Test drive Audi A3 1996 - 2003 hatchback

Meaning - in motion

Audi A3 and TT Roadster with a 3.2 engine and a new automatic machine are created for rapid shots
 
Everyone loves heavyweight fights. But look how elegant and swift boxers are in the first welterweight. Their battles are no less exciting performance. Also, with cars - a compact hot hatchback or class can give a sophisticated driver no less pleasure than a powerful representative model. The new modifications of the Audi A3 and TT Roadster, presented in Munich, are precisely from these.
 
Power not in rank
 
Ask - why do you need a golf -class car with a sports car motor? - Anyway, to argue about tastes. Whoever likes it: to go around retail outlets, trying not to shake the mother -in -law, or to wave in a couple of hundred kilometers with a girlfriend on the weekend, so that the pulse is surrendered in the temples; Watch the Monster Tyson matches in the recording, or cheer up the ausle athlete with cries directly at the ring. In general, the most powerful modifications of the latest generation Audi A3, who had only recently made his debut in our market, as well as the TT relatives, who had already managed to find fans in Russia, for those who want to perceive life acutely. Both cars are equipped with a 3.2-liter six, a full-wheel drive system and an unusual DSG automatic machine. So first of all - about technology.
 
Especially for the new 3.2-liter V6, AUDI engineers have developed an automatic gearbox with a manual range of ranges called DSG (Direct Shift Gear). It is clear that you will not surprise anyone to choose programs yourself. Like the sports mode of the machine, almost invisible switching and the like. True, in any case, at a time when, although for a split second, a neutral gear turns on, the engine loses speed. Accordingly, the acceleration rate is slightly falling. There is no getting away from this - mechanical filling and electronic brain, whether they are at least three times perfect, have the limit of opportunities. Is it so inevitable? - We thought in Audi, and decided to equip the gearbox with two performing mechanisms that would be in charge of the choice of ranges. Roughly speaking, not one, but at once two programs. So DSG was born with a couple of sets of multi -disc clutch. One is responsible for the first, third, fifth and rear gear, the other for the second, fourth and sixth. When you turn on the first gear and start moving, another set of clutch already encloses the second and waits until the engine speed reaches the zone in which it gives out the maximum torque. As soon as this moment occurs, the clutch sets begin to work synchronously - one is unclenched, and the second, accordingly, is closed. That is, they act in such a way that they block each other in time. Thus, the second gear is turned on, and the liberated clutch again encourages the next program, and so on.
 
A similar process of switching ranges takes only 0.2 seconds, that is, in reality it provides a transition from one transmission to another faster than an experienced driver could do. It feels like you are driving in a car equipped with a unavailable variator - the acceleration dynamics does not weaken for a moment. However, the reins of the board can be taken into your own hands and choose transmissions with a lever on the central tunnel or buttons-shutters on the steering wheel. Why is this necessary? For example, you shot a bunch of turns and want to go as quickly and spectacular as possible. Touching, choose a second gear and do not allow the checkpoint to be heated under any conditions. The box is tuned in such a way that it does not protect the motor and itself, and therefore does not automatically switch up, as soon as the engine rests against the revolutionary limiter. By the way, I forgot to say that DSG has a sports regime - the motor is spinning faster, and the ranges switch even more rapidly. To press the gas pedal, the car reacts more acutely and, I would even say, angrier.
 
But as for switching down, I was interested in the question of how this happens, if I need to go to the second with the sixth (I remind you that the same clutch set is responsible for them). It turned out that for this the box uses the fifth gear, to which the transmission passes literally for a split second in order to free another clutch and finally turn on the second speed. Officially, it takes 0.9 seconds in time, and even less feelings. At the same time, DSG shows one feature, which, it seems to me, can be called a disadvantage - the braking of the engine when switching down, of course, is felt, but it is not as intensively as we would like.
 
Another common feature of A3 and TT Roadster with a 3.2-liter engine is the company's branding system of QUATTRO. The Germans quite reasonably considered that such temperamental models require additional reliability on the road, and therefore all cars with a new V6 will be equipped with a 4x4 transmission without exception.
 
Finally, the engine itself. Frankly, I generally love large engines with a low degree of forcing. The fact is that they are distinguished by very decent elasticity from the turbocharged power plants pumped up by steroids, and torque is available in almost the entire speed range. Plus, of course, sound. The velvet, noble roar of the six is \u200b\u200bin any comparison with a sharp falsetto performed by four cylinders. By the way, in the exhaust system V6 there is even its own equalizer: a special damper, depending on the number of revolutions of the crankshaft, changes position and, accordingly, the timbre of the voice. But back to the language of numbers. V6 gives out maximum traction very soon after the start - at only 2,500 rpm, and its power reaches 250 hp.
At first glance, it seems that such a motor should be a gigantic structure and is unlikely to fit under the hood of a golf-class car. Meanwhile, when creating it, the Germans did not apply the original one, but the effective solution - the angle of the collapse of the cylinders is only 15 degrees, which is why the engine came out so compact. Yes, it should also be borne in mind that in the front of the car there is a gearbox C, I remind you, a double set of clutch mechanisms. This thing, too, in theory, should not be compact, but what I saw just struck. If you proceed from the sizes understandable to all, then imagine a cardboard box with sizes 40x40x30 cm. In it, the new DSG will fit as a native. In general, an automatic machine from a bonfire of the left flea.
 
