2009 Audi A3 Lineup Revealed - Jalopnik Comments

2009 Audi A3 Lineup Revealed

polarlinks — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 16:36:11 EDT

PLEASE bring the S3 sportback to the USA. If not at least a manual 6-speed with quattro. I have a 3.2 A3 and it's a great car. I need the extra room the hatch provides and a car that can handle in the snow. However the DSG (s-tronic) isn't for enthusiasts. Sure it shifts up and down 1 gear fast, but go from 6th to 4th and watch it take forever to shift.

I drove the 2.0T fwd manual and I really enjoyed it. I still don't understand why Audi has manuals in all other markets except US. You don't have to bring a ton stateside, just a few.

I would even pay a bit extra to get it if it could be "special ordered".

If they did bring the S3 3 door I could see it taking sales from the R32. But the R32 is done isn't it?

polarlinks

2009 Audi A3 Lineup Revealed

Mouser_UK — Tue, 13 May 2008 08:53:15 EDT

hmm are those cut and paste from audis press ofice :-)

though trying to find usefull information out of Audi GMBH or Audi Uk is like geting blood out a stone

Mouser_UK

2009 Audi A3 Lineup Revealed

TampaRon — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 09:51:34 EDT

@nickyboy: Don't get rid of it...you will regret it...I know I do. I cant wait until I can unload my Lexus for another A3.

Americans are stupid, they believe bigger is always better and this fascination with trunks on cars is just mind boggling to me. "If it has a trunk or is the size of your house then it must be expensive & you must be successful" thats the American MO.

TampaRon

2009 Audi A3 Lineup Revealed

piththeelder — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 00:04:13 EDT

I don't like it. It looks way too much like a VW but more boring. I want to like it too. Maybe I'll have to re-evaluate when I see it in person.

piththeelder

2009 Audi A3 Lineup Revealed

DoctorNine makes tires squeal in terror — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 22:57:10 EDT

Unless they sell TT-RS and S3 over here, my love affair with Audi shall be undone. Yes, they know how to make me lust after them, but no, they won't let me consummate the emotion. BAD BAD AUDI!!

DoctorNine makes tires squeal in terror

2009 Audi A3 Lineup Revealed

Hyman Decent — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 20:44:18 EDT

@AndyDuncan, Al Navarro: Re: Size
Isn't it the same size as the A4, except in length (and until the next-gen A4 gets here)?

Hyman Decent

2009 Audi A3 Lineup Revealed

icantthinkofone — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 20:42:03 EDT

@pferde_schwanz:
Not until i can haz cheeseburger biatch!

icantthinkofone

2009 Audi A3 Lineup Revealed

Bumblebee — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 18:01:46 EDT

@AshMaster78: Hee hee hee

Bumblebee

2009 Audi A3 Lineup Revealed

Bumblebee — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 18:00:25 EDT

@CBR2200: This is just a shot in the dark, but I found out at the very end of my Mini lease that my insurance company covered windshield replacement for a measly $100 and no affect on my premium. (I had been driving around with a chip in my sight line for like 20 months).

Bumblebee

2009 Audi A3 Lineup Revealed

Mad_Science — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 17:54:51 EDT

@goatrope: I think 6300 of those must be in LA, because I see them EVERYWHERE here.

As much as I hate to validate your point UDMan, it's funny to hear people expecting the A3 to cost significantly less than the A4, given that it's nearly the same car.

Still, I think the popularity of hatches may increase with the price of fuel. When it's purchase time, I think a lot of would-be compact CUV buyers would trade 15% decrease in interior volume for a 30% increase in mileage.

Mad_Science

2009 Audi A3 Lineup Revealed

Al Navarro — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 17:01:21 EDT

@CBR2200: @avusone:
Hopefully, Scott Keogh (he is still there, I think) of Audi USA will read this and think "Yeah, we need to move more of the A3s to that 'enthusiast' segment that perhaps does not want to/can't afford to get an S4 or S5. Let's run a $349 lease deal on the A3 and see what happens..."

They'd probably double sales. It's just the right size even for smaller families...

Al Navarro

2009 Audi A3 Lineup Revealed

CBR2200 — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 16:47:34 EDT

@avusone: Ditto that. I went in to get an A3 and left with an A4 because it was sooooo cheap to lease. I love the interior but the exterior is meh. I love the A3 exterior and the versatility of a small wagon.

