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1500 Mile review. A3 TDI 170 S-Line Stronic (2007)


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Thought I would drop a few words down about the car now that I have done a few miles.

Histrory

I changed to this car as I have a 100 mile round trip from guildford to Southampton most days. Previous car was a 4.2 D3 Audi A8, which whilst an awesome car which was able to do 25mpg, was a little heavy on juice for 25k+ per year and no fuel card! So got an Elise for the weekends (review to follow!) and bit the bullet on my first Diesel.

To put this car in perspective, I have never owned a Diesel before, although I have driven a few. I have owened a very wide scpectrum of cars (17 in 10 years!) from 1.0 polo, to mx5 (x2), 206 gti, TT, A3 1.8T, rx8, M5, S4, Golf gti, westfields etc, so a good wide spectrum!!

Choice

Wanted something classy, would hold it's value, spend under 25k, 40mpg, 4 seats. Looked at the 1 series, but just cant get on with the looks. Looked at a 3 series, but dealers were useless and a reasonable spec made it too expensive. Considerred the civic diesel but residuals worried me and the engine has bad or average reviews. Decided to stick to waht I know, and although I toyed with a used A6 or A4 tdi, decided smaller car with bigger engine was the ebst choice for me! Although economy was imporatant, wanted it to have an element of fun, so the 170 was a good compromise.

Buying.

I never buy new. Doh. Ok, couldnt find the spec I wanted due to the fact that the 170bhp TDI A3 hadnt been out that long. So I posted on here about discounts. Alistair Lee of Stratford Audi dopped me a line and said he could do 10% on a factory order. A few calls around suggested this wasnt going to be bettered, so the deal was done. I ordered a 3dr in Brilliant Black, in S-Line spec (not preapred to pay 500 for sparkly paint, and Brillaint Black looks fab), with S-Tronic (was DSG), Bose, GSM, 18" 14 spokes and a few other bits and bobs. List was £26 something, and I paid £23 something. A8 was sold privately.

Handover was great, although I didnt realise till a few days before Alistair was in Stratford-upon-avon, no east london! DOH! Good exuse for a run at least...

So Far

So, 1500 miles in, and I am very pleased. No reported issues so far. Nothing broken, or fallen off as you would expect for the money!

Diesel noise on startup a bit of a shock from a V8, but once on the move it is very refined. In fact you cant hear the engine on a motorway cruise.

S-Line (Same as sport) is VERY firm. Bear in mind the cars I have owned (and my other car is an Elise) and understand that some people would (and do) find it too firm. If you are going to do 20+k on the motorway, consider 17" wheels, or the Se spec. The car goes very well. There is no benefit in revvin it - it does all its work in 2-4k band. The is not much lag. Although it has paddle-shift, I rarely use it. The DSG box suits the Diesel perfectly and changes are almost imperceptable.

My mileage is mostly dual carriage-way and country roads, so it suits me perfectly.

The inside is very well put together and most materials are very classy. I would say compared to the 2001 A3 I had the accountants have had their way in a few places - qquality of carpets not quite what they used to be, but overall a very classy car - and the standard S-Line leather is great.

In hindsight I should have added lumbar, but other than that I am happy with the spec.

I wanted the RNS-E nav/mp3 option, but at £2,100 Audi are talking the piss. The standard stereo is now 2 din, so buying an RNS off ebay can save a fortune. I have bought one with GPS antenna for £410. The Concert 3 is on ebay and should go for £150 (based on other sales) which means I have saved about £1800......

Regarding fuel economy, the car is so far avergaing 42.2, which I am very happy with. My commute accross Dual carriage way, country roads and motorway easily does high 40's, and I have managed 53mpg. If you have fun it goes to the late 30's. Even absoloutely flying my average journey has never gone lower than 30.

Glad I got the 14 spoke 18 wheels, as I find the 5 arms are a bit over-used. The 14's are now no longer available - not sure if they are the same as the ED30 golf perhaps and needed for that??? Bit of a pain to clean, but worth it!

Hope this was of help or interest!

post-12290-137914397581_thumb.jpg

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[ QUOTE ]

Ouside pic

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Looks just like mine!

Which is bizarre because prior to it I had a titanium storm S2 with black wheels, and I also work in Guildford.

Even more bizarre! I probably parked opposite you once in Bedford Road carpark wink.gif

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Update on Nav. RNS-E bougth from ebay for £410. Concert Sold for £120. Latest original Western Europe DVD (2 DVD's) bought for £120, so all in for £410.

An important note is that the factory GSM kit has Bluetooth, as well as the cradle. Works very well with my preent Nokia, pairs over bluetooth and uploads addessses which you can scroll though with the multi-function wheel. Also has voice control. Well worth the cost IMO.

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