Thank goodness! I didn't think Ballymena could possibly have such a mega dealership. No worries. I was a touch too heavy I have to admit so sorry as well from my side.
It appears that all these press cars are running on standard suspension instead of either the sports or magnetic ride. Will be interesting to hear how they made the car feel, ride and handle.
IMO if one decides on purchasing a new A3 you should tick the Magnetic Ride suspension on the options list
It's their new showroom, I believe they said the build is approximately 30000ft2 with additional parking on the roof. It's one of premier showrooms in the UK. Here's a link to an image of the showroom. http://www.patton.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Audi-Campbell-Eng-DSC_66371-690x300.jpg
Why isnt the car in Sweden yet? DO I really need to wait until the end of August before I can drive one.
EVO review The all-new, third generation Audi A3, driven in 178bhp 1.8-litre TFSI trim. It replaces both the old 158bhp 1.8 and 197bhp 2.0, and until 2013’s new S3, it’s the most powerful A3 you can buy. It costs from £24,410, though the A3 range starts at just over £19K. Review: http://www.evo.co.uk/carreviews/evocarreviews/283417/2012_audi_a3_18_tfsi_review.html
Looks great but I happened to test drive a latest current model facelifted A3 a while ago, it was the base 1.4 model so I won't talk about speed, but the feel, steering/brakes aren't nice. didn't like the gearbox either, felt like it would need a new one in a few year's time by the sound of it. Don't get me wrong, we were about to buy that one as we were choosing a second hand car, and this particular A3 was still under manufacturer warranty, but no at the end went for a E90 instead. Got to admit, on the looks side, the A3 wins, even E87 vs the current A3, the A3 doesn't have that somehow cheap look of the 1series. And this repeats with the new generation as well, you can tell the 1series wants to shout "i am a low end model" while the A3 tries its best to hide that it is a low end model. And I have always thought the reason behind this is to protect sales of the 3series. Don't like the bubbly wobbly A-class sorry, disasterous design imo.
This is what gets me about magazines and dealerships, one says no 2.0L and the other says it will be available by the end of the year. Who do you believe because at times both are full of shit.
The A3 is the cash ISA of the premium compact class: an undeniably sound product with no nasty surprises up its sleeve, guaranteed to carry on giving for as long as it’s yours. And it will undoubtedly be a better car with which to live than drive. Unlike too many previous Audis it doesn’t throw its arms up in horror at the first sight of a UK road, it just calmly knuckles down to the task and is pretty capable as a result. But you need to know it is also as unadventurous to drive as it is to look at. To all those who made the old A3 such a mammoth sales success these last nine years, that’s the news they’ve been waiting to hear. Others, myself among them, would have been happier still were it a touch more ambitious. This is a safe car, not a bold one. Testdrive on UK roads with Autocar: http://www.autocar.co.uk/car-review/audi/a3/first-drives/first-drive-review-audi-a3-20-tdi-sport
The previous version was super popular despite the way it drove so Audi are stuck with a dilemma, what if that's part of the appeal? The enthusiastic driver wants sporty not ordinary so until the S3 and RS3 arrives I ain't to concerned.
We live in times, when majority of customers want all-round cars. There the market is. And therefore more comfy brands (like MB, Lexus, Audi) are going sportier. But not too much, although the engineers would want to. While sportier brands like BMW, Porsche, Jaguar etc are becoming more comfy, some scarifying more some less of their sportiness for sportiness & sharpness. And it's not the trend in premium segment only. Also in economy segment such trend can be seen. That's why eg VW & opel are becoming sportier, Ford & Seat more comfy & refined etc. Yep, the majority of customers has gone vanilla. And there's nothing carmakers can do about it. They have to cater the customer's needs if they want to sell cars well. I remember extremely well the A5 &, X6 & F01 7er xDrive cases: where engineers wanted to make sharper DSC etc setting, but the marketing dictated the more refined & easy-to-drive settings since the majority of customers preferred so. In X6 & 7er xDrive case the press was also driven in pre-production FEP prototypes where all the settings were evidently more aggressive than the the ones in production cars later. That's it. The majority of customers - especially when your customer pool is wider - want easy-driving comfy cars with sporty note. Not some demanding race machines. Therefore we are getting more & more vanilla ... in different (artificial) shades of yellow, and in different sorts of vanilla flavors (Madagascar vanilla, Bourbon vanilla, French vanilla etc). Some rum or brandy is added only when it comes to sporty versions (like RS, M, AMG etc).
Am I the ony one who doesn't think that power is everything? I would prefer my car to have better feeling than more horsepower. After all, I don't need 250hp, but I do need it to corner better. I'm having the fun of my life with a car that has only 78hp, which is because it has very nice and communicative steering, an alive engine and fun handling. There are people who like straights, and then, there are those who like corners. As a driver who prefers taking corners than reaching 200km/h on a dead straight, I don't care that much about power. But a very soft set-up, uncommunicative and light steering, numb controls (pedals, gear lever, etc) are a major let-down, unless I am looking for a car to get me from A to B. An all-arounder, at least for me, has to make you smile when you want to. If find it more logical to have two cars if you are a demanding driver and that's what I do. A turbocharged Volvo for relaxed cruising with enough overtaking power, and an old french hatchback. It's all I need, and trust me, the lift off oversteer of the mark I Clio, is very entertaining. And it doesn't need more power for that.
