After recently driving the Audi’s close relation, the Golf GT TDI with DSG, I was keen to see how the A3 Sportback 2.0 TDI Ambition compared. The two cars share the same basic underpinnings, the same engine, producing the same power (125kW) and the same torque (a gob smacking 350Nm). Both cars tested also shared the 6-speed double clutch transmission, or S tronic in Audi speak.
Let’s start with the subjective first, the car’s looks. To me, the Sportback body shape has a basic and rudimentary silhouette which can look awkward when viewed from the rear quarter. However, far from allowing this to be a negative, Audi’s designers have performed their usual task of delivering the market a well executed design solution and the A3’s slightly lower and raked roofline gives the car a sleeker, more dynamic look when compared to the Mk5 Golf. The A3 also has more of an exclusive feel about its looks. This feeling of exclusivity is reinforced in pure sales terms — in 2007, Audi sold 1,594 A3s, whereas Volkswagen sold 10,982 Golfs. Figures to the end of April this year follow a similar trend — 654 as against 4,503 — so you can be assured that an A3 will always be more exclusive than its Volkswagen cousin.