A3 S-Line...what do people think?

[Hard-Drive]

Time to choose a new company car and one of the two I'm considering is an A3 Sportback 170bhp TDI S-Line. It has to be the Sportback, the 3 door is not "on the list".

I've just had an S-Tronic dropped off to me today for an extended test drive, and I have to say it's very good, but I can't decide if it's just the novelty factor of the +/- buttons (and why oh why are they plastic not ally?). Problem is, if I have the S-Tronic, my monthly budget (set by the lease company) won't stretch to any extras whatsoever, although I would probably cough up the £100 myself for the centre armrest. First impressions of the S-Tronic are that it seems a little jerky round town although still very good, if you are really "on it" down a twisty road it's excellent, but for just normal but fairly swift driving we sometimes have arguments about what gear we should be in.

Or, I can go for the manual, and have some toys, but in fairness if I did do that, I could opt for a BMW 3 series which is a very good car.

I did put a similar post up quite some time ago before I had driven either, but I'd be interested to hear people's ownership experience of the A3 and if they regretted going for S-tronic longer term.

By the way this is the test car, I have to say I love it and it looks stunning, but I don't know if some of the feelgood factor would be lost with the omission of the extras (and there are LOTS!), a more mundane colour which would suit the 5 door better and no 20 spokes...

[Dr G]

DSG is very good and you get used to the hypersensitive throttle (it's never manual/auto smooth but gets much better with use).

No toys on an A3 is not so good, even the S-line is fairly spartan as standard. At the very very least you'll be wanting Bose, 6cd and half leather.

If you went manual what would that allow you? What's the equivalent 3 series?

[Hard-Drive]

With S-Line I can get full leather as standard so no worries there. The test car has Bose, sounds incredible, and can dish out volumes that would have my ears bleeding in 5 minutes. What's the standard setup like...hopefully it's not too shoddy?

The equivalent 3 I can get is a 320D SE, so you get parking sensors (useful), cruise (I never use it) centre armrest (essential for big mileage) auto dipping rear mirror. It's missing leather, but does have RWD and a bit more room...

[bones33]

I have the sline 170 as our family car.

Its a great hoot to drive fast or slow.

Leather and split rims looks a treat.

Go for the manual tho IMO.

As a comany car i dont think that you will get much better for the price you pay.

Edited by bones33 on Tuesday 5th February 11:20

[LE52 MOG]

I have a 140 S-line manual with Bose, 6 CD and 20 spoke split rims in Mauritious Blue, really good car.

[Hard-Drive]

bones33 said:

Go for the manual tho IMO.

As a comany car i dont think that you will get much better for the price you pay.

Interesting you say that, I've ow done a couple of hundred miles in the S-Tronic and the cracks are starting to show.

-Clearly it's keener to hang on to gears for longer in S, and putting it into D makes it more civilised, however it's still annoyingly keen to change down when you give it more power. And that's small throttle movements, lane 3 motorway jobs, not going down to the kickdown button. So you end up either changing down when it's totally unessesary, and having to go back up on the paddle again, or actually giving it less throttle than you want to just in case it wants to change down. It's not a major gripe, it just gets a bit annoying and does not make for a smooth drive if that's what you're after.

-Conversely in S, if you've been lazy and have not changed down into a corner, you might come out in 4th with no go whatsoever, and it just sits there. Fair enough, but why be so keen to change down at motorway speeds?

-Sometimes in S (when I wanted to drive, thankyou!) it was still changing up for me just shy of the redline. So you'd hoof it, go for a manual change at the exact same instant that the car did the same, net effect being 1-2-4 on the box.

-I drove it on a very twisty, undulating minor road in Derbyshire today, and it really struggled to put the power down. It was one of those network of tiny little lanes that you can give it some down, and the surface was awful in fairness. I know it's trying to put 170bhp down through the front wheels, however spinning into 2nd and 3rd was a bit daft, and I think if you'd been fedding a manual clutch out carefully it would have done better. But granted, when really do you ever drive on roads like that?

