The arrival of a pair of new Audis means the company is now just two models away from having a 50-vehicle range.
I was surprised this wasn’t mentioned on the recent media preview of the A3 Cabrio and S3 Saloon: Audi not only outsold BMW in February but is now the UK’s number four brand. That means only Ford (31,727 YtD), Vauxhall (24,224) and Volkswagen (19,995) outsell it, and over 2,500 more of its cars were registered last month than Nissan vehicles. Sales in February were up 16 percent (i.e. 2,000 more vehicles than Feb 2013), while the market itself rose by just six percent.
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Premium brands are selling up a storm, as Mercedes-Benz, with 11,430 sales, is in sixth place behind Audi (14,925) and Nissan for the year to date, followed by BMW (10,960) which has pulled ahead of Peugeot (10,869). The other non-premium names in the top ten as at 28th February are Citroen (8,577) and Hyundai (8,173).
Last year, Audi overtook BMW (the brand) to become the UK’s number one premium nameplate, with 142,040 sales, versus 135,583, and it already seems as though the result for 2014 is a foregone conclusion. It will likely be a question of just how far ahead the brand from Ingolstadt is able to get. So much of this is down to the freshness of Audi’s products, as A3 range sales prove.
Just over 4,000 A3s have been sold in Britain this year, making it the premium segments’ best performer. Can it last? It seems so, as the new A3 Cabriolet and S3 Saloon mean this model series will soon extend to eight cars, counting the existing A3, A3 Sportback, A3 Saloon, S3, S3 Sportback & S3 Cabriolet. In Germany there’s also the natural gas-powered A3 g-tron, while the UK will be one of the key markets for yet another derivative, the A3 e-tron, a petrol-electric plug-in hybrid. The last of these is due here in the autumn.
The importer says the new cabriolet has no direct rivals and for the moment, that’s true, as BMW is between models: 1 Series cabriolet production ended in 2013 and the topless 2 Series is yet to go on sale. Mercedes-Benz, meanwhile, has no entrant in the C-premium convertible class, and neither has Volvo, Lexus, Jaguar or Infiniti. If the market is there for the taking, Audi is definitely determined to exploit it, as the variety of available engines shows. The range starts with a 140PS 1.4 TFSI (turbocharged direct injection petrol), then there’s the 150PS 2.0 TDI and a 180PS 1.8 TFSI. A 1.6 TDI will be added later in 2014, as will a 184PS version of the 2.0-litre diesel.
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By GlobalDataThe A3 Cabrio is a genuine four-seater, and even though the car sits 15mm lower than the old-shape model, there’s enough rear headroom in the back for average size adults. That’s probably down to the way the interior has been reconfigured, due to the model being longer (by 183mm), and wider (by 28mm). The formerly squishy boot is also much improved, its cubic capacity rising from 260 litres to 320. With the back seats folded, it now holds a theoretical 678 litres, which is a gain of four litres.
There are a few wheelbase possibilities with the Volkswagen Group’s MQB architecture, and the Cabrio uses the same technical platform as the A3 and A3 saloon (i.e. not the longer wheelbase Sportback five-door). This bodystyle is manufactured at Audi’s own Györ plant in the north west of Hungary. The plant built 60,900 units of the old model over a six-year period, but higher volumes are hoped for from the new generation car.
One of the things you most notice driving this model with the roof raised is how quiet it is, though the car in question was an S line version: SE variants in the British market do without an extra acoustic soft top, but this comes as standard on the more expensive Sport and S line grades. As part of the assembly process, the fabric for all cabrios is stretched over a lightweight kinematic mechanism made of steel and magnesium. The higher-spec soft top consists of three additional layers of inner padding, and the roof itself can be ordered in black, grey or brown. Two spring-loaded plates that are recessed in the body will deploy should sensors detect an imminent rollover.
In base SE spec, the kerb weight is 1,365kg, which is 50kg less than the former Cabriolet. Audi boasts that even taking into account special reinforcements which are said to maximise torsional rigidity, the body-in-white weighs 30kg less than before, helped by an aluminium bonnet.
Reduced mass is also something to mention about the other car on Audi’s media preview event, the S3 Saloon. This has a new 300PS long stroke 2.0-litre turbo engine under the bonnet, even though its capacity, at 1,984cc, is identical to that of its predecessor. Weighing in at 148kg, this engine has lost 5kg compared to the old one. This, combined with the aluminium that is used for the bonnet, front wings and front suspension subframe, mean that the Audi tips the scales at 1,430kg (manual transmission). The BMW M135i five-door (1,520kg) and M235i two-door (1,530kg) are heavier but these cars have neither the same body style nor an all-wheel drive system. A fairer comparison is the Mercedes-Benz CLA 250 4MATIC saloon, which has an equivalent figure of 1,540kg. The Audi costs from GBP33,240 and the Benz from GBP33,205. You also get standard automatic transmission in the CLA but that’s a GBP1,480 extra in the S3.
It’s a sign of the times that the automatic version has better performance and economy figures than the six-speed manual. The S3 with the S tronic twin-clutch gearbox has a quoted 0-62mph time of 4.9 seconds, versus 5.3 for the manual, with Combined consumption of 40.9mpg or 40.4mpg. CO2 averages? For the six-speed manual it’s 162g/km and 159g/km for the S tronic.
The Volkswagen Group’s engineers have given the 2.0 TFSI both direct and indirect injection with 200 bar (was 150 bar), an exhaust manifold integrated into the cylinder head and two balancer shafts which spin at twice the speed of the crankshaft. The exhaust system is fitted with a sound flap which opens at certain engine speed ranges and I can attest to just how good a noise you’ll hear – I was sorry there were no tunnels on the test route.
Switching the S3 Saloon to the MQB architecture is said to have given benefits for handling, with the front axle now 52mm further forward allowing the front-to-rear distribution of mass to be 59/41 percent – slightly better than the previous generation car. Drive to all four wheels is distributed via a Haldex clutch.
To me, this car is now so close to the M135i that even those who would always choose a rear-wheel drive BMW over an Audi with quattro drive should try the S3 and prepare to be surprised. It’s comparable to the hottest version of the 1 Series and while I am yet to drive the M235i or CLA 45 AMG, I cannot imagine anyone who buys the Audi and then tries either of these feeling shortchanged. Yes, the Mercedes has 360PS and the S3 has ‘only’ 300PS but then something tells me an RS 3 in up to three body styles might be in the works. That would make 52 models, or by the time these hypothetical cars are launched, probably more like 55 or more.
