[urban legend]

Originally Posted by drmohitg

Exactly and hence the drive is honestly stressful because you need to be very very focused even when the Swifts and Dzires just whiz past you. Hence I feel to some extent these cars cannot be kept as primary cars.

Another downer for highway trips will be the lack of boot space when you add a space saver. Post the space saver the boot space is quite restricted and will only hold a couple of average sized suitcases. Also loading the boot will further increase the weight at the back and make it much more prone to potholes and rest of the stuff.

But all said and done, when you put that sports mode on, all is forgiven and it is just pure JOY.

moderators please shift the discussion to what car section if deemed necessary. this is a case of heart vs head! actually the segment i was looking at 30-35 lakhs has a nice, practical , luxurious, spacious car- the merc b tourer. but it looks like a minivan and is hardly exciting to drive. still i ll test drive it for the sake of it. yes the 3 series will be my primary car and the boot space will be quite restricted after placing a space saver. so some soft luggage might have to be placed in the cabin and i might have to mount my mtbs on the roof (using a cycle rack of course)as i do in my city. highway driving in s mode will have to be restricted to expressways and smooth tarmac. rest of the time i ll have to control my urge and drive at moderate speeds. i anyway do the same in my city as its quite low too and i dont want to damage the car. but i have high hopes the roads are definitely on the way to improvement. the 3 series has many discounts going on now so much so that its nearly as much as an a3 premium plus! now would anyone buy the a3 if you are getting a 3 series at the same price? ( strong negotiations are still on!)

[drmohitg]

Originally Posted by urban legend

now would anyone buy the a3 if you are getting a 3 series at the same price? ( strong negotiations are still on!)

Oh yes. 3 must be having good discounts and at the same time I feel these compact sedans like A3 and CLA are grossly overpriced compared to there elder cousins. If it is of any help, they were offering around 3L off on the prestige variant in the month of december. Good luck with your hunt.

[siddheshb]

Did a couple of test drives this week; am enamored by the car, especially since Audi has always been my dream car. However, unless you go for the Premium Plus which is the third variant from the bottom (after Attraction and Premium), and quite a significant jump in price, you will miss out on leather seats, DRL, Xenon lamps, navigation, rear camera - which, I believe, is a must have if you go for a luxury sedan. So rather than the 25L in the ads, budget for 38-40L on road.

The Premium Plus is also the only variant in Petrol, at a couple of lakhs cheaper than the Premium Plus Diesel.

As I see it, if you go for the Audi A3, it should be the Premium Plus Petrol (for low mileage, in city) or Premium Plus Diesel (if you are going to hit long drives every weekend). Thoughts?

[iliketurtles]

Originally Posted by siddheshb

As I see it, if you go for the Audi A3, it should be the Premium Plus Petrol (for low mileage, in city) or Premium Plus Diesel (if you are going to hit long drives every weekend). Thoughts?

I'd say you're about right. Go any higher than this and it's in A4 territory and go any lower and it doesn't feel like it's worth the money IMO. It essentially boils down to the Premium Plus, although I'm sure anyone that goes for it wonders if they can fit a discounted A4 into their budget!

[siddheshb]

So, there we go. Less than 2 weeks after first setting my eyes on a feisty red A3 in Pune's SB Road showroom, we went ahead and booked a diesel, red with beige Premium Plus A3 today.

All the excellent arguments against pricing and cramped rear seats, and the comparisons to other lower segment cars notwithstanding, here is what influenced my decision:

1. It's an Audi. Ever since Ravi Shastri won his at being crowned the Champion of Champions in 1985, it's been my dream car. The Beemers come close, but I had evaluated the 3 series when I bought my Endy 5 years ago and somehow, at that time, the 3 series' ride quality and fun quotient hadn't seemed too different from that offered by my Ford Fiesta SXi. That test drive pushed me away from the Beemers.

2. White was never in the reckoning. Blue was upstaged by black. My wife and daughter shot down the black in favor of the stunning red. And I have to admit, the red really is an eye catcher.

3. The Premium missed too many features that were important to me - xenon lights, DRLs, leather seats to name a few. The additional 2 lakhs or so seemed worth it. Rather, saving a couple and missing out on all that didn't seem to make much sense.

4. The Technology variant made no sense.

5. I would have preferred the petrol, but the dealer tried his best at convincing me otherwise, and succeeded. He talked about all other Audis coming in Diesel only, about petrol requiring higher maintenance and so on, but the clincher was when he said (and I don't know how true it was, but that didn't matter any more) there was only one Petrol model available with Audi India as of date, and he wouldn't be able to promise me a delivery date any time in the near future. Impulsive and impatient as I am, I didn't want to wait any longer than I absolutely needed to.

6. I had seen the Skoda Octavia and Superb very recently, and while they are great cars, they didn't have the 4 rings, and that was a lot.

7. The A3 TD blew me away. I love squealing tires, I love tearing away when the traffic lights turn green, I love the sound of the engines revving, and the way the A3 pushed you back into the seats - it was beautiful.

8. I have never been able to not give an Audi a second look, and the red A3 was no exception. It's beautiful. It looks compact and strong and very reliable! The DRLs are mesmerizing, and lines are strong and defining. The sun roof fits beautifully, and the tires look hot. Compared to a 3 series BMW, the A3 is a clear winner in my eyes.

