Alluring New 3

Audi’s brilliant A3 gets a mid-life facelift and a new petrol engine. What is it like to drive? We found that out in Vizag.

- Ravi Chandnani

IT’S BEEN ALMOST THREE YEARS since we first saw Audi’s brilliant new A3 make its advent in the Indian market with its attractive design, fantastic engine options and amazing value for money. The A3’s excellence was portrayed perfectly in the way it was designed and it performed. However, now Audi have come up with a new A3 in a sharper-looking package and with a new heart. And to check it out, we went to the port town of Vizag for closer inspection.

Seven spanking new A3s standing in a row with tempting golden sand and glistening blue waters of the Bay of Bengal behind them. This was the scene that greeted us as we got ready to get into the new A3 and head down the beach road to experience the changes made to it. The Germans are quite conservative when it comes to design as they hardly go beyond a few, finely updated details that stand out. And the same is true in the case of the A3. The updated front end of the A3 might look similar to that of the outgoing model, but the chiselled details remind you of geometry in motion thanks to those sharp new headlamps, Audi’s trademark diamond grille and new edgier looking front bumper.

At the rear the changes are even harder to spot but look closer and you realise that the tail-lamps get a new layout, a slightly different bumper and a new rear splitter. The rest of the exterior remains the same; however, the combination of the aforementioned details and that elegant silhouette give the new A3 a better looking stance.