CTC Review: 2008 Audi A3 S-Line

[rrocket]

Free tube of Astroglide with every S-Line purchased in Canada...

[Demosthenes X]

I thought the EVO was "nicer" on the inside than the Sti...

  The EVO was very nice inside, though a bit more "boy racer" than the STI imo.  The STI was very, very spartan...  functional, but I recall a sea of gray plastic.  :/  I love the STI, but with the EVO proving to be faster, nicer inside, and cheaper, I might just become a Mitsubishi convert.

[Blueprint]

The Volvo C30 fits in a simiilar niche, minus two doors.

[Snowman]

I thought the EVO was "nicer" on the inside than the Sti...

  The EVO was very nice inside, though a bit more "boy racer" than the STI imo.  The STI was very, very spartan...  functional, but I recall a sea of gray plastic.  :/  I love the STI, but with the EVO proving to be faster, nicer inside, and cheaper, I might just become a Mitsubishi convert.

  Where does it say the EVO is cheaper and faster than the STi?

[rrocket]

Canadian MSRP: 

EVO X  $41,500
STi      $44,995


In most every magazine test, the EVO X has been quicker around a track, likely because of the more advanced electronics.  I have NOT read about a race off road though.  But on road, the EVO X is quicker.

And in D-Sports dyno test, the EVO X made a touch more power too..

[Demosthenes X]

Where does it say the EVO is cheaper and faster than the STi?

From an Edmund's test:

2008 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X MR
As-tested price: $38,940
Mountain road time: 2:06.91; Rank: 3rd
Streets of Willow lap time: 1:29.02; Rank: 3rd
0-60 mph: 5.6 seconds (5.3 seconds with 1 foot of rollout like on a drag strip)
Quarter-mile: 14.0 seconds at 97.4 mph
60-0 braking: 111 feet
Slalom: 68.9 mph
Skid pad: 0.92g

2008 Subaru WRX STI
As-tested price: $39,678
Mountain road time: 2:10.72; Rank: 6th
Streets of Willow lap time: 1:30.05; Rank: 6th
0-60 mph: 5.3 seconds (5.0 seconds with 1 foot of rollout like on a drag strip)
Quarter-mile: 13.5 seconds at 101.8 mph
60-0 braking: 109 feet
Slalom: 69.7 mph
Skid pad: 0.90g

The STI is a touch faster to 100 km/h, and a half-second quicker through the quarter mile, but on both their "mountain road" and street test, the EVO is quicker...  substantially quicker on the mountain road, too.

This is from their recent "Finding the Best Car For Any Road" article.

[jcon]

Relevance to the A3, these Subaru vs Mitsubishi rants?

[rrocket]

^^^^Price for AWD, HP, performance.

A3 is spendy....

[Mitlov]

Relevance to the A3, these Subaru vs Mitsubishi rants?

^^^^Price for AWD, HP, performance.

A3 is spendy....

HOLY CRAP!  You mean non-luxury performance cars offer more bang for the buck than luxury performance cars?  Who'da thunk it...

[rrocket]

^^^^In Canada anyways...where everything "Audi" is ridiculously over-priced...

[dougjp]

Interesting day 3 observations about the DSG. I don't notice the reverse slippage in my Jetta 2.0T, although the delay in engagement of reverse is there. And the acceleration from a stop is smooth except when coming to a stop and immediately accelerating, where there is a big delay due to programming in selecting 1rst, so on acceleration it downshifts from 2nd to first. I'm told Audi and VW don't share the same ECU programming.

Excellent as the DSG is, its inability to select the proper gear mid corner and exit was the reason our family switched cars and I bought a manual transmission car.

Which is why what stood out for me the most in this comparison test:

http://www.canadiandriver.com/forum/index.php/topic,57742.0.html

...was that the Evo: " The Evo's secret weapon, however, is its transmission. It's always in the right gear. Unlike the paddle-shifted transmissions in the GT-R and the R8, the Evo's six-speed thinks for itself and maximizes the car's performance. Sure you can mess with its paddles if you want, but only if you want to go slower."

[Mitlov]

^^^^In Canada anyways...where everything "Audi" is ridiculously over-priced...

No, non-luxury performance cars offer much better bang for the buck than luxury performance cars, wherever you live.  It's the same as the Corvette-versus-911 debate that has been raging for decades, and the more recent GT-R-versus-911 Turbo debate.  If you want speed and don't care about luxury, the Vette and the GT-R are the way to go.  If you want luxury with your speed, they're poor substitutes.

