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Road test: Audi S3 Sportback
The performance version of the Audi A3 called the S3 goes on the fine line between offering more than anything but leaving room for the super muscular RS3 version, but left, its biggest challenge was to make the driver part of the experience
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Udi
Audi S3
s3
Champion Motors
A sports car
Keenan Cohen
Sunday, January 24, 2021, 9 p.m.
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Wide, muscular, with everything a hot version needs to declare it (Photo: Keenan Cohen)
When it comes to people's perceptions about sports cars - emotions, prejudices and image will always carry more weight than data or even actual capabilities.
Three examples: The Kia Stinger GT is a car that can sit on the sidelines and be ashamed of a lot of machines "considered" by it when it comes to behavior.
Subaru Impreza STI which in its later days was very far removed as a product from the same wolf in sheepskin it started with and the simple fact that really good sports cars do not need a lot of horses - they need less weight.
For the new Audi S3, none of these examples are irrelevant, it comes from a "reputed" house, it has never tried to hide what it is and it has a lot of horses and a lot of weight - it is also a car that like the senior version in its family the RS3 was always very fast and light For driving - and that translated into the sweet-sweet sound of cash registers that kept ringing for Audi.
So there was no big surprise in the current generation, where Audi has progressed with the S3 in a measured way, introducing a new car, but not really a new one.
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To the full article
Comes in a sportback or sedan configuration (Photo: Keinan Cohen)
In the exterior design no one will be confused in its identification, these are the Audi lines.
Square, with apple wheelhouses, large rims that fill the wheelhouses and red calipers, chrome or plastic parts in a metallic hue at strategic points - all according to the book.
Just two notes on the agenda, we know that with all the electric cars on the way we will say goodbye to this story of grills and car exhaust, but really that is not a reason to take advantage of the last moments for such a celebration, it's loud, it's cheap, a little refinement please.
The cabin very nicely salts the sporty atmosphere with Audi's excellent hi-tech design, a combination of materials and textures creates a very nice driver environment.
Not always and not everywhere do you meet car-level plastics at a price, but the overall design score is fine, when everything is comfortable and easy to use.
SLSH for maintaining operation with physical buttons for air conditioning. TRASH it accepts the waiver of the use of a physical volume button and beyond some nonsense of circular movement of the finger on a touchpad.
The design is nice, the quality of the materials is mixed, the equipment is not up to the standard of the price tag (Photo: Keinan Cohen)
The instrumentation gets a mediocre score, except for a multimedia screen (10.25 inches) and digital dashboard (12.3 inches), sports seats, roof window, electric seat (for driver only) and even the ambient lighting is good and beautiful, but from a car for 370 thousand shekels we expected some More, wireless charging?
USB sockets for those sitting in the back?
An electric seat for a passenger?
Heating seats?
nothing.
Safety systems include adaptive cruise control, lane departure correction, distance warning, automatic braking, "dead zone" vehicle warning and front and rear parking sensors with reverse camera.
The usability in the S3 turns out to be good for those who will use it for family use, good space for those sitting in the back, legs, shoulders and head although adults will find the seat a bit short.
In treats: lighting, air outlets and 12V socket.
The trunk is spacious and useful, as well as a 12V socket and a variety of hanging and anchoring means.
The trunk volume of 325 liters is limited compared to that of the regular A3 (its 380 liters).
The seat is a bit short, but other than that the back seat provides good space for adults as well (Photo: Keinan Cohen)
A push of a button brings the engine to life with a short bark and immediately goes into a quiet gurgle, this is not the unique sound of the 5-cylinder engines of a real -RS, but the same 2.0-liter 4-cylinder turbocharged engine from the previous generation added 10 horses to 310 hp and 40.8 kg "M.
He does not lack power and in any situation he will have everything a normal driver will need to move very fast.
Not only at acceleration from the spot (4.8 seconds), but also at a detour exit, or on a winding road.
The dual-clutch robotic gearbox tends to linger a bit on the way out, a constant feature in them in favor of maintaining the assemblies, which, after all, is less rigid and cumbersome in slow city driving.
310 hp from a 2.0-liter engine that continues here from the outgoing generation (Photo: Keinan Cohen)
By the way stiffness and awkwardness, the technical specifications of the S3 say that it is equipped with "adaptive sports suspension with a choice of driving modes" but from our impression and after probing the car computer, then one of the two: either it is not really equipped or they do disgraceful work.
Even in "Comfort" mode, the S3 flickers almost unbearably on broken asphalt.
Need a combination of relatively high speed and excellent paving to achieve reasonable comfort in it.
Noise isolation anyway and again, as long as the road is well made is a machine that will pump distances at surprising speeds.
It requires a well-paved road to produce a tolerable level of comfort (Photo: Keinan Cohen)
The previous generation of the S3 was mainly characterized by a very high ability to produce dizzying speed from point to point, but little driver involvement.
The level of assembly, technology and capability of the car made them disconnected devices, which know how to move at a high pace even with a mediocre and even bad driver behind the wheel - they always had enough traction, enough power and enough forgiveness for mistakes - this is also what they liked about fast drivers but not necessarily Good.
The story in the current generation is not fundamentally different, it is still a very fast car thanks to its dual propulsion and power transmission system, but this time the driver is a little more involved in what is happening down there.
As we headed north the rain turned the roads into filthy pulp, for the S3 it did not interfere with producing an incredibly fast pace (Photo: Keinan Cohen)
This means that you can pull stronger brakes into the turn with a transmission from the chassis on the load level, this means you can gradually insert the nose with weight and degree of turn from the steering wheel and you can start accelerating out of turns and rely on the feel of the grip level.
Much of the improvement is related to the new modular grip management system that combines dual propulsion with stability control to improve dynamic capability, similar to what was done in the current BMW 1 Series.
Fuel consumption throughout the test days was reasonable for the car in terms of its level of performance and capabilities and stood at 10.5 km per liter.
Spoiler with healthy "air intakes", large rims, red calipers - the show according to the rules (Photo: Keinan Cohen)
With no messing around with success, Audi is implementing this statement with the new S3.
The same package of a luxury emblem, with a useful body, excellent performance and this time with a little more involvement for the driver.
Only in 1999 it was the only one with this trick, today it is already with competitors on the right and left in the form of the BMW M135 and Mercedes A35AMG.
Neither of them is particularly cheap, the BMW at the same price as the S3 - NIS 370,000 and the Mercedes is pushed sideways and out with NIS 420,000.
And with competition increasingly crowded, being a little better than the previous generation is understandable, but not enough.
If she wants to continue to lead, what she needs is to create a competency gap against the competition or a better return on the equipment - we have not really found any of them here.
Measured improvement of the successful concept for more than 20 years (Photo: Keinan Cohen)
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On the technical side: Audi S3 Sportback
Engine, propulsion:
gasoline, turbo, 4 cylinders, dual
volume:
1,984 cc
Power / rpm (hp):
5,450 / 310
torque / rpm (kg):
2,000 / 40.8
Transmission:
automatic , Dual-clutch, 7 gears
Dimensions:
Length (cm):
434
Width (cm):
182
Height (cm):
139
Wheelbase (cm):
262
Trunk (liters):
325
Performance:
Acceleration 0-100:
4.8 seconds
Maximum speed:
250 km / h
Competitors:
BMW 135M, Mercedes A35AMG
Price:
NIS 369,000
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