BUY, LEASE OR FINANCE AN AUDI A3 SALOON FROM OSV: https://bit.ly/37xy7br

It's an Audi A3 - but not perhaps, quite as you know it. Here, we've the Saloon version, which in this second generation form has been designed to even more effectively bring the brand's cool elegance within the reach of those who might find the only slightly larger A4 model a bit of a stretch. We all like the idea of good things in sensibly sized packages. In essence, that's what this is. There's now a completely digitalised interior and cutting-edge infotainment, plus more unique light signatures, various electrified engines and a suite of innovative assistance systems enveloped in a completely redesigned, yet immediately recognisable body.

Background

The compact executive saloon. Every business carpark is stuffed with the things, most of them up-market German-badged offerings like Audi's A4, BMW's 3 Series or Mercedes' C-Class. Cars of this kind are now generations old and have got progressively larger, more sophisticated - and more expensive. So much so that room has been created for a market sector to slot in beneath them. A segment with four-door saloons offering pretty much the same thing, but in a slightly more compact form. Cars like this one, Audi's A3 Saloon.

The Ingolstadt brand first launched this model in our market in 2013 and from the start was well aware of the need to sell this one carefully. After all, it's traditionally been true that any four-door smaller than something A4/3 Series or C-Class-sized tends to get pretty much ignored on these shores. So the marketeers had to pitch this three-box A3 as offering almost everything a buyer might get in their fully-fledged A4 model - just in a marginally smaller package. The thinking person's compact executive saloon if you like. The approach worked and the first generation A3 saloon carved out a loyal following. But towards the end of the MK1 version's production life, it began to look a little frumpy compared to the rival premium-badged compact four-door coupe models that sold to much the same type of clientele - the Mercedes CLA and, latterly, the BMW 2 Series Gran Coupe. Hence the need for a slightly different approach from this MK2 A3 Saloon.

Driving Experience

Take a glance at the powerplant line-up and, on initial inspection at least, you won't find anything particularly shocking if you happened to be familiar with it from before. The keynote mainstream engine is the 35 TFSI variant's 1.5-litre TFSI petrol unit with 150PS, which is offered in conventional form with a manual gearbox but which now gets Audi's 48-volt mild hybrid tech if you order it with the 7-speed S tronic auto transmission most A3 Saloon customers want.

It's the other mainstream engine option that features in the 35 TDI model we tried, another 150PS unit, a 2.0 TDI diesel that has to be had with the S tronic auto. You can also talk to your dealer about a couple of lesser petrol and diesel powerplants. In the base 30 TFSI variant, a 1.0 three cylinder turbo petrol engine with 110PS (which again gets the mild hybrid tech if you order it with S tronic auto). And, in the base black pump-fuelled version, the 30 TDI, a de-tuned 2.0 TDI diesel with 116PS.

More powerful future variants will get quattro drive and further electrification. And there's a sporting S3 derivative which develops 310PS from its 2.0 TFSI turbo petrol unit and gets to 62mph in just 4.8s. This performance model's standard quattro 4WD system has been lightly revised for quicker reactions that also now apply to the optional adaptive damping system you can have on all A3s, now hydraulically-activated.

On the move in any version of this car, if you're an A3 regular - or a graduate from a Golf - you'll find that this Audi now has even more of the mature drive dynamics you'll be looking for, helped by a fully digital at-the-wheel experience and the optional embellishment of hybrid power and self-driving tech.

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