After 20 years, the Audi A3 is surely well recognized member of the automotive fleet. On the half-life of the current generation, Ingolstadt engineers improved Audi A3 in many ways. They changed its appearance and added some details from a larger A4. Renewed 2017 Audi A3 will arrive at the European dealerships in July this year, with prices starting from 23,300 euros.

Audi A3 2017 highlights

• 4 body options (3-door, 5-door Sportback, 4-door Sedan and Convertible).
• 6 engines (3 petrol + 3 diesel), of which one is brand new.
• The most powerful diesel with 180 hp will be announced later.
• The S3, e-tron and g-tron options still available.
• Audi S3 has also received technical renovation.
• Headlights inherited from big brother A4.
• Xenon headlights as serial equipment, LEDs or matrix LEDs optional.
• 2017 Audi A3 price in Germany from 23,300 euros (A3), or 24,200 euros (A3 Sportback).
• First delivery in summer 2016.

2017 Audi A3 will be recognizable by the headlights, engine grille and diffuser

The technical part of our life is the area where we can sense that the time runs faster and faster. The progress is so obvious, and world auto evolution is no exception. The third generation of the Audi A3, it seems that they presented it only recently, is among us for four years already! Unwritten rule says that at this time the car manufacturers need to enter some changes to comply with the time or, in this case, the principles and avant-garde of the Audi brand name.

To quickly distinguish the 2017 Audi A3 from the model before the renovation is well taken care of. They put on different and also lower headlights, which are almost exactly the same as those on the current Audi A4. The engine grille is also renewed, now with wider and sharper edges, then we have the new graphics on the rear lights, and the new rear bumper with modified diffuser. They also added six new possibilities to the range of colors, of which one is reserved for the S3 version. New is also the philosophy of the exterior packages, which will be modular. In practice, this means that the buyer will have greater leeway in choosing the elements of the exterior.

A new engine with three cylinders, less than ten seconds to 100 and more than 200 kilometers per hour!

For the first time Audi A3 will be available with three-cylinder engine. This will be a 1-liter TFSI with 115 hp, which will replace the current 1.2-liter four-cylinder engine. With its 200 Nm of torque, available from two thousand revolutions per minute, it really is not sporty, but it is kindly and gently dynamic. This will also be the cheapest 2017 Audi A3, but will nevertheless accelerate from a standstill up to a hundred kilometers per hour in less than ten seconds, and its top speed will be 211 kilometers per hour.

A little less new, known already from the new A4, is the two-liter TFSI with 200 hp of maximum power and 320 Nm of torque from 1,500 rpm. This is the first example of the transverse mounting of this engine, since the engine is disposed along in the A4. In the gasoline offer of the renewed 2017 Audi A3 we also find the 1.4-liter TFSI with the ability to disconnect the middle two cylinders for small and medium loads (150 hp, 250 Nm).

The diesel versions are of course is from the TDI family, ranging from 110 to 184 hp, and all of them are already known. This applies also to dual clutch S tronic, the difference is that in combination with 2.0 TFSI engine it is now combined with the newly developed seven-speed (previously six-speed) transmission with wet clutches. And since we are already talking about the drive: four-wheel drive quattro will be available with two-liter engines.

Technical innovations, from headlights to the MMI controller

Renewed Audi A3 2017 has a serial Xenon headlights, and for an extra charge there are two options: LED or matrix LED, where high beam is made from 15 LEDs, operated by a complex system. It directs or shades the light and can create millions of different light distribution. The main sensor is the camera at the top of the front windshield. Matrix LED light in combination with MMI navigation plus can rotate the lights in the direction of the turn, even before the corner or before the steering wheel is turned.

In the interior there is a new steering wheel, and there is also a sporty version with a flattened lower part. The screen size of seven inches is serial, MMI controller with buttons around it was redesigned and restyled, new are round vents.

