A3 1.9TDI Special Ed, 10'000 mile/6 month review

[AvantSE]

I like it.

Must say though, when my colleague first got a base model A3, I took the piss because of the sh!te s/wheel. But it wouldn't be that difficult to put a decent one on. His was 105ps too, bit sluggish but then he/you knew that anyway. Just have it mapped... then you'll really notice the poor handling.

[962C]

You bought a brand new 1.9 TDi A3? In white? [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif[/img]

As you admit yourself you might as well have gone for a 2.0 TDi 140 Sport. You had to option DIS, fogs, CD and climate - all surely standard kit on a Sport, as are RS4 style 17s, Sport suspension and the gorgeous sports seats. You probably get a leather wheel to hang on to as well. Six speed box with the 2.0 helps claw back motorway mpg over the five speed 1.9.

[Sparky]

I think it looks very good in white, and those photos are stunning, as we've come to expect from Dean.

[Muppetboy]

Off on a tangent but when is the new A3 out? The 3 door is starting to look quite dated now..

[gizze]

[ QUOTE ]
Shame they don't use the same steering wheel size as they do in the S3, in the A3. My S3 steering wheel feels smaller than my A4 one did too.

[/ QUOTE ]

I agree, I looked into putting an S3 or RS4 wheel in it, but the cheapest option was going to be £1200, that was a used wheel and an airbag shipped from Germany.

[_Tone_]

Deano
You have made a base car look quite stunning I must say - maybe audi should hire you to shoot for them - amazing pictures!
Having read the finer detail I am glad I didn't let the other half talk me into buying one of these!

I was wondering if we should arrange a meet somewhere nice where we can all take photos of our cars and maybe Deano could come and give us a lesson, I would absolutely LOVE to have some photos like those of my car!

Cheers

Tone

[Nelson_R32]

Firstly, some great photos there

Secondly, I kind of disagree but sort of understand your opinion on the car. The 1.9TDi Special Edition is basic (and yes the plastic steering wheel is terrible) and the 1.9TDi engine a little noisy but the good thing about it is that it's punchy due to the PD injection and I've never really felt a 1.9TDi in the new A3 desperately underpowered. The 55mpg+ you'll get in fuel consumption more than makes up for any performance loss IMHO.

I too felt almost 'underwhelmed' by my A3 2.0TDi S-line (see review further down forum) and to be honest I'm still not 100% sure that I miss it because it was a great car or because it simply did everything I asked of it and cost little to run. It was strange because every time I was away from the car I wanted something different and more exciting, yet as soon as I was driving I thought it was great/satisfactory. I think you're going through exactly the same emotions I went through after 10 months of owning my A3.

One thing is sure though, if I ever had to buy a Special Edition A3 1.9TDi I without doubt would've ordered it in white, good choice