Intel Report: The Audi A3 Concept
Mar 10, 2011
by: George Achorn
One need only lay eyes on the Audi A3 concept and the potential for the vehicle quickly becomes readily apparent. This new show car from Audi takes the much-loved size of the B5-generation Audi A4, combines it with the best elements of the company’s modern design language and places it on the intriguing new MQB modular transverse platform architecture. Consider all this
and the fact that there’s a 408-hp in-line 5-cylinder under the hood and we knew we had to learn more.
Below is a brief of all we managed to learn about the new car (concept and production) while at the Geneva Motor Show.
First, It Will Be Produced and Some Thanks Goes to the USA and China
Audi is not one to launch a concept car and not follow it with a production version. This is very much true in the case of the A3 sedan. Thanks to America and China, the A3 sedan is already a done deal and Audi’s design chief Stefan Sielaff tells us it won’t look much different than what you see here.
Word is that Audi of America boss and admitted car enthusiast Johan de Nysschen lobbied Germany hard for a four-door sedan during the earliest considerations of the new A3. It was de Nysschen’s view that the B5 A4’s departure and subsequent growth in size of the A4 over three generations during that decade since has opened up an opportunity for Audi All that being said, de Nysschen and the car’s other proponents had to make a business case and that’s where China came into play. Like Americans, the Chinese prefer sedans and the projected volume of both America and China made the prospect of an A3 sedan a no-brainer.
Of course this is a concept car so there will be some changes in order to make it more viable for production. Sielaff points out that the car (about 300mm shorter in length than the current A4) is 20mm lower than the planned production version and the wheel arches help push it 19mm wider on each side – not much, but just enough to give the concept that little extra something. Other concept car cues include the trick exterior door handles that won’t see production, matrix beam light clusters that will eventually see production though maybe not on the A3, and gorgeous 5-coat Piedmont red paint that’s too costly a process for production.
Obviously more body styles are planned. A Sportback will share the wheelbase of the longer A3 sedan while the 3-door, cabriolet and likely the next-generation TT will share a shorter 2595 mm wheelbase. The first production versions of the A3 family will begin next year in Europe for the 2013 model year and we expect those initial cars to be 3-doors. Also,
if there is an A3L sedan for China (there are A4L and A6L variants there already), such a car would most certainly built in China and for its domestic market only.
And about that Design
Though the A3 Concept would not have been what it is without a team of designers, final exterior design credit goes to Markus Gleitz of the brand’s Ingolstadt design studio. Those keeping score will also note Gleitz is responsible for the A5 Sportback.
Audi brand design boss Stefan Sielaff pointed out in Geneva that the Audi model in this regard is for a designer to follow his work through to the, and not just to the concept’s auto show debut. Sielaff says that, should a car be approved for production as this one has been, the designer will follow the car through to production as well.
In addition to the car’s captivating shape, Sielaff points out that Audi pushed the envelope with the car’s matrix beam exterior light clusters. While many manufacturers are now knocking off the LED light arrays currently found on every Audi, Sielaff expects to see more use of these designs with their solid shapes of light and 3-D effect in production Audis in the future. The A3 Concept offered an excellent opportunity to present such designs.
On the inside, use of the new MQB architecture and most notably an all-new component set did offer some freedoms. With everything in development, designers were able to work with engineers on previous nagging points such as the often large HVAC controls and hardware. In the case of MQB and this concept, Sielaff points out that designers were able to lobby toward a more compact package that gave them much more design freedom. Three simple rotary knobs are all that is needed now for HVAC, at least in concept form.
Such freedom is very evident in the design of the dashboard. The floating dash effect first seen in the A8 and since in the A7 and A6 carries over to the A3. Front and center is a handsome row of aluminum buttons that offer most of the basic necessities while a simple MMI control on the center console handles infotainment including that new NVIDIA Tegra2-based MMI that is displayed in a motorized center-mount hidden display. Finally, controls for the car’s 7-speed S-tronic transmission are simply four buttons for Park, Drive, Neutral and Reverse.
Last, those trick retracting door handles are a concept car only deal. It’s not that Audi couldn’t produce them. Rather, safety requirements in most countries require that there be something by which rescue workers could pry open a door in the event of an accident.
Piedmont Red Not for Audi Exclusive… at Least How It’s Shown Here.
As stated above, the red hue on the A3 Concept is known internally as Piedmont Red. The name comes from the Piedmont region in northern Italy that produces cherries which inspired the color – significant given the car’s springtime reveal. Applying the color, at least as you see it on the concept, is a 5-stage process that is too costly to ever see production. In person the depth of the 5-layer coat is amazing.
