The new A3 we just drove in Germany is primed to face stiff competition when it joins the American market for the 2022 model year.
Audi’s boss in the 1980s, Ferdinand Piëch, realigned the company to compete with Mercedes-Benz and BMW, setting in motion a close competition between the German marques. If one of the brands enters a segment, the others follow shortly. If one updates a vehicle, so do the others. The latest in this anything-you-can-do-I-can-do-better strategy is the redesigned Audi A3, which follows the introduction of the second-generation Mercedes-Benz CLA and the new BMW 2-series Gran Coupe.
We recently spent a day behind the wheel of the A3 Sportback 2.0 TDI (that’s the hatchback version), but now our attention turns to the A3 sedan, the body style that will be coming to the U.S. next year as a 2022 model. While American A3s will have a 2.0-liter turbocharged inline-four that makes about 200 horsepower, a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission, and a 48-volt hybrid system, the A3 sedan we drove came equipped with a 148-hp turbocharged 1.5-liter four-banger. It might not offer the same acceleration as the one we’ll get, but the 1.5-liter gives a clear indication of what the A3 sedan will feel like going down the road.
…
Read full post here:
https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/a33390176/2022-audi-a3-sedan-drive/
