Audi A3

The A3 comes with 1.8L TFSI petrol and 2.0L TDI diesel engines mated to 7-speed S tronic and 6-speed S tronic transmissions respectively.

The 35TDI engine chugs out 143bhp of power and 320Nm of torque, propelling the car from 0 to 100 kmph in just 8.6 seconds.

Peak torque is available from as low as 1600 rpm and the car accelerates promptly with very little turbo lag.

The 7-speed S-Tronic transmission impresses by managing expectations between the two modes, being sporty when needed and silky smooth otherwise.

The A3 can comfortably cruise at over 200 kmph and with such power on tap, it still returns an impressive ARAI certified mileage of 20.38 km/l. After pushing it to it limits for more than 200 kilometres during the test drive, the A3 returned an impressive mileage of 15.7kmpl.

A car that has received 5-stars in the Euro NCAP crash test, the A3 offers front and side airbags as standard across the range. Top variant also gets rear airbags and knee airbag for the driver. Besides the standard ABS, the A3 is also equipped with ‘Electronic Stability Control’ (ESC) and ‘Electronic Limited Slip Differential’ as standard.

Audi will be launching the A3 early next month and it could be priced between Rs 25-30 lakh across variants. Until Mercedes-Benz launches the CLA sometime next year, the A3 will be the sole player in the new luxury compact sedan segment.