The Chef.
03-31-2005, 07:25 PM
At about 6:30 Pm this evening I got my chance at getting my hands on a 2006 A3 for the very first time....Millenium Audi in Houston Tx recieved a Brilliant Black over Beige Cloth with a 6MT. This car was bone stock...25,xxx. Keep in mind all this car was really for was to get driving impressions. Many of us will order packages for this car, but This was great to get a feel for the steering, engine and putting the car through its paces.
As soon as I got there, I got in the back with my wife, while Zerin of Dubspeed shat shotgun and the sales rep Louis that sold Both Zerin and I our cars drove. First things first...I got in the BACK. I am almost 6'5" folks are I fit FINE. Something I cannot say in my A4 if I was to try too. The back seat room is there as advertised. As soon as we pulled out I felt something was diffrent. VERY diffrent. Folks we had I would guess about 750+ pounds of weight in this car.....and the thing went ALOT quicker then I alone in my A4. We came upon the first corner, a 90 degree right hander, and it was taken at a good 30 MPH or so......The ESP (Version 8) really took over here...and kept the A3 right in line. You have to SERIOUSLY and I mean SERIOUSLY push this car to a point where with out Quattro you would be in trouble....Accelerating out of the corner in this car is just a flat out blast with literally ZERO Tq steer. The 2.0T FSI engine loves to be pushed and emits a noticable exhaust note vs the 1.8T, One of the things that is amazing in this car while driving it is you dont know its a Turbo...the throttle response is that good!
We took the car through the twisties and the car was very very palaced with only slight body roll that can be fixed by a sway bar...Zerin then got his hands on the car still with us 4 in the car and borught it up onto the freeway to 100MPH. You don't feel like your anywhere near that. They car is comfortable, yet you feel the ride. Its as rock solid as any Audi you will touch or drive...the doors slam with a THUNK, and there is not a rattle or sense of cheapnes/cost cutting in the entire car with the acception of a few places, the light switch on the left and maybe the hook on the engine closure.
The sound system is very very good. Not boomy and clear at high levels. The Sub in the back does a nice nice job. IMO, the sound package is NOT needed and would only hinder aftermarket if one chooses afterward.
The seats where very nice, louis mentioned to us that the leather sport seats will have more bolstering then the cloth seats in the base model, that said, the base seats are ALREADY better then the current A4 seats. As far as the acutal cloth on the seats it self....I will say I am not a fan. The Beigne Interior looked like a brushed Canvis, something I have a pair of Cargo shorts made out of, the seat centers use a larger raised pattern weave...bottom line, if your looking for Grippy cloth seats, these are not what you want IMO.
The 6spd was fair. It did engage easily and was very simple to drive, cluth picked up around 1200 RPM. I feel the shift where quite long though and the gates fair...I believe its Audi's best 6MT to date, with a ergonomically correct shift knob and all around decent height. Louis mentioned several times, as great as this car is, DSG is simply on an entirly diffrent level, I believe it after imagining the 2.oT FSI enigne eith the DSG I drove on the 3.2 TT.
Under the hood the engine is very clean...not alot of places for dirt and dust to interfere. Everything is pretty well kept in wraps.
The exteriro looks better everytime I see it...the Rear looked great as did the nose.....the side profile is striking and it def. shows bigger in person then it does in photos. The fornt of the car, while being striking is even better in person and I can also say that those that are worries about ordering the car with the front US plate, it looks MUCH better in person also.
The car overall is a major hit and I for one had major expectations of this car. It impressed me even in its most stripped form...for me, with Sport, Nav, Xenon, Convenence, DSG, Open Sky, it will make the car even better. There is no doubt it my mind that Audi is going to do very very well with this car....and the fact that MTM can tune it right now to over 260HP with a mere 2K.....this will be a phenominal ride.
These A3's will start showing up at dealers soon, so give them a call and go test drive it yourself...it will be worth the wait and I have a feeling, alot of you will be neededing to 'Sit down with the Sales Rep" afterward.
Cheers.
NS
As soon as I got there, I got in the back with my wife, while Zerin of Dubspeed shat shotgun and the sales rep Louis that sold Both Zerin and I our cars drove. First things first...I got in the BACK. I am almost 6'5" folks are I fit FINE. Something I cannot say in my A4 if I was to try too. The back seat room is there as advertised. As soon as we pulled out I felt something was diffrent. VERY diffrent. Folks we had I would guess about 750+ pounds of weight in this car.....and the thing went ALOT quicker then I alone in my A4. We came upon the first corner, a 90 degree right hander, and it was taken at a good 30 MPH or so......The ESP (Version 8) really took over here...and kept the A3 right in line. You have to SERIOUSLY and I mean SERIOUSLY push this car to a point where with out Quattro you would be in trouble....Accelerating out of the corner in this car is just a flat out blast with literally ZERO Tq steer. The 2.0T FSI engine loves to be pushed and emits a noticable exhaust note vs the 1.8T, One of the things that is amazing in this car while driving it is you dont know its a Turbo...the throttle response is that good!
We took the car through the twisties and the car was very very palaced with only slight body roll that can be fixed by a sway bar...Zerin then got his hands on the car still with us 4 in the car and borught it up onto the freeway to 100MPH. You don't feel like your anywhere near that. They car is comfortable, yet you feel the ride. Its as rock solid as any Audi you will touch or drive...the doors slam with a THUNK, and there is not a rattle or sense of cheapnes/cost cutting in the entire car with the acception of a few places, the light switch on the left and maybe the hook on the engine closure.
The sound system is very very good. Not boomy and clear at high levels. The Sub in the back does a nice nice job. IMO, the sound package is NOT needed and would only hinder aftermarket if one chooses afterward.
The seats where very nice, louis mentioned to us that the leather sport seats will have more bolstering then the cloth seats in the base model, that said, the base seats are ALREADY better then the current A4 seats. As far as the acutal cloth on the seats it self....I will say I am not a fan. The Beigne Interior looked like a brushed Canvis, something I have a pair of Cargo shorts made out of, the seat centers use a larger raised pattern weave...bottom line, if your looking for Grippy cloth seats, these are not what you want IMO.
The 6spd was fair. It did engage easily and was very simple to drive, cluth picked up around 1200 RPM. I feel the shift where quite long though and the gates fair...I believe its Audi's best 6MT to date, with a ergonomically correct shift knob and all around decent height. Louis mentioned several times, as great as this car is, DSG is simply on an entirly diffrent level, I believe it after imagining the 2.oT FSI enigne eith the DSG I drove on the 3.2 TT.
Under the hood the engine is very clean...not alot of places for dirt and dust to interfere. Everything is pretty well kept in wraps.
The exteriro looks better everytime I see it...the Rear looked great as did the nose.....the side profile is striking and it def. shows bigger in person then it does in photos. The fornt of the car, while being striking is even better in person and I can also say that those that are worries about ordering the car with the front US plate, it looks MUCH better in person also.
The car overall is a major hit and I for one had major expectations of this car. It impressed me even in its most stripped form...for me, with Sport, Nav, Xenon, Convenence, DSG, Open Sky, it will make the car even better. There is no doubt it my mind that Audi is going to do very very well with this car....and the fact that MTM can tune it right now to over 260HP with a mere 2K.....this will be a phenominal ride.
These A3's will start showing up at dealers soon, so give them a call and go test drive it yourself...it will be worth the wait and I have a feeling, alot of you will be neededing to 'Sit down with the Sales Rep" afterward.
Cheers.
NS