A3/S3/RS3 [Official] 2021 Audi A3 Sedan Debuts With Fresh Design, New Technology

[klier]

Proportions are best in class no doubt.

But these small FWD German sedans all are disgusting. You're way better off with something Korean or Japanese in this class, unless you like throwing away money.

And slightly off topic, but is that E-Tron a modded Taycan?

 

[Levi68]

Very good looking, very Lexus design. I like the WRX style widebody. And quite nice proportions for a FWD. Longitudinal V4 and RWD/AWD would make it the fun compact sedan the E46 was.

Interior is bad though, but it is not like there is any good interior todays car market anymore. Maybe Porsche and some Jaguars, which are Tesla simple but quite well executed.

 

[Deleted member 1071]

...And slightly off topic, but is that E-Tron a modded Taycan?...

Save the body (aside from the windscreen insert in the A-pillars which is identical to that of the Taycan) and interior, all that lies underneath is pretty much "Taycan" (both based on Porsches' J1 BEV platform). Exterior dimensions are said to be nearly identical as well, with variations a matter of very few millimeters. Hopefully, we'll see the undisguised production eTron GT by the end of the year as originally planned.I've seldom more eagerly awaited an automobile presentation.

 

[Mr. Mercedes]

Love the exterior apart from the stupidly oversized dogtooth headlights. It's a stylistic refresh of what was already a perfectly proportioned FWD architecture. It's lovely. Makes the A4 appear to be even more of a dud.

Audi interiors, once an industry benchmark in style and build, just don't do anything for me anymore. This is just an ugly overly sci-fi, cold mess.

 

[G-Wag]

Not bad at all, but I still think the CLA/A sedan are still the best looking small cars in...

The A Sedan rearlights look very generic.

 

[G-Wag]

No dilemma for me. One is based on a platform with more than 7 mln units per year, t...

So less chance for electric faults?

 

[CrunchSlaughtered]

So less chance for electric faults?

Bigger R&D budget, better economy of scale. Of course any big mistake costs more in such a situation.

 

[martinbo]

Entire lower half of dashboard and centre console are hard plastic - no soft touch, high-quality all over the show any longer.

 

[CrunchSlaughtered]

Entire lower half of dashboard and centre console are hard plastic - no soft touch, high-quality...

The plastic coated to look like aluminum is a good example of this. Once incidentally I dropped the bottle with the car perfume and it poured all over the dash. The result was devastating. All the coating pilled off (the car was BMW E91). So I think that it's a good idea the warn the drivers to not disinfect the surfaces of their dashboards (the ones with coated plastic) with any kind of spirit.

 

[martinbo]

The plastic coated to look like aluminum is a good example of this. Once incidentall...

I'm not referring to the coated surfaces though - these are never soft touch - I'm talking specifically of the dashboard and centre console moldings. These used to be soft touch, now no longer.

 

[Centurion]

Audi interiors, once an industry benchmark in style and build, just don't do anything for me anymore. This is just an ugly overly sci-fi, cold mess.

The driver air vents and trapezius shaped infotainment surround that extends to the headlight switchgear are unharmonious. It will be interesting to feel whether the huge and raised transmission tunnel is hard or soft plastic.

But these small FWD German sedans all are disgusting. You're way better off with something Korean or Japanese in this class, unless you like throwing away money.

This segment does not appeal much to me. These cars are more expensive than their hatchback counterparts, have cramped rear headroom and small boot opening.

 

[martinbo]

It will be interesting to feel whether the huge and raised transmission tunnel is hard or soft

Barring the armrest, the entire centre console is clearly all hard plastic.

 

[Centurion]

Barring the armrest, the entire centre console is clearly all hard plastic.

Audi, VW, Skoda and Seat sometimes have an unexpected or even confusing amount of hard or soft plastics.

The cabin of the VW T-Roc for while the Skoda Karoq is delightfully premium inside with lots of soft-touch material. A few other Skodas have less soft-touch materials in the cabin than equivalent VWs and Audis.

 

[Rolf]

I do feel the new gen compact VWAG products appear less premium inside than the previous models. The Golf 8 and this new A3 have more hard brittle feel plastic on the center consoles and their air vents appear to look less harmonious and cheaper. I much prefer the previous models turbine chrome surround airvents than the plastic Lambo copy ones on the new car. This model interior goes more for a techy look than premium quality look like that in the previous model.

On the other hand, I really like the exterior of this A3 sedan, its a very handsome compact saloon

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[NarutoRamen]

How does this car's dimension fare compared to the previous version? Have they grown in size or the same? Looks a bit bigger, no? Looks almost like the size of my A4 from the 90s (B4).

 

[CrunchSlaughtered]

How does this car's dimension fare compared to the previous version? Have they grown in size...

Should be almost the same. It's an evolution of the same platform and as far as I remember the wheelbase is the same.

 

[Deleted member 1071]

The exterior dimensions are very close to those of the B5 Audi A4.

 

[Centurion]

The exterior dimensions are very close to those of the B5 Audi A4.

Yum!

 

[Deleted member 1071]

The B5 A4 was an immensely important car for Audi. With many design elements borrowed from the globally applauded series I A8 (production version of the 1993 ASF concept), it ushered the brand into a successful era highlighted by athletically elegant "Bauhausesque" design. It was-and remains-a great car. For a car having been out of production for some 20 years, they can still be frequently spotted on our roads here in Germany.

 

[CrunchSlaughtered]

The B5 A4 was an immensely important car for Audi. With many design elements borrowed from the gl...

And it also was a better car than the contemporary C class and maybe the E36. This was never again achieved by AUDI.