# Audi Exclusive Imola Yellow A3 Sedan Spotted in Ingolstadt



## [email protected] (Apr 9, 2004)

If it wasn't painfully obvious already that the new A3 sedan is set to fill the void left by the B5 A4, we're thinking this Imola Yellow early production version spotted in Ingolstadt this morning hammers the point home with authority. These shots were taken by on of Audi Deutschland's social media team and thanks to them we can share them with our readers.

We believe from the photos that the color of the car is Imola Yellow. While now out of production on current Audi offerings, this vibrant yellow hue was one of the most popular colors sold on the original B5 S4 and continued on through the B6, B7 and early B8 eras before being retired ahead of the B8 facelift. As you can assume, the color made its rounds but it never was quite so embraced as it was during the B5 era.

Fast forward to today and you find this car sitting in all its gold and gleaming glory at the Audi Forum Ingolstadt. The shots look to be taken just outside of building A50, a great place for those in-the-know Audiphiles to spot new or unique cars as this is the space where Audi's board often park their latest toys. We can see from the shots that this A3 is parked next to a current generation RS 6.


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## Dan Halen (May 16, 2002)

Hmm... not sure I'm really feeling it in yellow.

... have 'em do Samoa Orange next.


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## djdub (Dec 30, 2001)

Light years better than samoa orange. If I can get one in this or Nagano blue, I won't miss the sportback as much.


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## cooperrf (Mar 27, 2013)

That looks really excellent. I expect to end up with either imola yellow or solar orange. Plus matching seat belts.


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## Dan Halen (May 16, 2002)

Funny... I was just thinking about that this weekend. Samoa would be fitting for an S car, but it wouldn't justify an RS car- and I feel the inverse is true for Solar Orange. Thus, if the RS3 comes here and I manage to rationalize that over the S3, I'd have to go with Solar Orange, probably.


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## djdub (Dec 30, 2001)

Now this orange is [email protected]$$. (Solar Orange) Samoa Orange is okay but it reminds too much of an impala or something gangsta. lolz. I think it's the metallic that makes it that way for me. Here's to bright colors and not 8 shades of gray. :beer:


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## Dan Halen (May 16, 2002)

Check out Papaya Orange as well, though Google searches for it and for Solar Orange often return results containing both, so...


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## Boosted 01 R (Feb 10, 2013)

Yellow looks good......... for some reason that orange doesn't look good as what I have seen..... I though the copper metallic orange color is Samoa Orange ?


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## Dan Halen (May 16, 2002)

Boosted 01 R said:


> Yellow looks good......... for some reason that orange doesn't look good as what I have seen..... I though the copper metallic orange color is Samoa Orange ?


It is. What's above is supposed to represent Solar Orange. There's also Glut Orange and Papaya Orange, though some of them may no longer be available.


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## Boosted 01 R (Feb 10, 2013)

ah ok....... not feeling that peachy orange..... I personally would get the copper orange with some Gunmetal BBS LM wheels......


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## JGreen76 (Aug 25, 2012)

I agree with the papaya from the mk1 TT.


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## MaX PL (Apr 10, 2006)

mmmm, i want either the yellow or orange.

i cant imagine going with any other color, well possibly whatever awesome blue they offer.


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## jsausley (Dec 2, 2011)

Dear Audi,

Give me a manual RS3 with a 5-cylinder and Imola Yellow and I will give you my soul.

Thanks,
- Me


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## HalvieCuw (Mar 20, 2003)

djdub said:


> Light years better than samoa orange. If I can get one in this or *Nagano blue*, I won't miss the sportback as much.


How much do the exclusive paint options cost? Had the same idea


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## Dan Halen (May 16, 2002)

The sales person I keep up with at the local dealership said it's $3,900 for MY14... but don't get too excited yet. 

He says Audi has shut down the Exclusive program for anything south of (I believe) an A6. He thinks this may be temporary but isn't sure when it will be lifted. He's hearing that is related to volume issues in the factory network, so it's not necessarily a result of buyers not opting to use it if he's got the whole story. 

I've pretty much written off being able to order custom paint on my S3. At this point, I'm just hoping the grey options they give us aren't totally schatty. They have some nice greys available, they just don't seem to offer them standard on the main products. I shudder to think that my best option may be Misano Red, but that seems to be looking like a reality if they take the cue from the S4 swatches. 

Maybe they'll prove him wrong and bring it back for the A3. He seems to think that, even if they do, it will be a delayed intro availability. That said, even on the cars for which you can still spec Exclusive paint, the book of options for other Exclusive treatments has apparently dwindled.