Yes, an EVO will blow an A3's doors off on a track or a backroad.  No one is going to deny that.  But spend 8 hours inside each and THEN try to tell me that the Audi's higher price is just sodomy and price-gouging etc etc etc.

[Mitlov]

I’ve also noticed this on accleration from a stop, with the combination of the power the 3.2L engine delivers and the DSG transmission, you either tip toe off the line or shoot off like a mad man (or woman). Certainly not the smoothest experience you can have in a car.

A frequent complaint I've heard about DSG transmissions is when you're NOT driving it like you stole it, they're not as smooth as traditional automatics.  I guess we'll have to see how they perform in non-sporty cars like the Mitsubishi Outlander to figure out if it's just VW/Audi's DSG that has this issue, or whether it's something innate to the design.

[quadzilla]

Trunk room is fairly generous but the rear seats are inclined, which reduces some cargo space. From the back of the seats to the end of the trunk area depth is 82cm at the bottom and 70cm at the top, due to the inclined seats. Width is nearly 1 meter at 97cm, and with the seats down I measured 150cm to my drivers seat from the rear.

Thanks for including these numbers.

[carcrazy]

Relevance to the A3, these Subaru vs Mitsubishi rants?

I guess the oposite to the Evo and STi discussions when people say that for 40K-50K you can get an Audi/BMW that has a nicer interior and then start comparing the two.

[Giant Dwarf]

Where does it say the EVO is cheaper and faster than the STi?

From an Edmund's test:

2008 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X MR
As-tested price: $38,940
Mountain road time: 2:06.91; Rank: 3rd
Streets of Willow lap time: 1:29.02; Rank: 3rd
0-60 mph: 5.6 seconds (5.3 seconds with 1 foot of rollout like on a drag strip)
Quarter-mile: 14.0 seconds at 97.4 mph
60-0 braking: 111 feet
Slalom: 68.9 mph
Skid pad: 0.92g

2008 Subaru WRX STI
As-tested price: $39,678
Mountain road time: 2:10.72; Rank: 6th
Streets of Willow lap time: 1:30.05; Rank: 6th
0-60 mph: 5.3 seconds (5.0 seconds with 1 foot of rollout like on a drag strip)
Quarter-mile: 13.5 seconds at 101.8 mph
60-0 braking: 109 feet
Slalom: 69.7 mph
Skid pad: 0.90g

The STI is a touch faster to 100 km/h, and a half-second quicker through the quarter mile, but on both their "mountain road" and street test, the EVO is quicker...  substantially quicker on the mountain road, too.

This is from their recent "Finding the Best Car For Any Road" article.

Yeah, but the 135i will beat 'em both in terms of acceleration; has the cachet and luxury of the A3 and costs less than any of 'em.  Unless you live in some god-forsaken tundra-land (like, say, Sudbury, for instance), then RWD and a set of snowboots will suit just fine.    Hell, even a 328i will provide more room and a much better lease / finance rate AND a lower MSRP to begin with.

[Schmengie]

 Quoting the article,

'There is the Mazda3 with full luxury package and of course the VW GTI — but that’s pretty much the same car as the Audi.'

A fully loaded VW GTI with DSG  lists for $32,695, the as-tested price of the A3 $50,250. Quite a difference for 'pretty much the same car.' 

I guess some people will pay anything for 'badge prestige', eh? 

[Demosthenes X]

Yeah, but the 135i will beat 'em both in terms of acceleration; has the cachet and luxury of the A3 and costs less than any of 'em.

And, I'll wager, will get absolutely trounced in any real-world road.  The STI is faster in a straight line than an EVO, but it still lost by a fair margin to the "slower" EVO in real world conditions.  The 135i is a phenomenal machine, and I'd love to own one for many reasons, but it's performance vs. an EVO is not one of them...

[vdk]

Quoting the article,

'There is the Mazda3 with full luxury package and of course the VW GTI — but that’s pretty much the same car as the Audi.'

A fully loaded VW GTI with DSG  lists for $32,695, the as-tested price of the A3 $50,250. Quite a difference for 'pretty much the same car.' 

I guess some people will pay anything for 'badge prestige', eh? 

That + a 3.2V6 + Quattro + other goodies the Audi has.

I'm not trying to say it's cheap, but it's not a GTI.

[wing]

Yes the GTI has the 2.0T you have to compare the A3 2.0T to it -- they are very similar in price at that point as well.