so far, maybe it's the color :/


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## Dan Halen (May 16, 2002)

http://cc.audi.at/nwapp/nws/LIST/AU...&STATE=fb_Motor;fb_AUV;v_pic1;id_A20130112120

It's a 1.4TFSI Attraction with the seven-speed Stronic. I can't remember if Ambition is lower than Attraction or not.

I'd consider it to be a fairly base car either way.


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## BrutusA3 (Jul 10, 2013)

Reminds me a lot of the earlier smaller A4's. Looks good so far, damn it man need to see this thing. Looking to see about a possible trip to Detroit auto show to check it out maybe, as long as I can sit in and explore.

B.


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## mike3141 (Feb 16, 1999)

Attraction = base
Ambition = sporty
Ambiente = luxury


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## p.r.walker (May 31, 2000)

I am currently in Switzerland for business, and saw an A3 sedan with dealer stickers driving thru town. I was able to follow them to the dealership for some in person appreciation. It was the first one on the lot, but they also had 2 S3 Sportbacks, and a new RS6 (drool) This might be heresy, but as much as I love the sportback, I'm afraid that the sporty slope of the rear window eats up too much of the usable space that a wagon / hatch should have. Look at the C & D pillars of a 8P A3 versus an MQB, the window in the MQB is tiny. As I was looking at the rest of the line up, all the wagons looked great, but lost TONS of usable space to the slope of the rear window. I guess I'm just used to the real world utility of my boxy B5 Passat wagon, but I digress....

Now, having seen the A3 sedan in person, pictures do not do this car justice. It looks stunning. Too bad my mediocre French tipped the sales people I was not a real buyer, just a tourist kicking tires. As an current/original owner of a B5 A4, the new A3 looks to be just the right size. 

Cannot wait to get these stateside, but I'm holding out for an S3 sedan.


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## Dan Halen (May 16, 2002)

p.r.walker, i.r.jealous.

... gonna be keeping this day job for a while. 

How was the interior? Did it feel as "premium" as we've been told to expect? I assume it was a fairly base car you saw, so no pano roof or leather or any such niceties?


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## p.r.walker (May 31, 2000)

Afternoon Dan- i did not see the sticker to know which level it was. The one I saw did not have the panoramic roof, but everything looked and felt very nice. I was impressed, but I'm probably biased. I'll try and get back in the next few days for some more impressions.


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## Waterfan (Aug 9, 2012)

p.r.walker said:


> Afternoon Dan- i did not see the sticker to know which level it was. The one I saw did not have the panoramic roof, but everything looked and felt very nice. I was impressed, but I'm probably biased. I'll try and get back in the next few days for some more impressions.


opcorn:


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## Cajetan (Feb 1, 2012)

Worried that if I see some US pricing on the S3 soon, I will continue biking to work for the next year.


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## Dan Halen (May 16, 2002)

I wish I could do that and assure myself I can do without a car.


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## LWNY (Jul 30, 2008)

p.r.walker said:


> I am currently in Switzerland for business, and saw an A3 sedan with dealer stickers driving thru town. I was able to follow them to the dealership for some in person appreciation. It was the first one on the lot, but they also had 2 S3 Sportbacks, and a new RS6 (drool) This might be heresy, but as much as I love the sportback, I'm afraid that the sporty slope of the rear window eats up too much of the usable space that a wagon / hatch should have. Look at the C & D pillars of a 8P A3 versus an MQB, the window in the MQB is tiny. As I was looking at the rest of the line up, all the wagons looked great, but lost TONS of usable space to the slope of the rear window. I guess I'm just used to the real world utility of my boxy B5 Passat wagon, but I digress....


I noticed that when they first came out with the sportback, where they tried to make the 3rd window smaller, probably to not make the rear overhang look so long. They also went away from the audi signature roofline kink that was in many of their cars, including the A5, to the curved look. Anyway, Audi never tried to make their hatch based vehicles look like an econobox with a slab butt. It always had a slope. I am not sure if anyone ever try to pack the rear of these cars so much that the window glass gets in the way, but these aren't one of these all purpose utility vehicles.


