Practical sophistication in Audi A3 Sportback

The Audi A3 Sportback is available from €28,500

Sleek styling and a refined drive combine to make sure the new Audi A3 Sportback doesn’t let the side down when it comes to premium luxury.

An elegant looking five-door hatch, the Audi A3 Sportback is a pleasure to drive.

Our test car was the 2.0litre 150hp manual model and we made the most of every minute we had with it.

As you’d expect from Audi, the build in this car is solid, resulting in a really quiet cabin.

Inside, this five seater could be best described as sparse yet luxurious. The steering wheel position is high and the really comfortable cloth/leather driving seat sits low.

The cockpit of the Audi A3 Sportback is anything but cluttered

The Sportback is slightly longer than the three-door Audi A3 so leg room was great in the back as well as in the front, and the boot, which houses a space saver spare wheel, was deceptively large. The rear seats can also be lowered to make it even bigger.

Audi has gone for a minimalist look in the Audi A3 Sportback – the chrome surround circular air vents are perhaps the only stand out design in the cabin.

Don’t be fooled though, this is a high tech car, with a pop-up infotainment screen operated via an easy to use control panel located just behind the gear stick.

I loved driving this car. We took it intercity from Dublin to Limerick so we spent a lot of time on the motorway, but we also put it through its paces on country roads and in the city.

The diesel test car handled well on all routes and was great fun to drive.

Gear changes in this six speed manual Audi A3 Sportback were smooth, steep hills proved no problem to it, acceleration was great and it was very fast at the lights.

The boot in the Audi A3 Sportback is much larger than it looks

I also liked that cruise control was automatically on each time you started the engine.

The test car was also fitted with speed limiter, auto lights/wipers, Bluetooth, stop start technology and dual control air conditioning.

While I’m generally not a fan of electric parking brakes, the one in the Audi A3 Sportback didn’t bother me too much. I do think the light indicating that the parking brake has been engaged could stay on for longer though.

Overall, I found the Audi A3 Sportback to be a luxurious, classy looking car that was practical, smooth on the road and fun to drive.

The Audi A3 Sportback is available now, with prices starting from €28,500. The mid-level SE model I was driving costs from €31,460.

Tech Spec
Engine: 2.0TDI 150hp diesel
Acceleration: 0-100km/h in 8.7seconds
Top Speed: 216kph
Fuel Economy: 4.2l/100km
CO2 emissions: 108g/km
Annual road tax: €190

Visit the Audi Ireland website or its Facebook page for further details.

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