2017 Audi A3 2.0T Quattro is champagne on a craft-beer budget
Cynics will say the 2017 Audi A3 Quattro is little more than an overpriced Volkswagen GTI hatchback with a sedan body. We’d say they’re wrong. Although the A3 may share its platform and core powertrain components with VW’s hot hatch, the Audi is greater than the sum of the shared parts.
Refreshed for 2017, the A3 lineup sports an updated face with a more angular grille, a new headlight design, and a more aggressive front fascia. LED taillights and a revised rear bumper round out the updated exterior. While the all-wheeldrive A3 Quattro tested here relies on the same 220-hp turbocharged 2.0-liter inline-four and six-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission as before, the front-wheel-drive A3 trades last year’s 170-hp turbo 1.8-liter four-cylinder and six-speed dualclutch automatic for a 186-hp turbocharged 2.0-liter four that runs a modified version of the Miller cycle and comes paired with a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic.
The front-drive A3 is able to travel an EPA-rated 26 miles on a gallon of gasoline in the city and 35 on the highway, besting the more powerful Quattro’s 24/31mpg ratings. During our allwheel-drive A3 test car’s stay we averaged 27 mpg, matching the EPA combined rating. We also eked out 34 mpg from the sedan in our 75-mph highway fueleconomy test.
QUATTRO, CINCO, SEIS
Mat the A3 Quattro’s right pedal to the floor, though, and the substantial 258 lb-ft of torque immediately makes up for the powertrain’s additional thirst for fuel. Our 3408-pound test car scooted from zero to 60 mph in 5.5 seconds and crossed the quarter-mile mark in 14.2 seconds at 98 mph. Both times beat the last Mercedes-Benz CLA250 4MATIC we tested by 0.6 second. Meanwhile, a 172-pound-lighter Golf GTI equipped with an automatic transmission needed an additional 0.1 second to complete both feats.
Passing performance was no less impressive, with the dualclutch automatic quickly downshifting to help push this A3 from 30 to 50 mph in 3.3 seconds and from 50 to 70 in 4.1 seconds, 0.4 and 0.3 second quicker than the CLA250 4MATIC. It’s worth noting that the self-shifting GTI performs stronger here, accomplishing the same tasks 0.4 and 0.3 second more quickly.
Our A3’s Continental ProContact TX tires ultimately proved to be the entry-level luxury sedan’s Achilles’ heel. Slamming on the brakes at 70 mph left the allseason rubber grasping for grip as the A3 Quattro came to a halt in 178 feet, or 22 feet more than needed by a 2015 A3 Quattro fitted with summer tires. While this car stuck to our 300-foot skidpad at a respectable 0.87 g, its summer-tired counterpart managed to hold strong up to 0.94 g.
In day-to-day driving, the A3 Quattro’s ride and handling strike a fine balance between comfort and excitement. Quick and wellweighted steering contribute to the sedan’s nimble nature on twisty tarmac, while the com-