New Audi A3 Sportback Review

If you prefer your family hatchback to have a touch of class, then the Audi A3 Sportback will wow you with its interior. It’s spacious and tech-laden, too, but does look a little pricey.

If you want a family hatchback that makes you smile every time you climb inside, then the Audi A3 Sportback needs to be on your list. It has a fantastic, upmarket cabin, the latest technology and is decently spacious inside too. You will pay more for one than a VW Golf, Skoda Octavia or Ford Focus, though.

The Audi A3 is a very smart looking car on the outside, with a bold grille and handsome profile, as well as the sharply angled headlights. You get a similar look on the other A3 models on sale – the A3 saloon, open-top A3 Cabriolet and rapid S3 and RS3 performance.

Inside, the materials and build quality surpass that of a BMW 1 Series or Mercedes A-Class. The highlight of the cabin is the optional Virtual Cockpit that replaces the old-fashioned speedo and rev-counter dials with a customisable digital screen that can show the satellite-navigation map, your Spotify playlist or just how fast you’re going.

The Audi A3 is practical and easy to live with, too. Front passengers get plenty of seat adjustment and a good view of the road ahead and behind. Adults sat in the rear will also be comfortable with enough head, leg and shoulder room. Boot space is on a par with a VW Golf and a Ford Focus.

The Audi A3 Sportback is comfortable and confidence inspiring to drive, and there’s a range of great petrol and diesel engines – some of which are available with smooth, quick-shifting automatic gearboxes and Audi’s four-wheel-drive Quattro system that gives the car even more grip on slippery roads. The 1.5-litre petrol engine with a manual or S-Tronic automatic gearbox is the best pick, but if you do lots of motorway miles then buy the 2.0-litre diesel.

Whichever model you choose, the Audi A3 is very safe – it got a five-star rating when Euro NCAP tested it back in 2012, and it’s available with lots of the latest safety equipment.

So, the Audi A3 Sportback looks good and makes you feel great – its only drawback is that there’s a bit less room in the back seats than in similarly priced SUVs, such as the Volkswagen Tiguan.