Test drive Audi A3 1996 - 2003 hatchback

They meet on clothes

Our acquaintance
Audi A3 is the smallest car in the company's program. First presented in June 1996. The body is a three -door five -seater hatchback. Benzine engines with a working volume of 1.6 liters (101 l.) And 1.8 l (125 and 150 hp in the option with a boost), as well as a 1.9 -liter turbodiesel - 90 liters. with. Gearboxes - a mechanical five -speed or four -speed automatic.

The poisonous green pearly Audi was already standing on the steering wheel of the airfield. Beautiful, you can’t say anything. Although you can argue about appearance - who does not agree, I won’t convince (well, certainly, it’s not terrible). In addition, the Audi A3 body is also functional. Huge doorways provide a very convenient landing on the front seats and non -ruling access to the back sofa (let's not forget that all A3 are three -door). Neither the door nor the hood and trunk lids are puffed up by dangerous sharp corners, and the trunk lock, which tall people usually touch their heads, is framed in plastic.
The luggage compartment is not small by the standards of a car -cut - 330 l minimum and 1100 liters - with a folded rear seat.
I must say right away that after appearance (they meet, as you know, by clothing), the driver's place left the best impression. A comfortable chair with a traditionally large, German range of adjustments is also traditionally quite tough. Even a colleague, whom hard backs and pillows have always been discouraged, admitted that it was convenient to sit in Audi. Of all the governing bodies, I liked the most convenient in all respects (adjustable, by the way, in the corner and length of the column) of the bagel, the most sad impression was left by the gearbox lever. It is well located, with a convenient knob, but its moves are great. Of course, not like the 412th Muscovite, but it looks like ... the backlighting devices is branded - red. Someone may like someone?
On the go, Audi A3 showed himself a real deceiver. Attracting the sportion of the form, in fact it turned out to be a comfortable family man, almost deprived of any kind of sports.
The stopwatch does not provoke exploits, but it pulls well at low speeds, but quickly switching the transmission is not easy, the lever is very long. After a short acquaintance, you understand that on this device you want to go measuredly (it does not mean slowly), without jerks, accelerations and sharp maneuvers. A noticeable body roll in a turn will have a little an active driver, but not the sharpest steering wheel. True, in calm mode, some deed of a car is perceived as an element of a common style. They tried to spur A3 - the reaction was not too pleased. Turn - the tires begin to scream, and now Audi swam. No, the car is not going to get out of obedience and spin a wolf, it simply drifts out the turn, and the driver surprises in surprise that the effort on the turned steering wheel, if not equal to zero, is close to this. What is called a feedback is disappeared somewhere, and the position of the wheels will have to be judged as you like, but not by effort on the steering wheel. The brakes are quite effective, the response to the actions of the pedal is fast, the slowdown is easy to regulate. With sharp braking, ABS begins to groan, the car itself is barely noticeable.
Let the reader not have the impression that Audi A3 is bad. It’s just not as angry as you could expect from a stocky three -door car. Perhaps the behavior of more powerful machines corresponds to the appearance more precisely, but with the 1.6 motor Audi A3 is just a good everyday apparatus. Its horse is not exploits on sports routes (or, more dangerous, sports exploits on public roads), but moderate fuel consumption with fairly high dynamic and traction capabilities and, of course, a high level of comfort. Excellent soundproofing, convenient planting in front (only now the cover of the glove box rests on the knees), worse - at the back, high -quality, pleasant decoration of the cabin, a large selection of additional equipment, soft suspension. By the way, the suspension was remembered only on the knocked out asphalt and on the paving stones. And then a knock was rather annoyed than unpleasant fluctuations in the body. In other cases, the suspension does not show itself in any way, does his job quietly and imperceptibly.
This was shown by Audi A3 during a brief acquaintance. Of course, in order to reveal all the subtleties of the character of the car, you need to spend much more time with it. But often the first impression is the most true.
A3 - probably the most expensive golf -class car in the Russian market ($ 29 thousand). Collectors-Europeans cannot even approach him: Opel Astra 1.6 costs about 20 thousand; Fiat brivo even less - 17 thousand Japanese are also far from Audi: the price of Nissan -Almer is only 18 thousand dollars. What is there-BMW-316-compound, and he is a couple of thousand dollars cheaper than the smallest Audi.

+ Attractive appearance, convenient workplace of the driver, high -quality finish, high level of comfort.
- a long stroke of the gearbox lever, non -informative steering, limited space for the rear passengers.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
General data: number of places - 5; Equipped mass - 1090 kg; full weight - 1600 kg; maximum speed - 188 km/h; acceleration time from a place to 100 km/h - 11.3 s; fuel consumption city/suburbs - 10.5/5.9 l/100 km; Fuel supply - 55 liters. Dimensions, mm: length - 4150; width - 1735; height - 1420; base - 2510; The track in front/back - 1515/1495; turning radius - 5.45 m; Road clearance - 130 mm; The volume of the trunk is 330/1100 l. Engine: four -cylinder, in order, gasoline, is located in front of the front; the number of valves per cylinder - 2; the diameter and stroke of the piston - 81 x 77.4 mm; working volume - 1595 cm; compression degree - 10.3; Power - 74 kW/101 l. with. at 5600 rpm; The maximum torque is 145 Nm at 3800 rpm. Transmission: front wheel drive; The gearbox is a mechanical five -speed; Transporting numbers: I - 3.46; II - 1.94; III - 1.37; IV - 1.03; V - 0.85; Z.Kh - 3.17; The main program is 4.25. Suspension: front - such as McEferson, the rear - longitudinal levers connected by a transverse beam. Brakes: disk, with an amplifier and ABS; Front - ventilated. Tires: 195/65VR15.

SUMMARY
Behind the appearance of the athlete hides a non -sound, friendly and pleasant in communication, devoid of expected aggressiveness and ambition. Do not be deceived, evaluating A3 by clothes.
       



Igor Solidov. Photo by the author
 

A source: The magazine "Driving"