-Launch control...just does not work. Unless I am being a complete idiot and somehow misunderstanding the simple instructions in the handbook, I just cannot get it to work. It says TC off, into S with left foot on brake, rev to 3200rpm and take foot off brake. This car hits a limiter at 2000 rpm and will not go past it. It's still impressive, but surely it should do what it says in the book (preparing to get flamed here for having done something wrong!)

That said it's still a great car, but the one problem is that if I go 4 doors (which I must for fleet reasons) and manual and spec it up to max budget, I could get the 3 series, which has many more toys apart from leather, RWD, 10mpg better consumption (allegedly), more power, better performance, and less tax...


Aaaaarrrgghhhh can't decide!

[Mag1calTrev0r]

Re: the launch control. I may be wrong (as I don't have DSG or launch control) but I'm sure that I've read that you need to really force the brake down or else it doesn't work properly.

[Hard-Drive]

Thanks for that, will try again tomorrow.

Bugger, bugger, bugger, I've just had a hoon back down the A5 and round the roundabouts near Eddie Stobarts, J18 M1, and that DSG was the absolute nuts. I'd just convinced myself to go manual too!!!

AAAARRRRGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!

[drybeer]

Mag1calTrev0r said:

Re: the launch control. I may be wrong (as I don't have DSG or launch control) but I'm sure that I've read that you need to really force the brake down or else it doesn't work properly.

Hi.

The manual is referring to the revs that it will call up on the 2.0T FSi. Peak torque is at 3200 rpm.

In your diesel peak torque is 2000, hence the difference.

I agree the manual should have an extra paragraph for this.

Launch control - It does work, but less convincingly so in the diesel as it simply cannot rev high enough to give it "legs" in the first 2 gears. Try it in a 2.0T and be enawed by it!

The changing at in-opportune moments thing - fundamentally you are driving it as an auto, and you can bypass this completely by putting the gear selector stick in manual mode. Then it will not change down a gear unless you force the accel pedal beyond the "kick down" point, and you are in complete control of the revs at which it changes up OR down.

Great car, but if you are not convinced by the S-tronic then pick the manual (i.e. you have no need for an auto in your daily drive)

[bones33]

I know it's trying to put 170bhp down through the front wheels, however spinning into 2nd and 3rd was a bit daft, and I think if you'd been fedding a manual clutch out carefully it would have done better. But granted, when really do you ever drive on roads like that?

Yeah the T Steer on the 170 is a bit manic.

Good to hear your going for the manual its much better and more user friendly

[catso]

I have an A3 (3.2 Quattro) with DSG and I think it works great, however I recently had a (manual) Diesel A3 as a courtesy car and the wheelspin & torque steer were dreadful, with a DSG it would only be worse as clutch take up can be quite fierce so you would have less control.

I have got used to the grabby clutch and sensitive throttle on mine and have no problems. The launch control works great (you do need to hold the brake down quite hard for it to engage) with no torque steer or wheelspin even in the wet, other than a quick 'chirp' from the fronts. My wife doesn't like driving it though as the grabby clutch/sensitive throttle scares her.

I'm not sure DSG would be as good on a FWD model, my advice is to get Quattro (if possible) before DSG, although both would be better (only available on 3.2 though).

BTW I find 'S' to be almost useless and use either 'D' for relaxed cruising/city use or Manual (Playstation mode) for the spirited stuff.

[Hard-Drive]

Now that the vehicle has gone I feel I may have missed the point.

Are you supposed to put the main lever over to the Tiptronic +/- setting on the left of the gate to gain full control over the box with the paddles and perhaps stop some of the "arguments" we were having?

Might be a big case of "RTFM" I think...