CBR2200

2009 Audi A3 Lineup Revealed

tr — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 16:46:10 EDT

@Steel_ETC: umm...yeah. you do realize that Audi, just like Ferrari, is just licensing the same Delphi (GM) magnetic suspension technology, don't you?

oh, i guess not.

2009 Audi A3 Lineup Revealed

usa1 — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 16:20:57 EDT

Ahh, 20th century hood handles. How quaint.

usa1

2009 Audi A3 Lineup Revealed

avusone — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 16:17:09 EDT

With the 2 largest volume dealers in North America here in South Florida the lease deals on an A4 are $100 per month less than an A3. Thats' why I have an A4 even though I wanted an A3.
You see more A4's here than Camry's.
.....Almost.

avusone

2009 Audi A3 Lineup Revealed

Al Navarro — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 16:09:25 EDT

@UDMan:
I do believe that the AFS lease price on an A3 is HIGHER than that on the A4 due to the "money factor" that AFS uses or whatever.

Al Navarro

2009 Audi A3 Lineup Revealed

UDMan — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 16:00:16 EDT

A 23 Paragraph Press Release on a car that is not quite available for North America. Yes, I know this isn't suppose to be a NA centric blog, so what?

Anyway, the sales on this particular product is quite low because (I've said this before, and I will state it again) Americans as a whole still thinks "hatchback" equals "cheap". If the lease price between an A3 and an A4 is less than $50 per month, most will go for the "proper" sedan, instead of the "hatchback".

UDMan

2009 Audi A3 Lineup Revealed

nickyboy — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 15:43:35 EDT

I own an A3 right now and it's awesome. The best car I've ever owned. It's a blast to drive, economical to run and I've had no problems with build quality. I've seen a lot of A3s on the streets of San Francisco, but not a lot of them anywhere else. Why don't Americans want to buy this car?

nickyboy

2009 Audi A3 Lineup Revealed

AndyDuncan — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 15:04:18 EDT

And a question, is VAG pronounced with the German "V" sound (English "F") sound? ie: Fag? or is it pronounced with a soft "G" as in Vadge?

AndyDuncan

2009 Audi A3 Lineup Revealed

AndyDuncan — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 15:02:27 EDT

@Al Navarro: @goatrope: Those are pretty poor numbers. I think perhaps perception still hasn't shifted to where people understand a "premium small car". The mini has helped, I think the A3 has helped, I'd say it's impact is larger than it's low sales would suggest.

Hopefully Audi will keep offering the A3. There are so many cars that were ahead of their time that were pulled prematurely from the US before consumers had time to adjust.

I also think a 2.0Turbo quattro version would go a long way towards helping sales. There's a huge gap between the FWD 2.0T and the 3.2 quattro, both in weight and price.

AndyDuncan

2009 Audi A3 Lineup Revealed

racerx — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 14:56:01 EDT

Finally they made this thing look sharp! The previous gen was not particularly pretty. The only problem now is that the front clip is identical to every other Audi out there. Nice looking hatch though.

racerx

2009 Audi A3 Lineup Revealed

sciamop — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 14:53:14 EDT

Wow, you guys must have on your VAG beer goggles -- the 2-door hatch looks like a KIA.

Audi needs to release a coupe (a la 128/135i) for US audiences if this platform is to succeed here.

If I was in the market for a 5-door hatch, the Mazda3 would have my money.

sciamop

2009 Audi A3 Lineup Revealed

Al Navarro — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 14:48:29 EDT

@goatrope:
Wow, I didn't know sales were so lackluster. The problem is the pricing, IMHO. Maybe overseas it slots in better under the A4, but here, I think there isn't a huge segment to be had between the GTi and the A4. And its largely covered by the STi and EVO.

Al Navarro

2009 Audi A3 Lineup Revealed

Deartháir and his eight little drained beers — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 14:44:30 EDT

*whine* Why must Audi do things RIGHT all the time... I just BOUGHT my new car, it's not fair for Audi to give me buyer's remorse like this.

Deartháir and his eight little drained beers

2009 Audi A3 Lineup Revealed

goatrope — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 14:40:04 EDT

Does Audi expect the A3 to continue to not sell in the US?

