Audi A3 Sportback 40 TFSI Quattro S line review: you’ll feel like a fifth wheel

This smart little Audi A3 — equipped with Active Lane Assist — begs the question: who’s really in charge of a car these days?

Cachet: the Audi A3

Recently, as I was swearing through chaotic, constipated city traffic, the Audi A3 I was in decided to take over the job of steering, not-so-gently tugging the wheel away from the direction I’d pointed it in. Strangely, this barely bothered me at all.

After it had happened a few more times (the system wasn’t happy with my perfectly calculated and not even slightly rude lane-change manoeuvres), it struck me that I really have become so used to semi-autonomous driving systems, such as Audi’s Active Lane Assist, that they barely even enrage me.

Many people would probably find this kind of thing quite alarming at first, and I have wondered how hard car salesmen have to work during a test drive to explain to potential buyers that these wrist-wrestling systems are actually a sensational safety feature and nothing to worry about (and that, more importantly, you can turn them off). Similar systems also step in to make sure you are staying strictly between the lines when cornering, and it is this feature that can cause the dander of driving enthusiasts to spike.

From the front

I sometimes have to take part in podcasts on the subject of cars and I must strongly encourage you not to listen to them – nor, in fact, to any podcast about motoring. While I could watch videos of myself reviewing cars all day, as long as I had enough tissues to sop up all the tears of laughter, I have never sat through one of my podcasts. I really do like some of the co-presenters, but they’re the kind of people who should not be allowed to get on to the topic of cars, or driving them, because they really can bang on. Imagine the most boring party guest you’ve ever been cornered by, then multiply that person by five Clive Palmers and two Kevin Rudds.

Recently I was asked to join a discussion about the most pointless and annoying features found in modern cars and my learned friends suggested that things like Lane Change Warning were rubbish and, frankly, an affront to serious drivers.

I did not make the point that they could argue seat belts are unnecessary for them, too, because they’re so skilled they’ll never have an accident, but I did posit the possibility that perhaps we are all safer on the road because people who don’t drone on online about their driving skills are being regularly saved by such safety systems.

It’s fair to suggest that if you’re going to part with $53,500 for a car like the Audi A3, of course, you must be some kind of enthusiast, because if you weren’t you’d just buy its similar but slower sister, the Volkswagen Golf.

... and the back

It’s quite possible, of course, that an A3 buyer is unaware that Audi is a member of the Volkswagen Group – in the same way that many people are unaware of the connection between the Union Jack-fondling MG car brand and a country called China – and that what they are enthusiastic about is the way the Audi looks, inside and out, and what the brand says about them.

I must admit I was instantly taken by the style of this little A3, particularly the Banana Paddlepop hue of the car we borrowed (it’s actually called Python Yellow, and in some lighting it makes the driver look more like Colonel Mustard). While the latest Golf is a very attractive car, Audi’s designers somehow take a very similar shape and make it just that tiny bit more special. Does it make you a badge snob, or merely an aesthete, to prefer the look of an Audi over a Volkswagen? I’m not going to ask that question out loud, for fear I’ll be called to discuss it on another ponderous podcast, so let’s just agree that it does look slicker, and somehow more expensive.

Inside the cabin

The A3 Sportback 40 TFSI Quattro S Line we were in does have a lot more power than a cheap Golf – its 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine makes 140kW and 320Nm – and it’s also all-wheel drive, which is important to motoring podcasters.

My almost L-plate-age son (yes, I am terrified at the prospect) has less interest in cars than I do in TikTok, but even he was shocked enough to declare that the A3 felt and sounded far sportier inside than he’d imagined from the kerb. He seemed to suggest he thought it looked a bit like a shiny handbag until he’d been for a drive.

Of course, the VW versus Audi conundrum is about more than just price (the version I tested tipped the scales at $61,240; you could almost get two VW Golfs for that, or a GTI-badged sporty one). It’s about personal branding and perceived quality. You can, of course, buy a handbag, or a man-bag, without a posh logo on it, and it will work just as well. Personally, I’d rather have both my hands fused together to form some kind of carrying device than use a man-bag, but if I was forced to buy one I would very much aim for the VW end of the range rather than the Audi one.

Of course, if you’ve got the cash, you’ll prefer the cachet of the A3. Just ask them to show you where the Active Lane Assist button is.

Audi A3 Sportback 40 TFSI Quattro S line

ENGINE: 2.0-litre four-cylinder (140kW/320Nm). Average fuel 6.7 litres per 100km TRANSMISSION: 7-speed automatic, all-wheel drive

PRICE: $53,500

STARS: out of 5 ★★★½