Engine and transmission
The Audi A3 is available in India with a choice of two engines – a 2.0 liter TDI diesel and 1.8 liter TFSI turbo petrol. As mentioned earlier, we drove only the diesel variant for this review. The 1968cc, 4 cylinder DOHC turbo diesel unit did duty earlier on the bigger A4. While 143 bhp of power (between 3500-4000 rpm) may not sound too much fun, the 340 Nm of torque, available between 1750 – 3000 rpm makes this two liter power-plant a worthy occupant of the A3’s engine bay. To put things in perspective, those power and torque figures are slightly better than the BMW 1-series and substantially better than Mercedes A-Class’s 108 bhp – the two entry level offerings from the other two German brands.
In terms of performance, those power and torque numbers translate into a 0-100 km/h sprint time of about 8 seconds, which is quite good. Top speed is upwards of 200 km/h. Put together, those figures are more than adequate to help you travel interstate very swiftly. An ARAI certified fuel efficiency of 20 kmpl is class leading, and a fuel tank capacity of 50 liters should deliver a fairly good range too.
The engine is mated to a six speed dual clutch S-Tronic transmission, which is as good as it gets when it comes to automatic shifters. Extremely clever with its shift points and super quick, the S-Tronic doesn’t leave you any space for complaints. We didn’t have manual pedal shifters on our test car though, which we have been told are available with the petrol motor. The petrol engined A3 is mated with a 7 Speed S-Tronic tranny unlike the 6 speed unit on the diesel version.
You can toggle between Drive and Sport modes by flicking the sexily styled, leather wrapped spherical ‘S-Tronic’ drive selector downwards. Flicking the stick to the left would put you in manual mode.
Behind the wheel, even with the wide, well laid out and absolutely deserted expressway ahead of us the A3 had enough spunk to keep us engaged and delighted. The torquey mill has a good mid-range punch, and once the engine speed climbs upwards of 2000 rpm acceleration is brisk and reassuring. There is a wee bit of turbo lag, but with the proficient S-Tronic taking care of affairs, there really isn’t anything for you to bother about. The 2.0 liter TDI unit, in conjunction with the 6 speed dual clutch gearbox makes the A3 a fairly strong, fuel efficient and practical car, which would suit the requirements of the entry level premium brand customer in India to the tee.
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