Skip advert
Advertisement

Audi A3 review - better than a BMW 1-series? - Design

Audi’s posh Golf is a massive sales hit and it’s not difficult to see why, though rivals drive better

Evo rating
RRP
from £20,365
  • Beautifully designed, impeccably built and competitively priced premium hatch
  • All just a bit too grown up and sensible, needs a more playful side

The A3 may be a victim of its own success, its omnipresence meaning you’re unlikely notice it, especially if you’ve chosen one of the more sober greys, black or dark blue on offer on the colour charts. Audi offers a wide range of smart alloy wheel options if you want to be different - and spend money and time on the configurator.

Advertisement - Article continues below

What the A3 does do very well is look premium, it may be sutble, but elements like the brightwork and lighting signatures make this very obviously an Audi. It may lack the crisp surfacing quality of the new A4, but the advantage of keeping the car subtle, is that it still looks fresh, despite being past the halfway mark of its life cycle. 

There’s plenty of headlight choices, including full LED lights, Audi also offering exterior trim choices like privacy glass, a panoramic roof, aluminium trims, black packs for added personalisation. S line models come with the most appealing combination of options, for the best looking A3 you can have without stretching to the S3 flagship. 

Skip advert
Advertisement
Skip advert
Advertisement

Most Popular

Why this 300,000-mile Ford Mondeo felt more revolutionary than a Lamborghini
Ford Mondeo
Opinion

Why this 300,000-mile Ford Mondeo felt more revolutionary than a Lamborghini

With one of the development parameters being the ‘perfection feeling’, the Mondeo was always going to be something special
22 Oct 2026
Lamborghini Revuelto SV review – the world's best supercar made even better?
Lamborghini Revuelto SV
Reviews

Lamborghini Revuelto SV review – the world's best supercar made even better?

The 'regular' Revuelto is already a world-beater. Now it gets the SV treatment
23 Oct 2026
£50k off a Corvette Z06 – Ferrari 458-inspired supercar available with 30% discount
Corvette Z06
News

£50k off a Corvette Z06 – Ferrari 458-inspired supercar available with 30% discount

The biggest problem with the Corvette Z06 was arguably its steep price in the UK. The market is correcting that…
22 Oct 2026