News & Reviews- Make: Audi

There's only one better compact sport sedan in the premium sector than Audi's A3, and that's the same brand's S3. Having already covered that sportier model in 2015 trim, I await a second turn at the wheel with eager anticipation, although another spin in the A3 2.0 TFSI Quattro is certainly a good way to wile away the time.

If you're a fan of Audi's big, bold grille, LED enhanced lighting elements and chiseled flanks, the new A3 sedan will certainly fit your preferred style. From the front and profile it looks just like most other Audi sedans, only smaller, while its blade-shaped taillights are uniquely elegant. My tester rode on a neat and clean set of simple silver 10-spoke alloys on 225/45R18 Continental ProContact all-seasons, while up top about two-thirds of the rooftop gets covered in black glass making it appear as if there's a panoramic moonscape from below, but in reality it's just a nice large sunroof shedding light on the front half of the passenger compartment.
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Every now and then an automaker creates a car that's ideal for a given market, and sales success follows. Enter the new Audi A3 Sedan and its even more enticing S3 sibling.

Small, lightweight, superbly styled and filled with Audi's usual high-quality finishings and ample allowance of features, the premium compact four-door suits Canadian tastes to a twin-scroll turbocharged T, and when kitted out with the extra power and handling prowess of the S variant it becomes the stuff of future legend.

I'm not going to go so far as to say the 2015 Audi S3 will someday be collectible, but there's no doubt it will be highly sought after on the pre-owned market for decades to come as there are few compacts that deliver as much satisfaction behind the wheel, yet come in such a fully livable and accommodating package.

If you're not yet familiar with the S3 Sedan or its A3 compatriot, think S4/A4, only smaller. Where the larger Audi models share Volkswagen group's MLB platform Read Full Story

Europeans have been enjoying small luxury for decades, but the concept is relatively new for we North Americans. Our mindset has traditionally been "big is better," and while this is still reality for the most part, Audi's own full-size A8 luxury sedan still outclassing and certainly out-pricing the diminutive A3 four-door, there's a shift to small occurring in the premium sector that's likely here to stay.

The Q3 is a prime example. Prior to its arrival here last year, Audi's only "compact" SUV model was the Q5. The larger crossover SUV was and still is classified as a compact as there's no segment between compact and mid-size, the latter served by Audi's seven-passenger Q7, but the Q3 more ideally falls into what we normally refer to the subcompact category along with the BMW X1, Buick Encore, Mercedes-Benz GLA, Mini Cooper Countryman and Range Rover Evoque (Mazda's new CX-3 deserves to be considered in this premium segment too as it's extremely good and packed with luxury), Read Full Story

Let's face it. Some cars are simply better than others. Take Audi's A5. From styling to engineering it was a winner from day one, and nearly nine years later it's still a beautiful luxury coupe that sells more than five times better than it did when new.

Crazy, huh? After only 35 units left Audi Canada showrooms in 2007, the A5's first full year of sales only resulted in 400 deliveries across the country. I don't know why 2008 was such a dud. Maybe it was an allocation issue or possibly it took a bit of time to get sales traction, but I'd find that latter hard to believe. Just look at it. I could call Audi's PR department to find out the "real" reason and while I'm sure I'd get an answer, I'd likely end up being fed some slick marketing spin, yet that would hardly matter anyway. The hard numbers show that sales picked up quickly, 2009 ending in 1,520 A5s out Audi Canada's collective dealership door, 2010 resulting in 2,309 deliveries, 2013 being the first full year after its Read Full Story

Audi hasn't had a sedan-based convertible in its lineup since the advent of the A5 Cabriolet in 2009, at least not in name, so the A3 marks a return to a formula that won a lot of fans over to the four-ringed brand during the A4 Cabriolet years.

The A3 Cabriolet is significantly smaller than any A4 Cab, a car that was already shorter than the A5, so it literally opens Audi up to a new market segment not available to the Ingolstadt brand prior to the new model's introduction last year. Previously, these buyers looked to BMW's old 1 Series Cabriolet or Volkswagen's Eos and others in the mainstream volume sector, but ask any in this latter crowd if they'd rather drive an Audi for the same price and you'll get a vigorous nod.

The A3 Cabriolet can actually be had for a bit less than the current Eos, at $42,600 compared to $42,990, but to be fair VW's four-seat convertible gets a retractable hardtop and is only available in one fully-featured Wolfsburg edition for 2015, plus Read Full Story