The progress, of course, also in electronics

Perfected or enriched is also the offer of electronic help. Improved active lane assist system (active device to maintain a traffic lane) and pre sense front (now including pedestrian detection). The new option in the new Audi A3 is the Traffic Jam Assist, a system that helps the driver when driving in traffic jams. It works in combination with adaptive radar cruise control, a system of temporary engine shut-off (stop / start) and automatically functioning dual clutch S tronic gearbox. At speeds up to 65 kilometers per hour it can, in addition to the ability to brake to a stop and re-acceleration while maintaining a safe distance, slightly take control of the steering wheel. New is also a system of automatic emergency braking and warning system in the cross traffic when reversing.

Virtual cockpit now also in Audi A3

Notwithstanding all these aesthetic and technical innovations, perhaps the most noticeable new feature is the virtual cockpit, which is already known, but it is a novelty in the small A3. With its TFT display technique and size of 12.3-inch (diagonal) is certainly very impressive, especially in combination with a navigation system and all kinds of displays that you simply set using the buttons on the steering wheel. Their graphics is not only technically flawless, but also pleasing and, what is supposedly the most important, ergonomic.

The first delivery of the renewed 2017 Audi A3 will be in Europe this summer. The exact price will be known upon arrival at each market and will be about the same as before the renovation. For the German market it is expected to be around 23,300 euros for the entry model Audi A3.

Audi S3: more power and torque

Audi developers found ten new horse power in the two-liter petrol TFSI and also 20 more Nm of torque, if the transmission is dual clutch one. Now the new Audi S3 has 310 hp and 400 Nm of torque, available from 2,000 to 5,400 rpm. Nevertheless, it is now spending around eight percent less fuel, in the combined cycle, we are talking about 6.4 liters per hundred kilometers. Serial transmission is manual, the new seven speed dual-clutch transmission is on the list of additional equipment. Again, quattro drive is serial. The steering mechanism and the exhaust system received some corrections. In Germany, the cheapest 2017 Audi S3 will cost 41,900 euros and will be available in all four body options.

2017 Audi A3 engine options

1.0 TFSI

Maximum power 85 kW, maximum torque 200 Nm, transmission: manual (six speed) or dual-clutch (seven speed), top speed 206 km/h, acceleration from 0-100 km/h: 9,9 s, average fuel consumption 4,5 l/100 km, CO2 emissions: 104 g/km.

1.4 TFSI COD ultra

Maximum power 110 kW, maximum torque 250 Nm, transmission: manual (six speed) or dual-clutch (seven speed), top speed 220 km/h, acceleration from 0-100 km/h: 8,2 s, average fuel consumption 4,6-4,8 l/100 km, CO2 emissions: 107-111 g/km.

2.0 TFSI

Maximum power 140 kW, maximum torque 320 Nm, transmission: manual (six speed) or dual-clutch (seven speed), top speed 244 km/h, acceleration from 0-100 km/h: 6,9-6,8 s, average fuel consumption 5,5-5,6 l/100 km, CO2 emissions: 126 g/km.

2.0 TFSI quattro

Maximum power 140 kW, maximum torque 320 Nm, transmission: dual-clutch (seven speed), top speed 236 km/h, acceleration from 0-100 km/h: 6,2 s, average fuel consumption 5,7 l/100 km, CO2 emissions: 130 g/km.

1.6 TDI

Maximum power 81 kW, maximum torque 250 Nm, transmission: manual (six speed) or dual-clutch (seven speed), top speed 200 km/h, acceleration from 0-100 km/h: 10,7 s, average fuel consumption 3,9-3,8 l/100 km, CO2 emissions: 104-99 g/km.

2.0 TDI 110 kW

Maximum power 110 kW, maximum torque 340 Nm, transmission: manual (six speed) or dual-clutch (seven speed), top speed 218 km/h, acceleration from 0-100 km/h: 8,6-8,3 s, average fuel consumption 4,0-4,4 l/100 km, CO2 emissions: 105-116 g/km.

2.0 TDI 110 kW quattro

Maximum power 110 kW, maximum torque 340 Nm, transmission: manual (six speed) or dual-clutch (seven speed), top speed 214 km/h, acceleration from 0-100 km/h: 8,3 s, average fuel consumption 4,7 l/100 km, CO2 emissions: 122 g/km.

Image credit: Audi