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## Midlife Crisis 2 (Aug 30, 2006)

I bought a TT roadster in April 2008. I ponied up $2,500 at the time for the Imola Yellow special paint.
To me, it was worth every penny ... really an exclusive car. Lots of positive comments.


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## Travis Grundke (May 26, 1999)

Dan Halen said:


> The sales person I keep up with at the local dealership said it's $3,900 for MY14... but don't get too excited yet.
> 
> He says Audi has shut down the Exclusive program for anything south of (I believe) an A6. He thinks this may be temporary but isn't sure when it will be lifted. He's hearing that is related to volume issues in the factory network, so it's not necessarily a result of buyers not opting to use it if he's got the whole story.


Dan,

There's been a long discussion about this over at Audizine for a while now. Apparently the Exclusive program was reinstated a few days ago. I believe the new rate is $3,900 and up, applies to A4s and up, and adds an additional delay for order. IIRC it was 6 weeks.


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## Dan Halen (May 16, 2002)

Travis Grundke said:


> Dan,
> 
> There's been a long discussion about this over at Audizine for a while now. Apparently the Exclusive program was reinstated a few days ago. I believe the new rate is $3,900 and up, applies to A4s and up, and adds an additional delay for order. IIRC it was 6 weeks.


Good news for A4 and up buyers, I guess. They were probably reinstating it while I was wasting his time on the lot. LOL


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## HalvieCuw (Mar 20, 2003)

Travis Grundke said:


> Dan,
> 
> There's been a long discussion about this over at Audizine for a while now. Apparently the Exclusive program was reinstated a few days ago. I believe the new rate is $3,900 and up, applies to *A4*s and up, and adds an additional delay for order. IIRC it was 6 weeks.


A4 would rank over the S3 I take it?


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## Travis Grundke (May 26, 1999)

HalvieCuw said:


> A4 would rank over the S3 I take it?


Well, the bigger issue is capabilities at the factory. Considering Gyor's assembly and paint line is brand new and the initial volume fairly high I would bet they will limit exclusive colors for the time being. $2,500 for a custom color was pretty steep before, $3,900 now is really getting into stupid money: 10% of the price of the car! 

Of course, Sepang blue is so gorgeous I may have to temporarily go stupid and order it.


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## Dan Halen (May 16, 2002)

Travis Grundke said:


> Well, the bigger issue is capabilities at the factory. Considering Gyor's assembly and paint line is brand new and the initial volume fairly high I would bet they will limit exclusive colors for the time being. $2,500 for a custom color was pretty steep before, $3,900 now is really getting into stupid money: 10% of the price of the car!
> 
> Of course, Sepang blue is so gorgeous I may have to temporarily go stupid and order it.


... so you're accepting the S-tronic-only spec now, Travis? 

The more that $3,900 figure swims in my head, the more I think it's just too much. As you alluded, it's also unlikely that Exclusive will be available at the start of production. Those two factors have me hoping Audi brings it home with a really sharp grey (think Oolong) on the S3, or some other fairly bold color. I don't want a red car- never have, probably never will- but if Misano Red is my only option, grr...

I just haven't warmed up to any of the blues on this car, but I'm going to start looking around the lot a couple times a month now to ensure I see every possible Audi color in person so I can be ready when the list of colors is available for the S3.


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## Travis Grundke (May 26, 1999)

Dan Halen said:


> ... so you're accepting the S-tronic-only spec now, Travis?


Good one, Dan. 

Assuming the A3/S3 is s-tronic only I think the better option, for me at least, is either a CPO'd S4 or an A4 + sport + 6MT configuration.

As much as I want to like s-tronic I just cannot shake the feeling that I will ultimately be disappointed with the compromise.


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## jrwamp (Mar 25, 2011)

Dan Halen said:


> ... so you're accepting the S-tronic-only spec now, Travis?
> 
> The more that $3,900 figure swims in my head, the more I think it's just too much. As you alluded, it's also unlikely that Exclusive will be available at the start of production. Those two factors have me hoping Audi brings it home with a really sharp grey (think Oolong) on the S3, or some other fairly bold color. I don't want a red car- never have, probably never will- but if Misano Red is my only option, grr...
> 
> I just haven't warmed up to any of the blues on this car, but I'm going to start looking around the lot a couple times a month now to ensure I see every possible Audi color in person so I can be ready when the list of colors is available for the S3.


If it is in fact $3,900 AND is a delayed intro I may be with you on skipping the exclusive paint option. But ultimately like you said, it just depends on what they give us as standard. 