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## p.r.walker (May 31, 2000)

*A3 sedan - first impression.*

To not thread-jack, I'll start a new topic on the usability of the sportback.

Back on topic- I was able to get back to the dealership and spend a few more minutes with the A3 sedan. Evidently the first demo cars of the A3 sedan & S3 sportback showed up just two days ago, so good timing on my part. 

The car I saw was a 1.4l "Ambition" - sportier than base, but not an "S-Line". Sticker price was 47,000 Swiss francs, or $51,500 USD, not that it has much correlation to the eventual cost in the US. I was able to get inside for a few minutes and look around. Again, my overall impression was that I was sitting in a smaller A6. It did not have leather seats, but was still the "sport" design seen in most photos, just with very nice fabric materials. The leather wrapped steering wheel was soft, and rich. Dash and other secondary materials were very nice. The interior A3 felt very close to that of an A6, not identical, but definitely more "premium" than the other cars in its class and price range. Dan- I'm not sure if this answers your "premium" question, but I was impressed. 

I am 6'2" and I set the front seat to a comfortable position, then moved to the back seat. My knees were nowhere near touching the front seat, and it did feel like I had a little more room than my B5 A4. I did have to move the front seat down to not have my hair rubbing the headliner. The last person in the car must have been much shorter. My only concern would become the "mandatory" panoramic roof on US spec cars and how much headroom they might take away. Personally I would LOVE the option to delete the roof. 

I was not able to drive the car, but the salesperson was kind enough to give me a Swiss-French sales brochure, 96 pages of glossy A3 info and images. I'm sure the American line-up will be very different, and only AoA knows what the Premium / Premium Plus / Prestige tiers will mean to our buying options, but ill try to get some camera phone snaps hosted of the Swiss brochure for you all to enjoy. I'll warn you, photos of the A3 look good, but it is much more striking in person. 

Now is the painful wait for the A3 (and S3) to come stateside.


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## Dan Halen (May 16, 2002)

Thanks for the detailed impressions!


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## caliatenza (Dec 10, 2006)

thanks for the writeup . Man i just wish Audi could get them here sooner!


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## Travis Grundke (May 26, 1999)

A few examples of cars at dealerships in Germany now, to give an idea of specification, some great photos and pricing (in Euros). 

http://www.autoscout24.de/Details.a...xtcidm=7626a000132660||386325#financingAnchor

In this case it's a pretty well loaded 2.0TDI model that comes in at E43.690, including 20% VAT. Strip out the VAT and you're at E34.952.

If you tried to do a direct currency conversion you'd end up at a tick over $47,000 USD. Obviously the vehicles are priced and packaged to the market, not based upon a direct currency swap considering that a $47,000 A3 TDI would never sell in the US today.


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## Dan Halen (May 16, 2002)

The hood is poorly aligned with the fender in the seventh photo, and it doesn't look to be because the hood is open.

Also worth mentioning, I believe the sunroof shade is the same mesh material found in the Jetta Sportwagen, based on a video I saw yesterday.


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## mike3141 (Feb 16, 1999)

Don't they also include the road tax in the cost? Over here it's part of the gasoline tax.


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## caliatenza (Dec 10, 2006)

is the interior dash material all soft touch, squishy-type plastic? Or is it hard plastic? I really cant tell from any of the pictures.


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## Chimera (Jul 6, 2002)

Is this Glacier White or some pearl color? Also, photo 7 does not have the alignment issue mentioned above fwiw: http://www.autoscout24.de/Details.aspx?id=238021969&fromRecommendation=true


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## chiphead (May 12, 2011)

Looking at those prices, I guess we don't have it so bad. I remember when visiting turkey, driving a 5 series meant you had status. Here, they're a dime a dozen.


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## Travis Grundke (May 26, 1999)

caliatenza said:


> is the interior dash material all soft touch, squishy-type plastic? Or is it hard plastic? I really cant tell from any of the pictures.


