Audi A3, having being launched two days back, has carved out an all new segment – luxury compact sedan and is the only member currently in this distinguished segment. Also, the A3 became the most economical company car offered in the country. It would be quite interesting to see how it fellow German counterparts Mercedes-Benz and BMW respond to this belligerent move. Although, both Merc and BMW too offer cost effective cars but they are premium hatchbacks in form of A-Class and 1-Series, respectively, and these are not anywhere closer to being called a sedan. The A3 with a plethora of exquisite features, striking appearance and flabbergasting pricing is just unmatchable. Let’s have a look at the diesel variants of all these cars both mechanically and dimensionally to find out whether the other two, A-Class and 1-Series, stand anywhere closer to this newest kind on the block.
Audi A3 diesel variants comes with a 2.0L TDI diesel engine, while Mercedes-Benz A-Class has a 2.2L diesel engine, followed by the BMW 1-Series which has 2.0L powertrain. The A3 has a top power of 141 bhp, while the A-Class’s 2.2L mill despite being largest in size offers only 108 bhp of maximum power, while the 1-Series’s diesel engine pulls out an impressive power output of 143 bhp. Quite similarly, The Audi A3 and BMW 1-Series tie at 320Nm in terms of maximum torque performance whereas the Mercedes-Benz A-Class lag behind at 250Nm. The Audi nut is paired to a 6-speed S-tronic auto transmission, while the A-Class has a 7-speed automatic gearbox, followed by BMW 1-Series which comprises of an 8-speed automatic transmission.
In terms of acceleration, there is a tie again between the Audi A3 and BMW 1-Series as both the beasts achieve the 100kmph barrier from standstill in a mere 8.6 seconds. On the other hand, Merc’s A-Class takes 10.6 seconds to reach the requisite milestone from standstill, thus making it the slowest among the three. Dimensionally, the Audi A3, unarguably, is the longest with a length of 4456 mm while the BMW 1-Series measures 4324 mm, followed by the Merc’s A-Class 4292 mm. However, it is not relevant to compare the lengths of these three beasts as Audi A3 is a compact sedan while the other two are premium hatchbacks. Comparing the width, here also the Audi marvel wins by quite a comfortable margin as it is 1796 mm and wider enough than the A-Class and 1-Series who measure 1780 mm and 1765 mm, respectively. But, in terms of height, it is the three pointed star’s little gem, A-Class that shines with 1433 mm. The BMW 1-Series measure 1421 mm while Audi A3 is at last with a height of 1416mm.
Going by the claims of company officials, Audi A3 has ample legroom, head room and shoulder room even for the rear seat occupants, but still it lags way behind if compared to both these hatchbacks. Again, the Merc’s A-Class stand out in this aspect with a wheelbase of 2699 mm, with BMW 1-Series at 2690 mm, followed by 2637 mm of A3 sedan. But, the Audi A3 bounces back and excels superbly in the boot space department. It leads this department with a boot space of 425L, leaving its contemporaries a long way behind as BMW 1-Series offers 360L, followed by Mercedes-Benz A-Class’s 341L. So as one can notice, all these luxury wheels are neck to neck in almost every segment and everyone has upper hand over the other two in one or two aspects. Directly, A3 has got no competitors presently, however as being said, Audi’s out-of-the-box pricing would enable it to even eat up the sales of D2 segment cars, premium hatchbacks and high-end SUVs.