The more I think about it the more I'm leaning toward it making sense they won't allow Exclusive for the A3/S3. The vast majority of A3 customers I could see just being happy getting behind the wheel of an Audi and getting into the brand. Not to mention, with an A3 starting around $29K possibly, would someone in that position really pony up $3900 for paint? S3 customers obviously would be more likely to go the Exclusive route, 1. because they're more likely enthusiasts, and 2. the paint option is a smaller % of the price of the car. The problem is that it probably wouldn't make sense to only allow it to the S3 subset of cars rolling off that plant's assembly line.


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## ChrisFu (Jun 9, 2012)

Travis Grundke said:


> As much as I want to like s-tronic I just cannot shake the feeling that I will ultimately be disappointed with the compromise.


I already made that decision and am not disappointed at all


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## MaX PL (Apr 10, 2006)

so is that imola yellow in the OP considered exclusive? $3900 is a steep price but may be worth it for that color.


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## Dan Halen (May 16, 2002)

MaX PL said:


> so is that imola yellow in the OP considered exclusive? $3900 is a steep price but may be worth it for that color.


If I were a betting man, I'd say it will be Exclusive. I don't know that there's a single car currently in Audi's lineup available in Imola Yellow in the US. I don't think it's even a current factory color, really. In my few times playing with the Exclusive configuration tool on the German Audi website, it hasn't even been available in the swatch book.


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## Dan Halen (May 16, 2002)

To add to that, consider the following...

You cannot currently spec an S3 sedan at www.audi.de, so I've looked into the S3 sportback for this exercise. That vehicle is available in:
-Amalfi White (figure this is close to Ibis White), 
-Brilliant Red, 
-Brilliant Black,
-Beluga Brown Metallic, 
-Ice Silver Metallic, 
-Glacier White Metallic, 
-Monsoon Grey Metallic, 
-Misano Red Pearl, 
-Phantom Black Pearl,
-Estoril Blue Crystal, or 
-Panther Black Crystal. 

From there, you're in Exclusive territory.

Now let's look at the German S4 and the US S4 for comparison's sake.

In Germany, you're getting your S4 in one of the following:
-Ibis White, 
-Brilliant Black, 
-Ice Silver Metallic, 
-Glacier White Metallic, 
-Moonlight Blue Metallic, 
-Monsoon Grey Metallic, 
-Volcano Red Metallic (guess that's the stand-in for Brilliant Red), 
-Lava Grey Pearl, 
-Misano Red Pearl, 
-Phantom Black Pearl, or
-Estoril Blue Crystal.

Back home in the US, your S4 can be any of the German colors except Lava Grey.

There's probably solid merit in the guess that the A3 will come in Brilliant Red and the S3 will come in Misano Red. The range of greys and silvers will probably be available across the range, and I imagine we'll see some of the deeper blues mentioned above. In Germany, the metallic and pearl paints command one upcharge, and the crystals command another. In the US, upcharges for them on the S4 are $475 and $1,075, respectively. I'm hopeful that they'll bring some bold options for the S3 under the upcharge categories, but I'm not counting on much at this point.

I do hope to see Beluga Brown carry over from the S3 sportback, but I'm even less than confident in that possibility.

Edit: What about the Brits? What can they get on their S3? Currently, the only configurable S3 for their market is the two-door... but guess what? The swatch book is identical to the German S3 sportback paint chip set. Barring any real developments as the launch draws nearer, I'd say we may be looking at our list of colors above. Maybe MY15 color changes will impact that a bit since we'll be seeing MY15 cars at launch. Here's hoping...?


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## ChrisFu (Jun 9, 2012)

Dan Halen said:


> You cannot currently spec an S3 sedan at www.audi.de, so I've looked into the S3 sportback for this exercise.


A3 sedan is configurable on Audi France. It was up and working on audi.de for a while until they updated to the new site design, now its totally broken and un-navigable.

http://configurator.audi.fr/entry?mandant=accx-fr&vc=a3limo&&next=model-page


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## Dan Halen (May 16, 2002)

ChrisFu said:


> A3 sedan is configurable on Audi France. It was up and working on audi.de for a while until they updated to the new site design, now its totally broken and un-navigable.
> 
> http://configurator.audi.fr/entry?mandant=accx-fr&vc=a3limo&&next=model-page


Right- but I'm looking specifically for the S3 sedan.

I went ahead and built a top-spec A3 ("Luxury Ambition") on their site. They get a couple more colors- Scuba Blue, Dakota and Lotus Grey, Shiraz Red, and Daytona Grey. They don't get the option of Estoril Blue.


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