IIRC, yes, soft-touch galore. Audi really pushed to improve the cockpit materials and haptics on the controls to give it a premium feel similar to the A6.


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## Travis Grundke (May 26, 1999)

chiphead said:


> Looking at those prices, I guess we don't have it so bad. I remember when visiting turkey, driving a 5 series meant you had status. Here, they're a dime a dozen.


Yeah, we're incredibly lucky in the US when it comes to car prices. We're even lucky when it comes to configurations as compared to some parts of the EU: The UK does not have the option of an A4+6MT+Quattro and nobody outside of the US gets an S4+6MT configuration.


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## Dan Halen (May 16, 2002)

Chimera said:


> Is this Glacier White or some pearl color? Also, photo 7 does not have the alignment issue mentioned above fwiw: http://www.autoscout24.de/Details.aspx?id=238021969&fromRecommendation=true


Excellent.


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## caliatenza (Dec 10, 2006)

Travis Grundke said:


> IIRC, yes, soft-touch galore. Audi really pushed to improve the cockpit materials and haptics on the controls to give it a premium feel similar to the A6.


thank god! Cause i sat in the CLA the other day and it was a mass of hard plastic, like the dash was honda or toyota type hard plastic :thumbdown: .


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## Travis Grundke (May 26, 1999)

caliatenza said:


> thank god! Cause i sat in the CLA the other day and it was a mass of hard plastic, like the dash was honda or toyota type hard plastic :thumbdown: .


I'm going to go take a look at the CLA in the next week or so as our local Merc dealers have finally started to receive them. In particular I'm interested to see how that goofy stick-on looking LCD really appears on the dash.

Local Merc ads are running lease specials on the CLA for $329/month with ~$3,600 down for 36 mos. That's for 833 miles per month on a Package One w/o Navigation.


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## Dan Halen (May 16, 2002)

I saw the first television ad for the CLA last night. They pitched the sub $30,000 price, and I proceeded to lecture the TV about the flaw in that logic. My wife was amused.


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## tagsvags (Nov 25, 2005)

LOL saw it also. Gave me a chuckle. $29,*** or what ever.


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## BrutusA3 (Jul 10, 2013)

shhhh +$925. don't tell anyone.:sly:

Build one you can get about $35K for decently equipped, but easily you can push over $40K very fast. No AWD option as of yet.


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## caliatenza (Dec 10, 2006)

Travis Grundke said:


> I'm going to go take a look at the CLA in the next week or so as our local Merc dealers have finally started to receive them. In particular I'm interested to see how that goofy stick-on looking LCD really appears on the dash.
> 
> Local Merc ads are running lease specials on the CLA for $329/month with ~$3,600 down for 36 mos. That's for 833 miles per month on a Package One w/o Navigation.


the stick on LCD actually looks fine, that wasnt my concern. My concern was with the standard non leather interior (MB-Tex). The seats are fine, but the dash and other materials are a see of hard plastic...like the sort of plastic you would find in a lower end honda or toyota. You would have to spend $1500 for leather seats and an MB-Tex covered dash. Also the standard "anthracite" dash trim is just some polished plastic that is very similar to whats in our family's Odessey van. The flip up doors covering the cubbies as well as the cupholders looked like rental car stuff...in short, i was very disappointed with the interior . 



Dan Halen said:


> I saw the first television ad for the CLA last night. They pitched the sub $30,000 price, and I proceeded to lecture the TV about the flaw in that logic. My wife was amused.


Yeah the car i sat in had a $40k MSRP...most of the cars showing up on the lots are $35k plus...


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## Dan Halen (May 16, 2002)

caliatenza said:


> Yeah the car i sat in had a $40k MSRP...most of the cars showing up on the lots are $35k plus...


The $30,965 car will be an absolute unicorn. Nobody wants that thing.

Loss-leader MB loss-leader Honda. It's just not in the nature of the MB buyer. I expect that Mercedes knows this, though. They expect to sell as many of those as I expect them to build.