In addition, the motor is equipped with an electronically controlled throttle barrier set up for the temperament of the machine. The sensitivity of the mechanism is erected to the Absolute - it seems that even a slight breath of wind on the accelerator pedal makes the tachometer arrow swing. And this, by the way, is nothing bad: for those who do not suit such settings, less powerful versions of the cars are designed.
 
Red Arrow
 
The recently debuted A3, as it seems to me, is much more relevant in our market with a relative with an emerging soft roof. Yes, and the car itself is newer, I did not have time to become familiar on the roads. At our disposal were spectacular three -door hatchbacks painted in a bright scarlet color. The standard anterior bumper with a developed aerodynamic structure is distinguished from standard modifications of A3 3.2, as well as a kind of landing - the six -cylinder engine is very heavy, and therefore the machine noticeably sags the front. However, I will immediately make a reservation that this does not affect cross -country ability, since the clearance remains the same, but at high speed there is even an advantage - A3 is more pressed against the road with wide 17 -inch tires that are in standard equipment.
 
The salon remained unchanged. The only difference from other versions of A3 is that the most powerful (at least before the birth of the S3 model) is supplied exclusively in the performance of Ambition, which implies sports notes in interior design: light gray-cream skin is adjacent to black plastic and decorative elements made of aluminum. The steering wheel is truly grip - I don’t want to take off his hands from it, and, however, there is no need. In the most convenient zone for the index fingers, there are buttons control buttop control buttons. Armchairs - with developed lateral support, the steering wheel is regulated within such limits that people are not thin as they can easily press to the back. In general, everything is at a traditionally high level, as befits a premium segment to a car.
 
Special mention are the textures of finishing materials. I must say that one and a half years ago, Audi was the first to pay attention to the tactile sensations inside the cabin and even became the ancestors of the Touch Design style. Indeed, to the skin, and to the plastic, and the aluminum is damn nice to touch - the feeling of quality and comfort is present in the slightest detail of the interior.
 
The turn of the ignition key, and somewhere inside the car, the motor got stuck, as if the bear slowly woke up after a hibernation, growls under his breath, spinning. I’m trying to leave the parking lot smoothly, but for the first time it comes out somehow clumsy. The car twitches, as if driving a beginner. It turned out so because I tried to save the time and adjust the chair for me in the direction of movement, but ... as I said, A3 3.2 has a supersensitive gas pedal, and therefore my every movement is a rustle for the seat and made me move and the right The leg concerned at that moment the accelerator. The car hinted that it is necessary to perceive it as equal and respectfully respecting itself. Well, good. Here is an autobahn, let's see how you will behave in this asphalt paradise. The pedal in the floor, the hands are tightly squeezed by the steering wheel, I am in the left row, the left turn signal is included - forgive me, venerable burghers, but I am a journalist, I need to try this shell in all modes.
 
Yes, acceleration is good, you can’t say anything. Still, all -wheel drive and machine, which operates on the principle of the variator - not the slightest jerk, only the tachometer arrow rushes up rapidly on the scale, and the odometer painfully dashingly changes the numbers of the resulting mileage. In behavior on direct A3, A3 deserves the highest score - no deviations, screening. Yes, and comfort, in this case, it must be said that is very decent, even though this modification is distinguished by more rigid chassis settings. Yes, the joints are sometimes felt, but more often they respond only with muffled slap slaps. At the same time, not a single vibration or shock reaches the steering wheel, it seems to exist separately from the body, but it does not create the impression of disparate with the car. And most of all in the steering, I liked the smart electric power, which can adjust the position of the zero point. Here you go, for example, along the road with a profile inclined towards the roadside. An ordinary car would inevitably tighten down, and A3 3.2 rolls evenly, even though let the steering wheel. As for the turns, they also take place - you only need to slightly reject the steering wheel to the side and prepare for the fact that one of the sides will now be tightly pressed into the chair. Moreover, the level of overloads that the car gives is very high, but there is no hint of the rolls and even more chants. To match the temperament and brakes - to besiege A3 with 200 km/h before the congress with the highway was not difficult.
 
