2023 Audi A3

The 35 TFSI comes standard with the following equipment:

• 10.1-inch touchscreen infotainment system
• Satellite navigation
• Wireless Apple CarPlay
• Wired Android Auto
• DAB+ digital radio
• 12.3-inch Virtual Cockpit digital instrument cluster
• Six-speaker sound system
• LED headlights
• Leather upholstery
• Keyless entry and start
• Semi-autonomous parking assist
• Dual-zone climate control
• Leather-wrapped steering wheel
• Paddle shifters
• Automatic headlights
• Rain-sensing wipers
• Hands-free power boot lid (Sedan only)
• 18-inch alloy wheels

The 40 TFSI gains:

• Ambient lighting
• Frameless auto-dimming rear-view mirror
• Front sports seats
• Heated, power-folding exterior mirrors
• S line exterior package
• Selectable drive modes

Just two option package are available: the Comfort Package for the 35 TFSI and the Premium Package for the 40 TFSI.

The $2600 Comfort Package includes:

• Adaptive cruise control with stop/go
• Power-adjustable front seats with four-way power lumbar
• Heated front seats
• Frameless auto-dimming rear-view mirror
• Heated, power-folding exterior mirrors
• Adaptive Drive Assist
• Emergency assist

The $4500 Premium Package includes:

• Power-adjustable front seats with four-way power lumbar
• Memory for driver’s seat and exterior mirrors
• Colour-adjustable ambient lighting
• Head-up display
• Heated front seats
• Aluminium interior trim
• Adaptive Drive Assist
• Emergency assist
• Adaptive cruise control with stop/go
• 10-speaker 180W sound system

Standalone options include:

• Hands-free power tailgate (Sportback): $650
• 15-speaker 680W Bang & Olfusen sound system (40 TFSI): $1500
• Panoramic sunroof: $2000
• Privacy glass: $650
• Heated front seats: $650

For its generational change the A3 has adopted Audi’s latest interior design and layout, with elements like the air vents inspired by Lamborghini.

Your eyes are immediately drawn to the beautiful 12.3-inch Virtual Cockpit instrument cluster and the 10.1-inch MMI touch infotainment display, both offering the crispest of graphics and buttery smooth animations.

The inbuilt satellite navigation system offers Google Maps, online traffic updates and hazard alerts, parking information, weather updates and fuel prices, thanks

Even the base A3 35 TFSI has a creamy leather steering wheel that feels great in the hand, and wheel-mounted paddle shifters are fitted if you want to take control of the transmission yourself. We also appreciate the proper climate controls.

Comfort up front is good even in the standard, manually-adjustable first-row pews.

Row two in the regular A3 is slightly more spacious than the performance-oriented S3 as you don’t have the tall S seats with integrated headrests up front. Forward visibility in the rear is also improved as a result.

Speaking of kids, there’s ISOFIX anchor points on the outboard pews and top-tether points behind all three positions.

While Australians tend to see SUVs as family cars, Europeans have used cars like the A3 as family runabouts for decades – it’s more than up to the task.

The new A3 rides on 18-inch alloy wheels as standard, and features LED headlights across the range.

Ibis White is the standard colour on the 2022 Audi A3, with Brilliant Black a no-cost option on the 35 TFSI.

The Audi A3 is offered with a five-year service plan, priced at $2250.

Maintenance is required every 12 months or 15,000km.

What’s new with the latest A3 is the powertrain.

This new generation of 48V mild-hybrid technology is possibly the best implementation of the tech I’ve experienced thus far, and it’s genuinely efficient in the real world based on our time with the A3 35 TFSI.

Audi says the new mild-hybrid system uses vehicle sensors to know when to turn the engine off or on, and it’s now able to coast when you’re creeping in traffic rather than firing up the petrol engine once you lift off the brake pedal.

It seems to know what you want, when you want it, which in previous cases wasn’t necessarily the case. Seeing the stop/start display in the digital instruments was interesting, and refinement is so good you rarely notice when the engine is off or on.

While it offers effortless performance, the 35 TFSI’s 110kW and 250Nm mean it’s not quite as fast as the Sportback’s chunky design and 19-inch alloys might suggest.

Peak torque is on tap from just 1500rpm and sticks around through to 3500rpm, so you have this effortless wave to ride. This car is best driven in a measured manner as designed.

Speaking of ‘cruise’, the standard cruise control system takes away from the luxury experience. I’d definitely be ticking the box for the Comfort package ($2600) to get the excellent adaptive cruise assist function that basically enables Level 2 semi-autonomous highway driving.

Ride and handling is pretty well balanced as you’d expect, with a taut chassis bringing tight body control and an almost sporty balance in corners, though a level of give in the suspension that irons out the lumps and bumps of city driving nicely – even on the optional 19-inch wheels seen here.