Test Drive Audi A3 since 2008 Hatchback

All photos Audi A3 since 2008

Sea, slides, circus

Three components of the holiday of life remembered Anton Chuikin, having visited the presentation of the new convertible. Photo by the author and audi.
Well, of course it was in Yalta. The sea sparkled between the farms of the American slides, and when you sat down with my parents in an outdoor trailer, I had already become not up to him. And there was Circus-Shapito, from which the BMS-Bums plates came in the evenings, fraction of drums and then sigh and laughter to the public. Sweet life. We guessed it in a ticket whole two weeks ...
He himself did not expect that it was so distinct, right up to sounds, odors and sensations, I remember that distant time. But when the sea was suddenly shouted at the next treachechnoe, and then the wind brought a half-star, some kind of southern smell, I got drunk behind the wheel and laid a good turn, and then another, with a set of speed, like on a slide. And he was not even surprised when the circus tent seemed around the turn. And what else to be there? Cote d'Azur, sweet life.
SEA
I have no doubt in the suitability of the A3 convertible for any climate, including the Middle Russian. The roof is dense, the climate control is powerful - so much that even in the open car you feel quite comfortable with the fear of 10 degrees of heat. Glasses are raised, the cool stream almost all flies above the head, at a reasonable speed, warm air from the deflectors will not even dispersed the drafts, occasionally flying outside. But for no accident and in the story, and in life I lowered the roof: why otherwise the garden is with a convertible? Despite the theoretical All-weather, the convertible is needed there, where even in January you can press the button and refreshing the cool (but not student!) Air. And very desirable the sea - do not consider snob, but it should come in, how to say, in a minimal complete set.

By the way about the button. Although the roof of the A3 is very quickly, keeping your finger on the button all 9 seconds it seemed illogical to me. For some reason, the auto modes, as for the side windows, I did not find here: let go of the key, and the design on the stern freezes in the form of a semi-walled sail
Gorki
Of the four possible engines, three are aggregated both with mechanical boxes and with a fast S-Tronic machine (a box with two clips is known for a friendly brand as a DSG), and only a 1.9 liter diesel engine is offered with a single type of transmission. The table shows all the motors and, for example, part of the boxes. Sing the Ducembrants Duo 2 liter plus S-Tronic will not be lost in the choir. For the first time I tried a 1.8-liter TFSI engine - and was not completely disappointed. A torque regiment from 1.5 to 4 thousand turns around on the road with a pleasant, smooth acceleration and confident movement. With such a motor, no wonder forget even about the fifth, not to mention the sixth gear. In fact, why is it here - for the sake of savings? You still advise you to close!

A winding track, withdrawing to the sea, turned into serpentine, to which we rolled out in a pair with a local sedan. In the first priese, when I revived the feeling of the American slides, silence suddenly broke the scrup rubber and the competitor lagged behind. But in five minutes earlier, I almost pushed the hood! A3, nothing that a convertible (it is difficult to make an open body very tough and achieve manageability of a closed car), extremely confident defended the honor of the brand.
Chapito
Having left the local roads to the motorway, I had to raise the top - it becomes cold at speed, and on the aftertaste of the sweet life in the form of a cold I somehow did not count. Under the tent, a sense of unity with nature disappears, but the roof masks the hanging frame of the windshield, from which instinctively dodge when landing. In silence and warmth, the clarity of the thought was gaining a clarity, leaning from the very beginning of the trip: the company Audi, the master to invent and occupy numerous market niches, and in the convertible sector asked a difficult task. If earlier the fans of four rings had to choose between the A4 convertible and the roadster TT, then now it is to suffer, evaluating the open A3. Bitter Sweet Life Pill By the way, its value in Germany - from 28 thousand euros.

Converts - not for everyone and not every day. Thought how banal, so indisputable. They are as attractions like a circus, like a holiday element: It is worth remembering that it is uncomfortable - go to the chapito daily. But sometimes it is possible? And deciding to pamper yourself, you want to choose the best. So that the feelings are bright, as in childhood, so that the sea blindfolds, the spirit captured on the slings, and the public in the circus under the drum fraction of Ahala. And so that the car matches you and the holiday. As an audi-a3 convertible, for example.
Evil Irony: Especially making a circle and running up on the open A3 to Stepito, I discovered the Ferme table on the checkout - closed. The holiday had to postpone: until the next cabriolet or the nearest visit to the circus.
Audi A3 Cabriolet - not in the tradition of the company to leave the gap in the model range, both between the open A4 and the roadster TT. A good car will make it difficult to choose!
Quickly and quiet
The A3 convertible is offered with two roof options - both are soft, but in one case the drive is semi-automatic (there is a hand-locking handle), in the second - the concern for a three-layer soundproofing roof completely takes automatics. Only nine seconds - and you, the efforts of the electric motor, the pump and two hydraulic cylinders, are in the open car. The reverse process takes two seconds anymore. Between the two layers of the tissue roof, a 6-mm insulating mat was laid, thanks to which in the cabriolet as quietly, as in the hatchback (at 140 km / h, noise 71 dB (A) - by 1 dB (a) louder closed A3).