2015 Audi A3 Sedan First Drive

Edmunds.com

2015 Audi A3 Sedan First Drive

Edmunds drives the 2015 Audi A3 sedan, Audi's answer to the Mercedes CLA.

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agentorange

So Audi have reinvented the previous A4 and called it the A3. The previous A4 was frequently panned for being small, because so many in the US don't understand that small cars are... small. Remind me again why Audi are selling this car here?

rwatson

It will drive the cost of the A4 up a few grand. That's good news for Audi. If I were 10 or 15 years younger, I'd be really interested in this car. But then again I wouldn't touch it for the U.S.'s (no wonder there) lack of manual transmission.

cbrandi_

And why should anyone care about a new Audi A3, yet another boring car, shaped like a bar of soap, no style, no appeal. Same boring engines too. The MB CLA is handsome and exciting. This car is just one more in a long line of boring cars. Black interiors are for cheap cars, easy to hide the flaws. Audi is the German Buick, pretentious, aspires to be something its not, sporting and up market.

duck87

The Audi A3 is definitely facing some tough competitors in the CLA (and AMG variant), but the winner to me is still the BMW 135i. Turbocharged inline 6, RWD, 6 speed manual transmission. It's dated, looks a bit... derp... and unfortunately BMW did not bring over the M135i hatchback (the only car I'd even consider buying new right now), but it's the best enthusiast vehicle of the group.

frank908

If you're really, really in love with the idea of what this car offers, but not quite on board with how it's offered here in the U.S. then I have a bit of advice for you, wait for the 2014 GTI. It's exactly the same car underneath; you can get a manual transmission, and the added benefit of a hatchback with the smoke-and-mirrors Audi price premium attached to it. Plus, although I love the simplicity of the Audi dashboard, which, ironically, I think will hurt the average-customer sales of the A3, I do think the GTI/Golf have an equally or better looking interior as well.

frank908

*withOUT the smoke-and-mirrors

patinthecity

"A3's Canadian designer Dany Garand" LOL. Did it really matter where the designer was from, it's not like he had much input for a design language that was already clearly defined and utterly over utilized.

moorewr

Audi has decided that American customers don't need & wont get the Sportback or manual transmission on any trim level.

For me that hobbles what could be a trick small sedan. The current A4 is too big for my taste and hos gotten quite expensive.. if the S3 arrives her at a good pricepoint, but for the transmission I'd be a prospective buyer.

aston_dbs

After the CLA, this car has become irrelevant (and looks boring too)

Also, can that little size difference with the A4 truly affect its performance? I'd doubt it.

jederino

Great looking compact sedan, and an appealing alternative to the Buick Verano

smudge12

Looks like a slightly-sportier Jetta. I really want to like Audi, but their styling department is so depressingly boring. If BMW, Mercedes, and even Volvo can pull off stylish-but-classy, there's no reason Audi can't spice it up a bit as well.

vtx1

Great, so when is it coming to the US?

darthbimmer

The sedan's styling is very conservative. I like it better than the goofy-looking hatchback or whatever they call it, but it's really a mistake in the opposite direction-- it's too safe instead of too different. I think the base engine is also a mistake. Ultimately the reason I decided against an A3 when I comparison shopped it 16 months ago was that it didn't offer enough for the price. It wasn't sporty enough compared to other entry luxury cars, and it was more expensive than premium non-luxury cars without being any more luxurious.

sotolux

I am wondering if there is some engineering way forward to return modern cars to having large, copious greenhouses, rather than the little slits that comprise glass in most cars, the A3 included. I do like the "Corvair crease" high in the body line. I am impressed that the pictures did NOT include a silver car, a color I'm completely sick of seeing. It would be nice, like Fiat is doing to start including some colors that have more resonance and fashion-sense to them.

iwant12

Any interior color besides black? The wife is looking for a new ride, this may be on the small side considering she cruises with her German Shepard often.

ne1butu2

I do love audis. I have a B6 S4 Cab that is a great summer weekend car, and I will probably never sell. I've been hoping to park an Audi sedan next to it. But I cannot get excited about the current crop of Audi sedans. The A8, A6, A4 and now the A3 look like the same generic design. The S7 is nice, but the price puts it into a category that makes available a whole exciting segment of non-audi choices.

AptSolecist

Methinks, the 'S' division is scrambling like an army of chicken-littles in response to the CLA45. They need to be in the same ballpark performance-wise (despite being cheaper) or they are going to go the way of Honda. There should be room to bridge that gap if Audi is motivated because MBs are way overpriced anyway.

ks55

I had a 98 A4 2.8 Quattro 5spd and a 2001 Audi TT Coupe Quattro 1.8T 5spd....... I liked them both ,but the TT more so. I wouldnt mind this but as another commented .....if you want hard(er) core wait for the '14 GTI ( I may).......although there are some who dont want a hatch no matter what, and no matter how good the performance. There seems to be quite a bit competition from Auid /VW themselves .....Jetta, A4, Passat, CC....and the Merc CLA 250 which is great looking ....and a new FWD BMW 1 series is right around the corner. Seems like some will need to like this car quite a bit to pull the purchase trigger.

jeffinoh

93 photos. 93 photos of a new Audi styled to look exactly like every other Audi sedan. Which is of course a parts bin scramble of every other car in the Audi VW group. At least the old Sportback was unique.

wdrauch

I loved my 5-door A3. Note Audi, that I'm making the point that it was a 5-door that I loved. I was really looking forward to the MQB A3, hoping they would keep all the interior quality goodness, update the infotainment options, and drastically improve the ride and handling. However, since you made the decision to thumb your nose at current A3 owners by only bringing the MQB A3 in 4-door sedan form, I have moved on to another brand ..... very disappointing since I saw the 3-door Sportback in Geneva 2012 and loved it.

rickibobbi

kind of a chevy cruze variant frankly. Not awful styling, but nothing to write home about, the rs5 however, that's another can of spam altogether.

rickibobbi

kind of a chevy cruze variant frankly. Not awful styling, but nothing to write home about, the rs5 however, that's another can of spam altogether.

rwatson

Anybody suggesting the GTI as an alternative, I'd like to remind you the GTI (as well as all U.S.-bound Golfs) will be made in the Mexico plant. I fear that will mean the end of the Golf's quality interior materials and overall build quality, just like the Jetta. VW's new strategy is feed the U.S. market trash, while maintaining the good reputation in Europe. I'd consider the A3.

DIMNJ

It looks hot. While the exterior is quite reserved, compared to a CLA, the interior looks superior, IMHO. I like the pop-up 7" screen that looks far better than CLA's "glued on" tablet. Moreover, Audi's MMI is FAR more intuitive and usable than MB's COMAND interface. The choice of engines seems quite good, too. Go, TDI!
Hopefully its interior(back seat) is not going to be too tight for Americans though.
Unfortunately, I had to get into a new lease now and took an A4 just a couple of weeks ago, so this little brother will have to wait for me for another 3 years.:)