# Finally bought one!



## ccc (May 7, 2002)

... an A3 3.2q, that is!

After selling my TTR 225 a while ago and keeping low while saving to pay off my mortgage early (done last month, yeeeha!) I've now traded in my 8-year-old, 140k-mile A3 1.8T and bought the car I've been drooling over for a while.

I test drove it back-to-back with the MkV GTI. The Golf was exactly as the reviews depicted it - great fun, eager to tackle anything, bloody quick and well kitted out. Then I got in the Audi and suddenly the Â£19,995 plus the cost of a few extras seemed like a lot of money for the VW. Ok, I've bought a year-old 14.3k mile Audi at what I regard as a bargain price and the GTI would have had to be ordered new, but the A3 knocked spots off the GTI for four main reasons:

that V6 engine
the sheer quality of the car
quattro
that V6 engine again!

The car came with leather, Bose, Symphony radio (inc front-loading 6-CD jobby) light pack, storage pack and (lava grey) metallic paint.

I picked it up on Saturday and spent a fair amount of the weekend hooning around. After over 10 years in turboed cars, a naturally-aspirated engine is a revelation. This morning I had the first commute into London and got an average of 37 mpg; not bad at all - and rather more than at the weekend!! The money I'm no longer forking out for the mortgage will be partly put somewhere 'sensible' and the rest of it will be poured into the petrol tank!

Mmm - how long before I can drive back home?!!


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## christtopher (May 7, 2002)

37mpg 

That is good, and better than anything I've had!

Enjoy the car. I've always said the Bose is wasted on the 3.2, just open the window for audio entertainment :wink:


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## ccc (May 7, 2002)

LOL! I couldn't agree more - the best sounding engine I've ever had, with the best quality audio system I'm likely to get, and the Bose doesn't get a look in!

There's a fair amount of unnecessary 'blipping' and taking detours to go through tunnels with the windows down going on right now. I've wanted a six-cylinder engine for ages, and every drive reminds me why!


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## deanpoli (Jun 3, 2005)

was the 37 mpg round town in traffic? coz the audi website says it will do 22 mpg.


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## ccc (May 7, 2002)

No, it was the average over a 50-mile commute, primarily on an empty-ish M3. The website - and the brochure - says 22 is urban driving and c. 40 for extraurban. Given the high percentage of motorway on my commute, my consumption figure doesn't seem that remarkable.

I don't look at the consumption in town or when I'm 'travelling' (hah!) on the M25. On any 'interesting' stretch of road the fuel consumption is probably lousy too. And, to be honest, I don't care! I've not had the car long so I'm having great fun experimenting, and higher fuel bills and insurance were all taken into account in the decision to purchase.


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## Crisis (Oct 17, 2005)

Cool.

The 3.2 is tempting with its V6 however the 2.0FSI is cheaper, more MPG and performance difference is negligable, plus a Turbo.

Turbo sound... V6 sound... Think we need audio files up of each to compare!


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## ccc (May 7, 2002)

Hi Crisis!

I've bought turbo cars for the last 10 years - a Golf TDI in 1994, an A3 1.8T Sport in '97, a TTR 225 in 2000 - and loved the turbo effect, even though it's not that pronounced in these particular VAG cars.

Moving to a naturally aspirated engine was quite a revelation after such a time - the words 'linear delivery' found in so many car reviews came to life, and the difference in torque characteristics and the timing/revs for gear changes took a few drives to appreciate. The engine just pulls and pulls, and when I've run out of bottle, it still seems to be saying, 'Go on... we can do it!' And of course, with quattro, it can make you feel invincible - dangerous!

Once again I have a car that's a better piece of engineering than I am a driver!! And I'm loving it!

You're right, though: all the 'head' and many 'heart' arguments are for an FSI or TDI engine, and they are fantastic cars. When I've got 'V6-mania' out of my system, that's where I'll be headed. But there again, I've been reading some fantastic reviews of the V8 engine...


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## Crisis (Oct 17, 2005)

Yeh I've driven the 2.0TDI FWD Sportback, my 1st turbo experience, and a diesel one at that.

Just both sound great! Huge NA engine... or smaller but still powerful Turbo. How are you supposed to choose?


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