Audi A3 Sportback and S3

It’s very common for an automaker to fraction an important product’s release, with the simple reason of wanting to attract bigger attention. It’s a matter of taking advantage from the fact that each “event” of the car world gets almost the same attention from the media, which results better to take the spotlights one novelty at a time rather than sharing only one time among several products. Audi did that showing at first the 3-door A3, to now also enjoy everyone giving those two following versions their own fifteen minutes of fame.

Considering that this blog’s articles usually start commenting on the mentioned car’s design, this one can be started in a very expressive way if we quote Warhol one more time. After all, we’ve looked so much at Audi’s current visual identity that it does seem to have lost its meaning. To be clear, this so-called complaint doesn’t go to the company’s design structure at all, but to its excessive repetition. Every single latest Audi carries black backgrounded headlights with a LED line, with large air intakes beneath them and a trapezoidal central air intake between all that, carrying the license plate at half-height.

The sides use square windows visually connected and rounded by a chrome line and two big folds at the body to make the same light-and-shadow effect, while the rear end uses horizontal tail lights with more LEDs forming different shapes and the other license plate among them. The other brands use different interpretations of their current style rules, like Chevrolet and Ford, but Audi only adapts the same ones to each car’s size. Sure, this makes sure everyone knows there comes an Audi, but nothing more than that. From the front end, at least, it’s getting each time harder to distinguish an A1, A3, A4, A6, A8…

However, after that the compliments begin intensely. Hatchbacks usually offer their two possible body options as the same product only with two or four doors, but A3 makes a bigger difference between them. The Sportback version has increased at length and between-axles distance in order to give bigger trunk and internal space. This impression is confirmed by the exterior, who takes inspiration at its own previous generations by using three windows at the sides, LEDs at the trunk and even a roof rack, which is much more common at station wagons and minivans. Since all the sports potential has been concentrated at the three-door A3, the family parents who want to spice their Sportback a little must settle with the S-Line package who features the car at the pictures.

This version also uses the brand new MQB platform, so the technical part mustn’t be different from its smaller brother. Using gasoline, Sportback’s diesel engines are 1.6 TDI with 105 hp and 2.0 TDI with 150 hp or 184 hp, with the main highlight going to the smaller one’s fuel consumption of 3,85 l/100 km. Among the gasoline options, there’s the TFSI team starting with the 1.2 and its 105 hp and followed by the 1.8 with 180 hp and the 1.4 with 122 hp or 140 hp – this one has a cylinder deactivation option, which brings itself the 4,76 l/100 km consumption.

While Sportback is the most familiar variation of A3, it was also revealed the other extreme of this line. The new S3 never took too much attention because of exclusive design parts, and now makes it even less with its accessories being sold to any A3 through the S-Line kit. The interior has special seats with better body support and several name logotypes to spice up a fully-equiped room, but this car is correctly observed opening the hood. It was made an entire new 2.0 TFSI with technologies like 1,2 bar turbo, variable valve timing and direct injection to achieve 300 hp.

There’s a new magnesium manual transmission with six speeds, but S-Tronic is still availabe as optional. S3 also brings Drive Select system, to adjust several driving parameters according to five modes: Auto, Comfort, Dynamic, Efficiency and Individual. All this power takes it from 0 to 96 mph in 5s1, while the top speed couldn’t escape from the German cars’ electronic limit. Even with high performance oozing through many details such as the four exhaust pipes, all those cutting-edge technologies allow it to acheive the 7,14 l/100 km consumption. It’ll cost € 38.900 in Germany.

Lançamento no Brasil (11/02/2014)

Com todo o sucesso que sua nova geração vem fazendo no país, é até de se estranhar que esta variação não tenha vindo antes. O mais novo S3 desembarca no Brasil apenas com as quatro portas da versão Sportback, o que lhe torna um rival à altura de BMW M135i e Mercedes-Benz A45 AMG. Seu motor 2.0 TFSI produz 280 cv e 38,8 kgfm, números suficientes para acelerar de 0 a 100 km/h 4s9 e alcançar a máxima de 250 km/h. Compartilhando todas as características especiais de seu irmão três-portas, apresentadas nos parágrafos anteriores, este modelo custa R$ 205.500 por aqui. Está previsto que ele ganhará a companhia de sua variação sedã em março, mas esta ainda não tem preços definidos.