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## Travis Grundke (May 26, 1999)

Dan Halen said:


> The $30,965 car will be an absolute unicorn. Nobody wants that thing.
> 
> Loss-leader MB loss-leader Honda. It's just not in the nature of the MB buyer. I expect that Mercedes knows this, though. They expect to sell as many of those as I expect them to build.


Which makes me wonder how Audi is trying to squeeze the 1.8TFSI FWD models into the price range. I really find it hard to believe that it's worth the certification hassle and stocking/logistics costs just to be able to set the starting price at $28-29k. Unless they really are going to push the base A3 price down to $28k in 1.8T guise and start the 2.0T Quattro at $32-33k with the S3 starting at $39 it seems like a small spread for so much overlap and packaging.


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## Dan Halen (May 16, 2002)

I like to think we were onto something with our recent speculation re: a base 1.8T car.


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## kevlartoronto (Jun 10, 2012)

Travis Grundke said:


> Yeah, we're incredibly lucky in the US when it comes to car prices. We're even lucky when it comes to configurations as compared to some parts of the EU: The UK does not have the option of an A4+6MT+Quattro and nobody outside of the US gets an S4+6MT configuration.


you know they are going to kill the manual completely. a real shame. no a4/s4, a3/s3 with a manual. also, the 1.8 will be completely useless option in this car given the overlap with vw products. audi would be smarter to bring the quattro option with the diesel. bmw is only bringing the 328d in the xdrive in canada. funny how you can buy a 4 wheel drive diesel merc and bmw but not in the audi.


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## v6er (Dec 18, 2000)

Just saw the CLA in person at my local MB dealership. Do not like it at all. Rear headroom is not good. I'm 5'8 and my head was hitting the side of the sloping roof line. Do not like the glossy black plastic or the fake carbon fiber used on the dash giving the interior a cheaper feel. And the stick on LCD looks very cheap. 

I did like the C300 much better that was parked beside the CLA.


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## caliatenza (Dec 10, 2006)

v6er said:


> Just saw the CLA in person at my local MB dealership. Do not like it at all. Rear headroom is not good. I'm 5'8 and my head was hitting the side of the sloping roof line. Do not like the glossy black plastic or the fake carbon fiber used on the dash giving the interior a cheaper feel. And the stick on LCD looks very cheap.
> 
> I did like the C300 much better that was parked beside the CLA.


yeah the fake carbon fiber is just swirly plastic (MB calls it "Anthracite"). Wood and aluminium trims are available though. Yeah the headroom was another thing, i am 6 ft and my head was grazing the headliner in the driver's seat.


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## MaX PL (Apr 10, 2006)

the cla has gotten a poor reception based on a bunch of comments all over the web.

i saw the car in person and it looks nice from the outside, but as the comments point out, its pretty bad on the inside. and that inside is what has drawn me away from the cla and to the S3.

cant wait for the S3.


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## MaX PL (Apr 10, 2006)

what do you guys think is the chance that euro delivery will be available for the S3 in july/august next year?

i'm starting to base my choice on the euro delivery option as i want that drive at the ring to be one of my first experiences with the car.

new m3/m4 should be available for ED by that time so theyve become a consideration just for that reason.


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## caliatenza (Dec 10, 2006)

MaX PL said:


> the cla has gotten a poor reception based on a bunch of comments all over the web.
> 
> i saw the car in person and it looks nice from the outside, but as the comments point out, its pretty bad on the inside. and that inside is what has drawn me away from the cla and to the S3.
> 
> cant wait for the S3.


to really have a plush CLA, you gotta upgrade to the leather trim, and even then its still a vinyl dash..with the still downmarket looking cupholders and cubby doors. I am really psyched for the A3/S3 but i fear the S3 could get really expensive in a hurry .


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## McDsvw (Oct 21, 2012)

First off, sorry if this has been covered already.. I don't get on here every day so I don't get the chance to read every thread. I'm very interested in the S3 when arrives here in the US. My question is will there be aTDI Quattro? I cirrently have a 2.0T and this engine has been great. And I know the S3 package will be a sweet car to own/drive. But for some reason I can't stop thinking about a TDI.. but I would really prefer it paired with the Quatteo. Any insight?? Thanks fellas!!