Without a roof
 
But what about TT Roadster, equipped with the same 3.2-liter engine? According to the engine work with a gearbox, the car is largely similar to A3, however, the limit of its driving capabilities is even higher - the lowered center of gravity has a beneficial effect. In the appearance, there are few changes - it became a slightly longer anti -wing on the trunk lid, and the front bumper got new aerodynamic bends. But still now this is a real sportkup, neither give nor take. Though now go to the racing track and stamp the best circles, one after another. In my opinion, the short -lacked machine gained what it had not been enough for it for a very long time and what it was endowed with numerous tuning studies - a sports, even slightly extreme character.
 
Do not be alarmed, dear reader, the words are extreme: in the context of TT Roadster, it means only excellent acceleration, vivid sensations from the absence of a roof over the head and amazing brake dynamics. The car became different: surprisingly, a little more comfortable (at least compared to the standard TT of 1.8t, on which I turned out to ride shortly before a business trip to Munich), sharply with the reaction, of course, dynamic. True, it is possible to feel all this and get your portion of pleasure only if the speed does not exceed 200 km/h. If you go faster, then it becomes too windy and noisy inside. However, what am I talking about? 200 km/h on a convertible is not the best undertaking. And even in Russia - even more so. By the way, another question: what are the views of our market?
 
About the prospects
 
“Audi TT and AUDI A3 with a new DSG engine and a DSG box will appear at the dealers at the end of the year,” says Anna Stepanova, Audi PR manager Audi. - Such cars can be safely attributed to exclusive, that is, not designed for a mass buyer. It seems to me that they are intended, first of all, for a fashionable, leading active lifestyle of a young man, or to a girl living in a metropolis. I can say for sure that their owners will be real aesthetes who can appreciate the harmonious combination of the dynamic and sports nature of the car with German quality. The basic equipment TT and A3, of course, will correspond to the configuration of the premium segment. In general, if the conversation is about Audi, then the word basic equipment looks somehow ridiculous. For example, the initial level for TT already includes a leather salon, combined upholstery of sports chairs with PerlnAppa and Alcantara (for versions with an automaton and a relatives), a sports leather steering wheel with aluminum inserts, an ESP course, climate control, xenon headlights and much The other is only 41 positions. I think our future customers will be satisfied. Such a car will cost 57,300 euros. The new A3 promises to be no less luxurious, but its price for the Russian market has not yet been determined.
 
The dream is extreme
 
Well, what can you do with the inquisitive character of a car journalist! The test drive is over, you can sit, relax, drink coffee in front of the road home. So no! I spotted Audi A3 3.2 with a mechanical gearbox. Having asked the organizers to give another 15 minutes, he quickly jumped inside and stalled out of habit. Under the general grins of others, he started the car again, accidentally pressed the ESP stabilization button, and leaving on the asphalt part of the tread and enveloping the observers with a light smoke from bucket rubber, took off his eyes. And he returned with a dreamy smile on his face and a persistent desire to accumulate money for this modification A3. The six -speed gearbox guarantees a frisky capture in almost any gear, allows you to slow down much more efficiently by the engine. Yes, and the A3 rides in a completely different way - sharper and assertive. I like just such cars that everything is in my power, under my personal control. And God with them, jerks during switching, an increased noise level in the cabin, fuel consumption, even with longer acceleration (automatic DSG is so perfect that it helps the machine accelerate faster than the usual mechanics). But in 15 minutes I received an adrenaline almost more than for all the day spent.
 
But then the opinion of the maniac, do not pay attention to him. Moreover, not everything is still lost for him: the version with an automatic machine is literally good in everything, and subconsciously, I understand that in urban traffic jams you will not attack or to completely squeeze a rather tight clutch pedal with a clearly marked moment of the beginning of movement. But still, such A3 3.2 is a true find for those who love, and, most importantly, knows how to ride.
 
Sergey Ilyinsky
 
Brief technical characteristics Audi A3 3.2 Quattro
Engine volume, cubic meter. See: 3189
The number of valves for the cylinder: 4
Power, l. with. at about./min.: 250/6300
Max. Torque, Nm/at about. min.: 320/2500-3000
Acceleration to 100 km/h, p.: 6.4 (6.5)
Maximum speed, km/h: 250
Average fuel consumption l./100 km.: 10.6 (9.9)
Fuel tank volume, l.: 60
Dimensions, mm.: 4203x1765x1421
In brackets - data for modification with mechanical gearbox
 
Brief technical characteristics Audi TT Roadster 3.2 Quattro
Engine volume, cubic meter. See: 3189
The number of valves for the cylinder: 4
Power, l. with. at about./min.: 250/6300
Max. Torque, Nm/at about. min.: 320/2800-3200
Acceleration to 100 km/h, p.: 6.6
Maximum speed, km/h: 250
Average fuel consumption l./100 km.: 9.9
Fuel tank volume, l.: 62
Dimensions, mm.: 4041x1764x1348
 

A source: "Automobile Izvestia"