<center><img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/20879/audi_a3.jpg"></center><p>Audi is ready to rewrite its line-up with three all-new versions of the A3.

With exclusive pointers from design insiders at the German company, the new issue of What Car?'s sister title Autocar reveals how Audi's second-generation hatch should look when it goes on sale next year.

Design cues are taken from the Steppenwolf concept seen at the Paris Motor Show 2000 and the TT, so expect a strong rounded nose, prominent wheelarches and a high waistline.

An all-new stiffer, lighter chassis with aluminium components should improve ride, handling and responsiveness. Expect 4x4 Allroad and five-door Avant versions of the A3 to follow, as well as a hot V6 model to replace the current S3 Quattro.

The latest issue of Autocar - Britain's leading car news weekly - hits the newsstands on October 10.<ul><li><a href="http://www.whatcar.com/default.asp?a=news&b=story&article=390&makeref=6&modelref=35">http://www.whatcar.com/default.asp?a=news&b=story&article=390&makeref=6&modelref=35</a</li></ul>

Any updates regarding availability in USA? Last I read someone stated it was very likey, probably in summer '03 as MY2004.

Sorry, but have no reliable information regarding the new A3 in the US. The only information regarding this issue is a reply from VWVortex "Car lounge" forum, regarding the same subject:
"We probably will see new A3 in next 2-3 years, according to my reliable Audi sources." (A4Jetta)<ul><li><a href="http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=122019">http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=122019</a</li></ul>

This pic has been doing the rounds for months now.
It is a computer generated fake.
(Hard to believe that Autocar fell for it)

If you want to know how the new A3 will really look, go to www.autoexpress.co.uk and do a search under new A3. They have a genuine Audi pic of the new car.

Is the V6 replacing the S3 for good, or there will be a totally new S3 in the near future?

I've seen the autoexpress photo, & certainly hope the alleged "fake" is more representative of the finished product as its far more impressive than the "genuine" pic.

That autoexpress photo is relatively old, not sure why Audi would have released the final design so far in advance, only to autoexpress and/or not to be seen from other sources? Plus the Steppenwolf concept surely has design cues from the next A3?

If the autoexpress photo is the final design, I'm not impressed. Might as well get a Camry...

If you read Autocar's article, they admit to their pic being 'computer generated'.

My view is that the alleged Steppenwolf derivative looks hideously ugly. If the new A3 really does look like that, BMW will be laughing all the way to the bank !

Alas, styling preferences are a personal thing... to me, the Autoexpress photo looks like a morph between the current-generation A3 and a Geo. No presence, no substance. Meanwhile, to me, the Steppenwolf derivatives seem to have some of both.

Still don't understand how Autoexpress alone would have the scoop on a "genuine" photo, while the Steppenwolf & its design cues appearing in Audi press releases, Autocar, Road & Track, Car Connection, Brenda Priddy, etc. are off base?

For those of us wanting an AWD coupe, anyone know if the BMW X Coupe has a chance at production? And will the A4 "coupe" really have four doors?

You are right on styling preferences of course, it is a personal thing.

But I find it hard to believe that in the face of very elegant looking competition in the form of the 3 Series Compact and the C-Class Coupe, Audi would choose such odd styling for a mainstream hatchback. It would be a radical and inconsistent departure from the 'new corporate look' of the A4 and A6.

- Unless there are to be several, very different body styles of course, along the lines of the A6 and A6 Allroad.

My reliable sources told me that this picture it's not a fake one....& the 2.5 V6 Diesel engine on new A3 it's almost a sure thing.

Could the V6 in the (alleged) new S3 possibly be a variant of the VR6? I know, fairly certainly, that the Corrado used to have a 3.2 liter VR6.

I am fairly certain that the Corrado at one time or another had a 3.2 liter VR6, and am absolutely certain that there is a 3.2 liter stroker kit for the 2.8 liter VR6. So it can, and, I think, does exist.