The A3 sold less than 6,400 units in the US last year. If the car has any greatness, it is certainly undiscovered in the US.

goatrope

2009 Audi A3 Lineup Revealed

derekste — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 14:26:16 EDT

why does everyone like the 5 door so much? 3dr ftw!

derekste

2009 Audi A3 Lineup Revealed

blue-coupe — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 14:21:56 EDT

I love these cars, but I do see a lot of them in the gay neighborhood (oak lawn) here in Dallas. But it might be that I heard these were 'gay cars' so I notice them more in that neighborhood.

I don't think I would let that stop me from considering the S3 5 door though.

blue-coupe

2009 Audi A3 Lineup Revealed

CBR2200 — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 14:21:09 EDT

@EDogII: I have an A4 right now and aside from having extremely fragile windshield glass no issues whatsoever.

CBR2200

2009 Audi A3 Lineup Revealed

CBR2200 — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 14:20:03 EDT

:drool: I want an S3 sportback right now. I'm sure, like the current S3, it won't be available in the US. I can't understand why its available in Mexico but not here???

CBR2200

2009 Audi A3 Lineup Revealed

TampaRon — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 14:10:33 EDT

@EDogII: NO. I have owned three within the past 5 years and my Lexus has spent more time in the shop than all 3 of them combined.

TampaRon

2009 Audi A3 Lineup Revealed

hellamatt19tenthousand — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 14:09:06 EDT

@Feds:

holy crap . . . i was thinking the same thing about when i am done with my wrx wagon. i guess we're on the right website. cheers

hellamatt19tenthousand

2009 Audi A3 Lineup Revealed

EDogII — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 14:05:27 EDT

Doesn't Audio still suffer quality issues?

EDogII

2009 Audi A3 Lineup Revealed

om Bronx de Mowgli — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 14:04:46 EDT

OK wow I was confused as to why it was only 3 doors on the normal A3 now... 3 doors is damn sexxy! please oh please bring all of them here!

we need euro only warnings sometimes!

om Bronx de Mowgli

2009 Audi A3 Lineup Revealed

Hyman Decent — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 13:58:57 EDT

@Unregular: ja

@pferde_schwanz: I still haven't forgotten that an Audi exec described the future A1 as a car that a man would not be embarrassed to be seen in on the rare occasions he borrows it from his daughter.

Hyman Decent

2009 Audi A3 Lineup Revealed

beercheck — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 13:56:48 EDT

What's with the prison bars in the gaping maw? Braces? Spit bridges?

beercheck

2009 Audi A3 Lineup Revealed

Mad_Science — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 13:47:27 EDT

@AshMaster78: I suppose it's the difference between a female companion that wears short shorts, a tank-top and makes out with you in line at the bank Vs a lady classy business attire who saves it for after-hours.

Mad_Science

2009 Audi A3 Lineup Revealed

Naters4 — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 13:35:00 EDT

Give it 'ere, boy.

Naters4

2009 Audi A3 Lineup Revealed

pferde_schwanz — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 13:34:40 EDT

I NEED ... oh fuck it.

pferde_schwanz

2009 Audi A3 Lineup Revealed

pferde_schwanz — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 13:34:25 EDT

@pferde_schwanz: oh man in need a nap. *compensate

pferde_schwanz

2009 Audi A3 Lineup Revealed

pferde_schwanz — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 13:33:57 EDT

@turbofreak: i'm guessing you heard that from an insecure bmw owner trying to contemplate for a tiny schwanz?

pferde_schwanz

2009 Audi A3 Lineup Revealed

turbofreak — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 13:25:31 EDT

I heard these were "gay" cars. I don't know why. It has a big muscular grille and its really cool lookin.

turbofreak

2009 Audi A3 Lineup Revealed

TampaRon — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 13:23:11 EDT

I so miss my A3. It was by far the best car I have ever owned. An absolute blast to drive and economical to boot. Just an all around great car.

Now I'm sad...thanks Jalop.

TampaRon

2009 Audi A3 Lineup Revealed

Al Navarro — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 13:22:33 EDT

Again, would love to know plans for US of A.

So far, we only get the 5 door or sportback or whatever here...with the 2.0/FWD and 3.2/quattro only.

I love these cars but they lease (if considering it as busines expense) like crap. And with 3.2 quattro way up there in terms of $$, I fail to see what it adds to the party vs. the A4...besides some style for grown up GTIers.