The Car You See Here Is Likely Representative of the Next-Generation RS 3
If the A3 concept shown in Geneva is most representative of a future model configuration then that configuration must assuredly be RS 3. Even without the show car power bump, the I-5 2.5T FSI is the most powerful engine Audi has for transverse mounting. This engine does duty with less power in the current TT RS and RS 3 so it’s reasonable to think that it would carry over to the newer and likely lighter car.
What else makes this an RS 3? Certain design elements pointed out by Stefan Sielaff began to clue us in the more we spoke with Audi’s chief designer. First, those round fender arches are subtle but do manage to add 19mm to each side of the car. When Audi eventually does build an RS 3 version of this car with its obvious B5 proportion, we suspect they’ll go with rounded arches B5 RS 4 style rather than the blister fenders we see today. As cool as the blisters are, we think the rounded arches work better on the latest designs from Audi.
Another cue Sielaff mentioned in our video chat and again on the stand were the carbon fiber styling elements. You may have noticed them on the grille, the exterior rearview mirrors and the wheels. Sielaff suggested that future RS cars would make use of more exposed carbon fiber to communicate their lightweight materials within the design of the car itself. No doubt Sielaff and his team are experimenting with these cues now and that this A3 concept is a harbinger of RS cars to come.
All of this seems like a can’t-lose proposition for Audi. Great balance. Plenty of power. Beloved size / footprint. About the only critique we might imagine is that of the all-wheel drive system. The current crown gear quattro system paired with Sport Differential is well viewed as superior to the Haldex system used on transverse cars and, of course, the new A3 will be transverse. Still, the idea of a Sport Differential for a Haldex car is possible and Haldex even uses a similar setup in its XWD product most commonly seen in the Saab 9-3 Turbo X.
Unfortunately, our intel in regards to the Sport Differential could be better and we’re working on that. In the past, a highly placed source at quattro GmbH agreed that it would have been great had the TT RS had something like the Sport Differential. For that car though it was too late in the production cycle to justify a new stamping of the floor pan.
With the new MQB setup, as with the HVAC system, designers and engineers can now plan for such additions. We’re encouraged by this fact but a bit concerned about a short conversation we had with Michael Dick in Geneva. During that very brief chat we asked Mr. Dick if the Sport Differential can be paired with MQB and he said this wasn’t possible.
Admittedly the conversation was short and too short to ask much of a follow-up. There may have also been a language barrier and he may have literally thought we were referencing the specific hardware in the S4 that likely wouldn’t be compatible with MQB. We’re holding out and hoping that some sort of Sport Differential will make it into any future RS 3, S3 or A3 models.
A3 e-tron Concept Bound for China Next Month
The A3 Concept may yet still sit on the show stand in the Geneva Palexpo though Audi AG is already readying a second e-tron version for the Shanghai Motor Show next month that will be revealed alongside the new Q3 crossover. The A3 e-tron Concept will differ slightly from the Geneva car, mainly in its wheel and detail treatment that will be more befitting of an e-tron model.
Unlike the red performance version shown in Switzerland, the A3 e-tron will instead be painted in a platinum gold color and have an overall slightly less aggressive look.
Other than the fact that it’s an e-tron, we don’t have specific details about this second A3’s drivetrain. Audi electromobility czar Frank van Meel explained to us in Geneva that e-tron really encompasses anything that plugs in, which explains the 3.0 TDI e-tron shown last fall in Paris. Given the A3 has a transversely mounted engine, don’t count on the 3.0 TDI of the Spyder Perhaps a setup more like the A1 with its rotary range extender might be more likely. Like you all, we’ll wait to see the final configuration.
A3 Potential for America
So it’s clear that the sedan is made for America. Frankly, the sedan was so well received that we suspect the car might be a surprise success in Europe as well. Even if it’s not, Europe will assuredly get the 3-door, Cabriolet and Sportback derivatives.
So what of America? Will it get these additional models? Our guess is that the US and Canadian business will center around the new sedan and the Sportback that is already sold here. 3-doors aren’t hot sellers in America despite enthusiast calls and unless the Cabriolet goes more traditional with a fixed trunk then we suspect that too will be a miss for North America.
At one point over a year ago, Georg Kacher suggested the A3 Cabriolet would adopt more of a trunk – think two-door version of the sedan with a drop top. Kacher’s story though was long enough ago and early enough in the gestation of the new A3 family to be subject to change. We were able to confirm in Geneva that the Cabriolet will share a shorter wheelbase than the sedan. Only time will tell but to us this suggests the convertible will remain very much as it is today, very similar to the three-door in appearance.
Source:
http://www.fourtitude.com/news/publish/Features/article_6670.shtml