9. I can't part with my Endy, and the A3 will therefore do duty driving my wife to and from work in the city at most times. We are a family of 3, and the rear seat is no problem for my daughter. When parents and cousins visit, the Endy will step in with its cavernous 8-10 seating capacity

10. I have woken up every morning these last two weeks with the A3 on my mind. I guess specs and comparisons and logic sometimes need to defer to the heart!

The countdown begins now - and I am eagerly waiting for the call! Hope to start off an ownership thread very soon!

[madnish30]

Was wondering if one can purchase the DRL/Xenon headlamps separately and fit in the Attraction/Premium models? Would be ideal as the other features aren't really a deal breaker per se.

Also, what exactly is "gloss package" which is missing from the Attraction variant?

[ajaypjayaraj]

Originally Posted by madnish30

Was wondering if one can purchase the DRL/Xenon headlamps separately and fit in the Attraction/Premium models? Would be ideal as the other features aren't really a deal breaker per se.

Also, what exactly is "gloss package" which is missing from the Attraction variant?

If you ask, if it is possible, of course yes! It is nothing big. Cost will depend on the amount of parts that needs to be swapped. Like say for example, if the CECM is a lower model than that of the car with DRL/Xenon, you would need to upgrade the module and if not you don't need to change anything other than the headlamp unit. There are guys who did this swap of both headlamps and tail lamps for base Q3 which came without xenons and LED tail lamps.

[madnish30]

Originally Posted by ajaypjayaraj

If you ask, if it is possible, of course yes! It is nothing big. Cost will depend on the amount of parts that needs to be swapped. Like say for example, if the CECM is a lower model than that of the car with DRL/Xenon, you would need to upgrade the module and if not you don't need to change anything other than the headlamp unit. There are guys who did this swap of both headlamps and tail lamps for base Q3 which came without xenons and LED tail lamps.

Interesting to know. What I meant to know was if Audi dealers themselves offer such upgrades or will it be a gamble with 3rd party mod shops (read: warranty trouble later).

Also, any links to the upgrades done on the Q3? Tried searching but couldn't find anything much. Would be interesting to know how they went about it.

Thanks!

[siddheshb]

Audi doesn't provide that support... especially since the xenons are controlled differently as compared to the halogens in the electronics. And fitting it outside invalidates warranty. Wouldnt want to risk that.

[ajaypjayaraj]

Originally Posted by madnish30

Interesting to know. What I meant to know was if Audi dealers themselves offer such upgrades or will it be a gamble with 3rd party mod shops (read: warranty trouble later).

Also, any links to the upgrades done on the Q3? Tried searching but couldn't find anything much. Would be interesting to know how they went about it.

Thanks!

Forget about Authorised Centres doing that job for you and even if they assure you that warranty is valid if OE parts are used and work is done without cutting any wires, I wouldn't count on that. God forbid tomorrow if any warranty issue relating to electronics or that part itself crops up, you'd be at their mercy. I'd be very surprised if you could spot one such VAG dealer who would do that job for you, in India atleast.

I saw such Q3 upgrades on vagtune FB page if you are talking about mods from India.

[madnish30]

Originally Posted by ajaypjayaraj

Forget about Authorised Centres doing that job for you and even if they assure you that warranty is valid if OE parts are used and work is done without cutting any wires, I wouldn't count on that. God forbid tomorrow if any warranty issue relating to electronics or that part itself crops up, you'd be at their mercy. I'd be very surprised if you could spot one such VAG dealer who would do that job for you, in India atleast.

I saw such Q3 upgrades on vagtune FB page if you are talking about mods from India.

Indeed. Doesn't make sense to get these mods done from outside.

Just checked Vag Tune - they're selling the xenon headlamp assembly for around ₹200k and the LED tail lights for ₹110k - that makes it around ₹300k - almost same as the premium Audi charges. Makes no sense at all.

[siddheshb]

I took delivery of Myra (my Misano Red Audi A3 Technology Diesel) today - by an unbelievable coincidence, exactly 30 years to the day Ravi Shastri won his Audi 100, generating in me a deep desire and dream to own one some day!

It was too late in the evening to take too many detailed pictures, but here are a few quick snaps I took before they fitted the number plates.







By the time we came back home, we had clocked 100 wonderful kms in Pune. Will start a detailed ownership thread soon!

[venom_op]

Originally Posted by siddheshb

I took delivery of Myra (my Misano Red Audi A3 Technology Diesel) today - by an unbelievable coincidence, exactly 30 years to the day Ravi Shastri won his Audi 100, generating in me a deep desire and dream to own one some day!

It was too late in the evening to take too many detailed pictures, but here are a few quick snaps I took before they fitted the number plates.

Attachment 1348572

Attachment 1348573

Attachment 1348574

By the time we came back home, we had clocked 100 wonderful kms in Pune. Will start a detailed ownership thread soon!

Hey Siddhesh! Let me be the first to congratulate you on the new car! I had personally fallen inlove with it. I was even the first in my city to prebook it. Sadly the rear seat played spoilsport for my parents.

How I wish i'd been able to go through with the purchase!! The shove you get when you floor the throttle is truly addictive!

Wish you many miles in it. Also, can't wait for the ownership thread!

One last thing, in your previous post you said you booked a Premium Plus, but in this post you said Technology!

What changed in that time frame?

[siddheshb]

@venom_op, first of all, apologies for the delayed response - was away in London for a few days, and just got back!

Let's just say, Audi made me an offer I couldn't refuse. Hypothetically, let's say, they offered me the Technology version for the Price of the Premium Plus?

[siddheshb]

Have started my ownership thread at this link. Hope you enjoy and support it through the years!