[catso]

Hard-Drive said:

Are you supposed to put the main lever over to the Tiptronic +/- setting on the left of the gate to gain full control over the box with the paddles and perhaps stop some of the "arguments" we were having?

you can use the paddles in 'D' and it will change but if you don't touch the paddles again within 30 seconds it reverts back to 'D'. Sometimes it can be useful to drop a gear (or two) in 'D' for example to get some engine braking on a steep downhill.

[Hard-Drive]

OK so to drive in manual thrash mode I should have gone D then across to +/-, and it would not have done any changing for me unless I'd done something really stupid...

Arse.

[catso]

Hard-Drive said:

OK so to drive in manual thrash mode I should have gone D then across to +/-, and it would not have done any changing for me unless I'd done something really stupid...

Arse.

In Manual mode you have control over gear selection except;

When you hit the limiter under acceleration it will upshift.
If you slow down to a point where the gear you are in is not viable it will downshift, if you stop it will select 1st.
It will not let you downshift if doing so would over-rev the engine.
You still have kickdown facility (as many gears as neccessary) from the throttle pedal.

[[AJ]]

I just bought a nearly new one for the Mrs. Does anyone know if there are any aftermarket iPod connectors for the standard head unit (single CD Concert system)?

[Edit] Ok found this thread: http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/gassing/topic.asp?h=0...

I'm guessing it's the same situation for the A3. Has anyone had any problems with the Dension kits? Are the easy to fit?

Edited by [AJ] on Thursday 7th February 21:43

[bigburd]

[AJ] said:

I just bought a nearly new one for the Mrs. Does anyone know if there are any aftermarket iPod connectors for the standard head unit (single CD Concert system)?

[Edit] Ok found this thread: http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/gassing/topic.asp?h=0...

I'm guessing it's the same situation for the A3. Has anyone had any problems with the Dension kits? Are the easy to fit?

Edited by [AJ] on Thursday 7th February 21:43

Standard Concert will support a factory fit or a dension kit...I have a dension one on my R32 and the Gateway 100 will display tracks in DIS IIRC

[Hard-Drive]

catso said:

Hard-Drive said:

OK so to drive in manual thrash mode I should have gone D then across to +/-, and it would not have done any changing for me unless I'd done something really stupid...

Arse.

In Manual mode you have control over gear selection except;

When you hit the limiter under acceleration it will upshift.
If you slow down to a point where the gear you are in is not viable it will downshift, if you stop it will select 1st.
It will not let you downshift if doing so would over-rev the engine.
You still have kickdown facility (as many gears as neccessary) from the throttle pedal.

OK just driven a Passat DSG, and read the book. That DSG box is the daddies in full manual mode.

Agreed not as much control or engine braking into a corner as a manual, but as a compromise for something to do bug mileage in and sit in traffic in, and also still be fun for a thrash, I think it looks pretty unbeatable. I did not "argue" with it once! Agreed though that in auto mode, S is just a noisy waste of time.

Only thing I need to do is justify to myself why the A3 S Line S tronic with NO options whatsoever is somehow more preferable to the Passat SEL with a load of toys...

...cos the Passat is dull, that's why!

[Waugh-terfall]

Yeah, D, then over to +/- and it'll change down to 1st for you when you pull up to a halt. Haven't any experience of DSG myself, but we borrowed a 2.0TFSI Multi-tronic A4 a few months ago and it spent the 300mi with us in S or +/-. I'd suggest going manual, the 2.0TDI is a fantastic engine, my mates Mum has in in 140bhp guise in a manual Golf which she says she loves. That said though, an A4 2.0TDI140 kept stalling and sending a god aweful bang throught the floor. The 2.0TFSI is great though, I know of someone who has chipped their SEAT Leon FR to 240bhp but it spins its fronts through 1st, 2nd & 3rd in wet, so if you plan to chip it, go Quattro. But manual for the win!

[baz1985]

The S Line suspension is cr8p, best to throw it away and fit Koni FSD + Eibach Pro-Kit springs.