Calling the new Audi A3 Sportback a rich man’s Golf would be doing the Ingolstadt newcomer a big injustice… With a striking profile, superb finishes and potent powerplants, the A3 Sportback throws down the gauntlet to BMW’s 1 Series.

Calling the new Audi A3 Sportback a rich man’s Golf would be doing the Ingolstadt newcomer a big injustice… With a striking profile, superb finishes and potent powerplants, the A3 Sportback throws down the gauntlet to BMW’s 1 Series in the domestic premium hatchback market.


Audi South Africa has sold more than 10 000 A3s since the latest sub-compact was launched in South Africa late in 2003, but relatively conservative styling matched with an exclusively three-door configuration limited the model’s appeal.


The A3 Sportback is not just a five-door option in the A3 model range, but constitutes a kind of “designer wagon”. Although it has the same wheelbase and similar width and height as its three-door sibling, it is 83 millimetres longer. And the longer overhangs, sweeping roofline and Audi’s new corporate single-frame grille have given the new arrival a youthful, sporty image – hence it being labelled Sportback rather than the more mature Avant title.


To read more about the A3 Sportback, including its specifications and a driving impression, and view the gallery click here.

Original article from Car