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## MaX PL (Apr 10, 2006)

S3 TDI? No

A3 TDI? I think its coming but not 100% sure.


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## McDsvw (Oct 21, 2012)

MaX PL said:


> S3 TDI? No
> 
> A3 TDI? I think its coming but not 100% sure.


I know there will not be an S3 TDI. I'm asking if the A3 TDI will come with Quattro. 

Right now I'm really digging the S3. All that power sounds fun. But the torque from a diesel would be a lot of fun too.


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## Travis Grundke (May 26, 1999)

McDsvw said:


> My question is will there be aTDI Quattro? I cirrently have a 2.0T and this engine has been great. And I know the S3 package will be a sweet car to own/drive. But for some reason I can't stop thinking about a TDI.. but I would really prefer it paired with the Quatteo. Any insight?? Thanks fellas!!


A3 TDI front wheel drive has been confirmed. No quattro. You'll likely have to wait for the B9 A4 to come with TDI for that. Likely 1.5-2 years from now.


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## McDsvw (Oct 21, 2012)

Travis Grundke said:


> A3 TDI front wheel drive has been confirmed. No quattro. You'll likely have to wait for the B9 A4 to come with TDI for that. Likely 1.5-2 years from now.


Thanks for the input! Something to think about. But damn these new A3/S3's look good!


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## Rudy_H (Jul 6, 2012)

McDsvw said:


> First off, sorry if this has been covered already.. I don't get on here every day so I don't get the chance to read every thread. I'm very interested in the S3 when arrives here in the US. My question is will there be aTDI Quattro? I cirrently have a 2.0T and this engine has been great. And I know the S3 package will be a sweet car to own/drive. But for some reason I can't stop thinking about a TDI.. but I would really prefer it paired with the Quatteo. Any insight?? Thanks fellas!!


Well we aren't 100% on packages...

but there is a good chance that the A3 TDI will get the S-Line package (S3 appearance and interior treatment) - no Quattro


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## Dan Halen (May 16, 2002)

Rudy_H said:


> Well we aren't 100% on packages...
> 
> but there is a good chance that the A3 TDI will get the S-Line package (S3 appearance and interior treatment) - no Quattro


Weeeeeell... sort of. I expect that we'll probably see packaging similar to the other S-line and S cars in the US, namely the S4. In that regard, I'd expect that you'll get the "super sport" seats as standard in the S3, and not available in the S-line, even as an option. 

I imagine it'll be something along the lines of the seats on page 37 for the base car (though without the fancy bi-color option), the seats on page 39 for the S-line (but all leather), and the seats on page 41 for the S3 (but with the appropriate embossing). http://www.m25audi.co.uk/pdfs/A3-Saloon-Brochure.pdf

The base and S-line seats will likely be nearly identical for the US market, save for S-line embossing. I'd be a bit let down if they add the park bench touch to the base seat for the US market, though that decision won't impact me in the least.

The above is all a big guess based on current packaging of the A4/S4 for the US market. Maybe they'll prove me wrong since this car really represents multiple step-change improvements in economy over the prior A3 and, in some ways, over other current Audi models. If I'm proven wrong, I sure hope it's in the positive direction (e.g., super sport seats being available in the S-line) rather than the negative direction (e.g., super sport seats being excluded from our cars altogether).


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## McDsvw (Oct 21, 2012)

Travis Grundke said:


> A3 TDI front wheel drive has been confirmed. No quattro. You'll likely have to wait for the B9 A4 to come with TDI for that. Likely 1.5-2 years from now.


So I'm guessing the car in the tv commercial with the lady pumping diesel into her car, must be an A6?? The badge they show on trunk says TDI Quattro.


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## Travis Grundke (May 26, 1999)

McDsvw said:


> So I'm guessing the car in the tv commercial with the lady pumping diesel into her car, must be an A6?? The badge they show on trunk says TDI Quattro.


Yes, I think it is if memory serves me right. Audi has spent this year really pushing TDI in most of its marketing.


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