Audi scores with A3 Saloon

The Audi A3 Saloon is a beautiful looking car

There’s a new four-door model in town and its name is the Audi A3 Saloon.

It’s a gorgeous, elegant looking car, slightly smaller than its A4 saloon counterpart but with a real solid feel to it.

Its cabin shares the same dimensions as that of the Audi A3 Sportback, with good legroom back and front.

Headroom in the back is adequate for anyone under 6ft and the rear comfortably seats two adults.

The A3 Saloon also boasts the same luxurious, yet minimalist, interior with, as you would expect from a saloon, a pretty big boot. A space saver spare wheel comes as standard.

The rear seats can also be lowered to give even more luggage space.

The 1.4 litre 140bhp S-Tronic petrol model I was driving carried the basic spec, so there was no leather interior, cruise control or Sat Nav.

The cabin in the Audi A3 Saloon is minimalist but luxurious

It did, however, have a great multimedia and sound system. Hidden away in the glove compartment, the multimedia unit featured a CD player as well as SD card slots.

The audio via Bluetooth streaming was excellent.

However, it doesn’t really matter what bells and whistles this car comes with because it’s really all about the drive, and this is a car you could drive forever.

I generally prefer manual transmission but the automatic gearbox in the saloon was stunning – with seamless and well timed gear changes.

The USP of this engine is its Cylinder on Demand technology, which automatically switches between four and two cylinders depending on the driving conditions – shutting down two cylinders when the going is easy, and saving on fuel.

While the change is heralded by a slight kick, if you didn’t know about it you’d hardly notice.

Stop and start technology also made this car quite economical for city driving and it was easy to manoeuver when it came to parking, with the optional rear parking sensors a great help.

The boot in the Audi A3 Saloon is spacious

Our route took us on city and winding country roads as well as on the motorway and up the mountains.

I loved every minute behind the wheel.

The car handles really well and has lovely acceleration, being fast at the lights and smooth and swift on the motorway – I did miss cruise control, however.

It was particularly great fun on winding roads and on the open road over the mountains, confidently handling the twists and turns.

What I wasn’t a fan of was the electric parking brake, which I feel doesn’t stay on long enough for you to visually double check that you’ve activated it.

Overall, this car looks elegant and sophisticated and it feels great on the road.

The Audi A3 Saloon is available now, with prices starting from €29,950. Prices for the test car start from €30,880.

Tech Spec
Engine: 1.4TFSI 140 COD
Acceleration: 0-100km/h in 8.4 seconds
Maximum Speed: 217kph
CO2 emissions: 109g/km
Combined fuel economy: 4.7l/100km
Annual road tax: €190

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

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First Look – Audi A3 Saloon