Al Navarro

2009 Audi A3 Lineup Revealed

Neener — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 13:18:20 EDT

I love this part:

'the top speed is limited electronically to 250 km/h (155.34 mph). Yet the S3's fuel consumption is astonishingly low, at an average of 8.5 liters per 100 km (27.67 mpg)'

Neener

2009 Audi A3 Lineup Revealed

mwood10 — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 13:16:21 EDT

No 4.2 V8 in the option list?

mwood10

2009 Audi A3 Lineup Revealed

The Name's Ash78, Housewares — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 13:13:06 EDT

@Mad_Science: Or going from lusting after a woman with big, buggy eyes and a bony frame to one where everything flows properly?

I'm also a fan...but still have the VAG cognitive dissonance.

The Name's Ash78, Housewares

2009 Audi A3 Lineup Revealed

Mad_Science — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 13:07:55 EDT

I know I'm getting older when an A/S3 appeals to me more than a WRX.

I suppose it's like the transition from lusting after women that are older that you to those that are younger than you.

Mad_Science

2009 Audi A3 Lineup Revealed

Seth L — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 13:06:16 EDT

"yer"

So I am a dope then.

Seth L

2009 Audi A3 Lineup Revealed

Seth L — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 13:05:03 EDT

I'm confused. Is the A3 sportback larger then the A3 four-door sold currently? The lines look better (less truncated), so I'm guessing yer?

Or I'm a dope.

Seth L

2009 Audi A3 Lineup Revealed

The Name's Ash78, Housewares — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 13:04:03 EDT

@smsolo1:
More like:

R32: "Wait a sec guys, where do I fit in?" :D
All: "Screw you, fattie!"
Scirocco: "Want me to kick his ass?"

EXEUNT

The Name's Ash78, Housewares

2009 Audi A3 Lineup Revealed

boosted-lego-wagon — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 13:03:02 EDT

"All the driver need do is attend to the accelerator, clutch and brakes."

Finally, even Grimlock can park.

boosted-lego-wagon

2009 Audi A3 Lineup Revealed

Sloop_John_B — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 13:01:06 EDT

Nice car. So sad it's taken a 200% increase in the price of gas to finally start bringing the cool European shit stateside.

Sloop_John_B

2009 Audi A3 Lineup Revealed

smsolo1 — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 13:00:42 EDT

@AshMaster7
8:
s3: i have a 260 hp 2.0t and all wheel drive.
r32: ouch. you are a bastard and you cost too much. i'm much better looking.

smsolo1

2009 Audi A3 Lineup Revealed

Steel_ETC — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 12:59:54 EDT

The 3-door S3 does sound enticing, but I really wish that regardless of what happens with the Audi model line Volkswagen AG would just bring the new Scirocco to the United States.

Also, Audi is about 6 years behind GM in developing magnetic ride control, and yet they're touting it like its their crowning achievement. Way to go guys...

Steel_ETC

2009 Audi A3 Lineup Revealed

Feds — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 12:57:37 EDT

If my Protege5 gets replaces with a new car, it will be an A/S3. If it gets replaced with a used car it will be a 61-63 falcon wagon.

Feds

2009 Audi A3 Lineup Revealed

AndyDuncan — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 12:53:45 EDT

I'm a big fan of the A3, hopefully the S3 sportback will mean a stateside S3 for the first time. That would be a welcome addition.

BTW: The 5-door A3 is actually longer than the 5-door GTI. The 5-door GTI has exactly the same exterior dimensions as the 3-door.

AndyDuncan

2009 Audi A3 Lineup Revealed

Al Navarro — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 12:52:58 EDT

Yes, but what are they bringing to the US market?

Al Navarro

2009 Audi A3 Lineup Revealed

pferde_schwanz — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 12:49:55 EDT

i can haz more performance?

pferde_schwanz

2009 Audi A3 Lineup Revealed

Unregular — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 12:48:10 EDT

sportback = 4 door?

Unregular

2009 Audi A3 Lineup Revealed

The Name's Ash78, Housewares — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 12:47:42 EDT

Sounds like a VAG US brand management slapfight.

GTI: "You're a ripoff, why would someone buy you over me?"
A3: "Yeah, well, I have 4 doors! Suck it."
GTI: "I have 4 doors now, too!"
A3: "Now I have 2 doors, biatch!"

The Name's Ash78, Housewares

2009 Audi A3 Lineup Revealed

layabout — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 12:47:39 EDT

I'll take the white 2 door thanks

layabout