Audi A3 (2008-) Review

Overview

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The second generation of Audi's A3 hatchback has been around since 2003 and, with a new version not due until 2010, the Ingolstadt-based carmaker has decided to refresh the car to try to maintain sales for the last few years of its life.

So the designers and engineers have been busy. The boys and girls in the turtlenecks have subtly modified the car's exterior: they've added a new bonnet with more lines in an attempt to sharpen up the area around the front grille; incorporated pedestrian safety elements to a new front bumper; designed a new tailgate and bumper at the rear; and redesigned the headlights and tail-lights, with LED strips available as an option.

They haven't left the inside alone, either: there's chrome trim on the air vents and the steering wheel; new control switches and trims; and new white-on-black letters and numbers with red needles on the dials.

Under the bonnet, the seven-engine line-up has been overhauled, with each unit being improved in terms of power and efficiency. The transmission line-up also gets boosted by the addition of a seven-speed dual-clutch S tronic 'box on some models.

Elsewhere, the A3 now comes with the option of the magnetic ride-adaptive damping previously used on the TT and R8 and, where fitted, the quattro four-wheel-drive system has been refined to respond faster in a bid to keep the car stable.

All this good stuff, however, comes at a price. True, Audi isn't asking for much more than it did with the pre-facelift version, but it's hard to forget that this is pitched as a premium product when you look at the price list, which starts at just a fiver shy of £15,000 and goes up to £22,295 for the 2.0-litre TFSI with quattro.