In Udaipur we had the option of driving the diesel car that gets the very familiar 2.0 Tdi under that stout bonnet. Don’t be deceived by the 35 Tdi badge on the boot, though. This is Audi’s new nomenclature system making its début with the A3. The 35 indicates the car’s dynamic quotient, which is arrived at after some complex calculations, including acceleration. The petrol car, therefore, wears a 40 TFSi badge instead of the more familiar 1.8 TFSi. But I digress. As I mentioned, it’s the same 143-PS and 320-Nm 2.0 Tdi pulling the 1,315 kilograms of the A3. Transmission to the front wheels is done via Audi’s S Tronic gearbox, albeit a six-speed one.
The oil burning unit is smooth and refined with hardly any noise at tick-over. Stamp on the throttle and it actually has a slightly gruff sporty note to it. Not exactly an aural delight, but pleasing nevertheless. On the go, the Audi’s powertrain is a willing partner that matches the driver’s sporty intentions. On the open Rajasthan highway from Udaipur city to Mount Abu, enthusiastic throttle inputs got the needle on the easy to read speedo up to just over 190 km/h before we erred on the side of caution and got back down to sensible speeds. The gearbox is quick and keeps pace with the engine’s torque and power that are unleashed when you increase the pressure of your right foot. What was missed, though, was the absence of paddle-shifters that may have pleased the enthusiast in us a bit more. But, honestly speaking, it’s not a big enough detractor from the fun you can have with the A3. At the same time, with the max torque being developed at a low 1,750 RPM and then staying with you till you’re on the other side of 3,000 RPM means there’s enough grunt and more in the low- and mid-range for crawling around the city without ruining fuel efficiency too much.
