Inside, the A3 puts you in a familiar cabin. The seats are nicely curved and offer good support and ergonomics. There is more room than you would first imagine, even at the rear, with the seat base and back further reclined. For a first luxury sedan, you get the equipment you would expect in any premium car. The pop-up infotainment screen with the Audi Multimedia Interface (MMI) serves a lot of purposes whether it’s your smartphone or music and connectivity. The soft-touch dashboard feels just as good as it would on a sedan much higher up the price range. Everything you would need powered is powered and makes things very easy on the move.
That’s when the fun really begins. The 40 TFSI badge, part of the new naming convention which considers everything from power, size, weight, acceleration, and, since Audi haven’t yet been very specific, tyre size, boot volume, how many bags you have – you name it. Factor all of that in, and the ’40’ number still means one simple thing: it’s going to be quick! Now, let’s talk about the engine and that tunnel. The 1.8-litre turbocharged fuel stratified injection (TFSI) motor packs four cylinders, 16 valves, 180 PS and 250 Nm of torque. More numbers? Peak torque kicks in at 1,250 revs and stays till you see the needle hitting red. The S-Tronic transmission in the petrol uses one more ratio (so that’s seven) to help smooth things out further. This isn’t a quattro, but if you look at the positives, it’s lighter, quicker and sips that much less fuel. Yes, fuel efficiency numbers are coming up, but, first, that tunnel!
The A3 40 TFSI is quick whichever way you look at it, or point it and move your right foot. It dismisses 100 km/h in 8.26 seconds and goes on to 200 km/h with ease. I was lucky to have a tunnel on the way, so it was S-Tronic in ‘Sport’ mode, volume mute and windows down, followed by a jab of my right foot. It may have four pots less than its bigger RS brethren, but it doesn’t disappoint! The 1.8 releases a symphony of sonorous notes which turn up the excitement like you wouldn’t believe. The pitch of the engine note climbs just as sharply as the needle on the left, hitting close to 6,300 RPM before the second clutch gets to work, as I try not to blink, selecting the next cog and continuing the symphony like a conductor in his element on stage.
